Up with the lark

My morning started at about 5am when the lovely Phoebe decided to re-locate her babies .
There was obviously a "clear and present danger" in the bottom of my wardrobe that necessitated the prompt removal of 6 fat offspring to a "place of safety" - namely down the back of the kittening box in the 6 inch gap between the box and the back of the wardrobe.
How on earth the daft bat thought she was going to get down there to feed them I don't know.
At 6.30 we reached a compromise and she decided that the next best place for them was the other kitten box in the fitted wardrobe on the other side of the bedroom.
So off she trundled with a kitten in her mouth, dumped it in the box, gave it a quick feed to settle it and back for another.
So far so good- after doing this 4 times she lost the will to live and just dumped the remaining 2 babies on the rug at the foot of our bed and looked at me as if to say "Well, what are you sitting there for? Do something useful". Ever her obedient servant, I collected the remaining babies and put them with their siblings.
Not the end of the matter I'm afraid to say - I decided to clean out the kitten box she'd been inhabiting, in readiness for the next arrivals. Phoebe, who obviously can't count, had the deep suspicion that I was holding out on her and that she was missing at least one of her children. So we had a good 15 minutes of her yelling at me and scratching at the wardrobe door- just in case I'd left a baby in there by mistake.
She has now obviously counted legs and divided by four, added eyes and ears together and done the maths and realised that she has 6 babies and all is as it should be.
I wouldn't mind but in a weeks time we will have to go through the whole process again, as I move the whole family into the big pen in the lounge and start the kitten socialisation programme.
Oh happy day!!!!!!!!

Chubby bubbies

I can't believe that the babies are 10 days old already. They all have their eyes open and they have found their individual voices.

Phoebe is the most amazing mum and her little ones are spotlessly clean and content.

I'm afraid to say that the Bardsong curse has struck again and we have 6 boys !!!!!!!!!!

I suppose it saves me from myself- there's no temptation to keep one. Although , even if I do say so myself, they are particularly lovely.

Garden tales

Our garden has undergone a transformation in just over a week- from the picture on the right to the picture on the left.

John, our builder, has said that he is going to miss the cat chorus greeting in the morning and especially Bill's helpful comments during the day.

We had to move Bill out of his house for the first few days to allow John to dig out the old lawn and lay the foundations for the new patio.

Bill moved into the cat house and run closer to the bungalow - there was a bit of strutting and chest puffing for a while, but I think he quite enjoyed "chewing the fat" with Jags and Raffles.

I got the distinct impression that returning to his own pad was a bit of a relief though.

Now, when it rains, I won't have to trek through acres of mud to get to his house and we will have somewhere to sit in the garden that doesn't entail a balancing act and the risk of a sprained ankle.

News at last

Having had no computer for nearly 2 weeks I feel as if I've been really slacking.

A lot has happened in that time- the most important thing being that Phoebe has produced 6 beautiful babies. They arrived over the course of 6 hours on Monday 10th May and, as per usual, Phoebe is proving to be a devoted mother.

She and the babies have taken up residence in the bottom of the wardrobe in my bedroom - until such times as she decides they need a change of venue that is.

I have no idea what sex they are - but I do know that we have 2 blues, 2 caramels and 2 siamese.

She is such a clever girl.

Photos will be updated regularly on the website (computer functions permitting of course).