Kitten Update

Sigh. I'm just a terrible pushover when it comes to animals.

I made a poster with photos of the kittens on it and put it up at work, hoping that maybe someone would adopt them. One gal called and said she'd take one of them. She was really nervous about their condition, since they'd been outside cats all of their lives, and since she had two other cats at home. So, we met at the vet's office, and this nice gal laid out $150 to give *both* cats their first shots (since she can't make up her mind exactly which of two she wants!), and to have them treated for ear-mites, fleas and worms. She also had them both tested for Feline leukemia (they're negative!). Then she asked me to take them home for a week or so until she could get ready for one of them at her place.

So, here we are. I'm keeping them in a huge cage meant for a large dog, so they have room to move around a lot. One of my other cats let me know in no uncertain terms that she was not happy to have them around, so I'm keeping them shut up in one bedroom. And, after this gal takes her kitten home, we'll still have one more left. And then what?! Oy!

And in knitting - I'm making mittens out of necessity. Nothing creative or challenging here! I'm not kidding - I looked at our glove and mitten bag today to see how we stood this year. There are 21 assorted gloves and mittens in there, but absolutely NO pairs! Not one! Absolutely amazing! So I selected a simple pattern and I've made several pairs of this pattern in assorted colors.

Hang on to your mittens! There's a one-armed bandit out there! :-)

Festivus - For the Rest of Us

I think that we will forego the commercialism of the December holidays this year, and take up a different celebration! Do you suppose my kids will mind?

Here's a lovely song about the holiday!

A Different Kind of Baby

Our neighbors are not the very best pet owners, in my opinion. They have a sweet little cat, but they've never taken her in to be spayed, so she has many litters of kittens each year. Also, the cats are all "outside" cats. Lately, since it's been getting so cold outside, the most recent litter of kittens has been showing up on our front porch frequently. They meow and want to come into the kitchen to get warm. I mentioned it to the neighbor, but he doesn't really seem to care that they're cold. He lets them sleep in a small spot attached to the garage, but I'm betting it's COLD in there! For a couple of years, they had an "outside" dog, too. Thank goodness, they found her a better home recently so she could live inside.


Today, my son took them into the car with him and snuggled with them for about an hour so they could get warm. I really don't want to let them into the house with my four cats, because I know none of them has been given any shots.

After a while, it became apparent that they didn't want to go home, so Dan made them a little box with an old afghan so they could snuggle in there. After a while, the Mother Cat came and snuggled in the box with them. She's not much bigger than they are! They've been there for several hours now - all three of them.

Holiday Preparations

Well, it's "NO"vember...the time of year I really don't like at all. We are teetering on the precipice of a Michigan winter, which is nasty, nasty, nasty. I'm trying to fend off the dark, dead time of year by getting some holiday baby hats ready for the Preemie Project Michigan Chapter.

Here's what I have ready today:

I've got an elf-style hat on the needles right now. I'll just keep pumping 'em out.

I still have this to deal with for the moment. Snow isn't supposed to fall until next week (oh, joy). The leaves have barely begun to fall off the trees, so I don't expect I'll be able to rake them all up before snow comes. I've already raked the yard once. This is the second "fall".