Tuesday 28 December 2010

Highlights and Lowlights

Christmas Eve Highlight

The Housekeeper spent the afternoon on the sofa wrapped up in a throw watching the film "Cars" with Dino curled up on her lap purring loudly.

Christmas Day Highlights

The contented look on Crystal's face as the kittens and Amber had worn themselves out in the morning with their new toys and were asleep by the time the turkey was served up.

The Housekeeper spent the afternoon on the sofa wrapped up in a throw asleep and woke up to find CRYSTAL?! asleep on her lap. She stayed there for two hours. Truly a happy Christmas afternoon!

Boxing Day Highlight

The Housekeeper and Mr Housekeeper left Crystal in charge for the day to go to The Housekeeper's Mother's 80th Birthday do. They returned 13 hours later to find the house and all occupants in one piece.


Boxing day Night Lowlight
Everyone must have spent the entire day asleep whilst The Housekeepers were out, because they certainly didn't sleep that night. The Housekeeper doesn't think that she got more that 30 minutes sleep at any one time before the Jasper scarf wrapped itself around her neck AGAIN and AGAIN, licking her eyelids and ears and telling her how much he loved her.

By 4am The Housekeeper wasn't loving Jasper very much.

Saturday 25 December 2010

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

From

Crystal, Amber, Jasper and Dino
(and The Housekeepers)


to all our followers around the world

Thursday 23 December 2010

Lesson of the Day - Dino

Key Strokes

CAT: If I sit on this nice warm rectangular object covered in small square things, a funny buzzing alarm sound goes off continuously and the humans rush to remove me from wherever they are in the house.

There's also this funny little arrow which I can chase across the screen.

What really confuses me is that the humans are allowed to touch the little square things called "keys" with their paws, but if I walk across them, I get told off.

HUMAN: Always shut the lid of a laptop before walking away from it, into a different room. Kittens have goldfish brains when it comes to a) computers and b) the word NO.

The N is confusing, as is the O. The bit in the middle is a tad difficult and the general meaning of the word as a whole, leaves even an Abyssinian a little foxed. That or they are just ignoring the humans on purpose.

Monday 20 December 2010

Hofstadter's Law

Just when you think that nothing else can possibly happen, the peace is shattered at 11pm at night by a side plate smashing into pieces on the kitchen floor.

It had been covering Crystal and Amber's dinner, which was in a bowl on the kitchen work surface to keep it vaguely appetising and save it from being eaten by the kittens who had already eaten their own tea AND the girl's crunchies.

The noise frightened both the girls who darted from the lounge upstairs. Crystal is now back downstairs, sitting in front of me whilst I type this entry with that "NOW WHAT" expression on her face, whilst The Housekeeper can hear repeated attempts from a kitten to scale the kitchen cupboards onto the work surface again and being removed and told off by Mr Housekeeper.

We assume it was Dino, but we don't know for certain. He was found tucking into the dinner, whilst Jasper sat to one side, also on the work surface, watching what was going on.

Hoover mobilised.

The Housekeeper reckons that on the basis that we've had them living with us for a whole month today, that we should give them back to the breeders for the next month...... Somehow think after reading this, that might be a NO!

Sunday 19 December 2010

Whodunnit? 2


The Housekeeper ventured out in the snow at lunchtime and walked into the village for provisions for lunch with Mr Housekeeper. When they arrived back home they got the camera and car keys and cleared the snow off The Housekeeper's car (snowball fight ensued!) and took some pictures of the snow at the same time.

On return to the house with said supplies, it became apparent that someone in the household had decided to have a take away for lunch and to eat out of the bag to save on the washing up.



No one is owning up, although Jasper does have a tiny paper type cut on one of his front pads........

Whodunnit?

We have been burgled.

Mystery surrounds the sudden disappearance of a number of tails belonging to the resident toy rodents in the household.

A spokesperson for the property confirmed in a statement this morning that no less than 7 small white and grey fur mice, had indeed been spotted without their tails. The crime is suspected to have occured within the last 2-3 weeks but has only just been discovered. The victims also confirmed that a further 5 of their comrades also appear to be missing, assumed lost, under the settee or dining room cabinet.

This is especially upsetting for The Housekeeper who confirmed that the mice were heirlooms which had once belonged to and been played with by the current residents great-uncle Parsnip and had been handed down to the current occupants, having been played with by both Crystal and Amber when they were young.

The victims did agree to be photographed but all wished to remain anonymouse!



Neither small Fawn or Sorrel Abyssinian suspect was available for comment.

Saturday 18 December 2010

Lesson of the Day - Jasper

You gotta roll with it

CAT: In the bathroom there's this really, really tempting cord by the door that swings backwards and forwards. It turns the light on. To reach it you have to jump with all your might and your best back leg bouncy spring onto the towel rail and then reach up - easy.

Unfortunately the towel rail is rather like the loo roll holder and turns round when it has any weight on it. When your front paws are on the top of the rail and your back paws are on the towel, you very rapidly find yourself on the bathroom floor with the bath towel on top of you!!

Then you have a moving towel across the floor.


HUMAN: Worrying about wetting yourself laughing is not an issue when Abyssinian cat antics occur whilst you are sitting on the loo.

Chasing Snowflakes




The Housekeeper thinks that watching Abyssinian's jumping vertically up windows to catch snowflakes is very funny!

Friday 17 December 2010

Home Alone

The Housekeeper left all four Abyssinians on their own yesterday to attend her previous jobs Christmas do.

As she approached the house after leaving all four alone together for a full 12 hours, she wondered what state she would find the house in, however it would appear that it was all intact and had survived better than she had on the mulled wine :-)

As Mr Housekeeper was away for work this was also the first night that The Housekeeper had, home alone with all four charges.

No one went to bed before 1:30am. The Housekeeper was catching up on work and the kittens were RUNNING. When everyone eventually settled down for the night, The Housekeeper had Crystal and Amber at the bottom of the bed, Dino lying under the duvet, length ways against her leg and Jasper sleeping next to her like a human with his head on the pillow and body under the covers.

The tranquility didn't last long. Jasper got a little over excited and started squirming and ensured The Housekeeper got woken up at least once and hour.

Thursday 16 December 2010

Blue Moon

At 6am this morning, The Housekeeper had an Abyssinian standing on her in bed. This isn't an unusual occurrence in itself, other than the Abyssinian in question, was Amber!

Amber isn't the cuddliest of cats. She's affectionate but it's in her way, on her terms. She is happy to curl up at the bottom of the bed at night with the humans and to sit at their feet in the evenings whilst they watch TV but she definitely isn't a lap cat and panics when picked up and struggles to get away.

This morning, The Housekeeper awoke to whiskers in her ears and small delicate car kisses on the nose (so it definitely wasn't a kitten!). Having slowly rolled onto her back, The Housekeeper enjoyed a lovely long "cuddle" with Amber standing on her chest, being stroked and purring quite loudly for her.

This is the first voluntary cuddle which Amber has given anyone since the kittens have arrived and as she had also brought her favourite toy, the Moppy, onto the bed with her as a present, hopefully this means she is a happier Sorrel Abyssinian than she has been recently :-)

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Feed Me!

The Housekeeper is currently feeding the kittens four times a day.

A wet food meal for breakfast, crunchies for lunch, a wet food meal for dinner and a late evning crunchie snack. There's also crunchies left down for all the cats during the day for them to graze on.

However, given the state of one of today's Certificates of Posting from the Post Office run (photographed upside down to keep the customers anonymouse!), I think it's safe to say that she may not be feeding them enough and they are resorting to drastic measures......



Needless to say that after this antic, they were told that if they didn't behave they would be sent to the Cats Protection League for Christmas !!!!!

Sunday 12 December 2010

In a Flap

Having had the kitten's litter tray in our lounge for the first week of their residence, and subsequently moved it to the kitchen so that we could tidy up and reduce the mess, we decided that the time had come to get the boys to use the litter trays in the outhouse attached to the kitchen, which is where the girl's litter tray's are, to reduce the volume of litter being trod around the house by both small paws and human feet.

When both Parsnip and then Crystal arrived, the humans spent hours passing both bowls of food - and the cat!! - backwards and forwards through the cat flap to teach them how to use it. This caused endless hilarity and usually resulted in each cat eventually using the cat flap more often than needed, just because they could, once they had mastered it as it became another cat toy.

We knew that Jasper wouldn't be a problem. He's been using both the litter trays when the kitchen door was open and the cat flap (both as a game and out of necessity) but we both realised that Dino would be more difficult.

The first time that Dino went into the outhouse to explore and had the door shut on him by mistake, he cried pitifully to be let back in. The subsequent times all resulted in much vocal encouragement by the humans, standing in the kitchen and a real struggle for a small Abyssinian kitten to work out how to push the flap with his nose and get back into the house. When we saw him go into the outhouse, we had shut the door on him a couple of time, on purpose so that he had to come back through the cat flap and had called him and encouraged him and praised him each time.

To be honest, we weren't convinced that when he actually needed to go to the loo, that he would remember to use the cat flap and I fully expected to come home one day and find either an accident, or him stuck in the outhouse and not able to get back into the main house.

The intention was to leave the back door to the outhouse open for a day over the weekend with the kitten litter tray next to the two which the girls use, but all good intentions were scuppered when The Housekeeper put the tray outside, hoovered up the spilt litter, changed the bin bag and closed the kitchen door, then went to bed.

At about 3am she woke up and realised that she hadn't moved the tray back into the house - but - to our amazement the next morning, there had been no accidents and both the kittens proceeded to prove at 8am the next morning that they knew exactly how to use the cat flap and where their trays were.

Another kitten milestone. Phew!

Saturday 11 December 2010

Kitten Play Pen Recipe

  • Take one very large, tall cardboard box
  • Add ping pong balls and feathers
  • Leave open in centre of room
  • Kittens will add themselves without being asked


If very lucky, one adult fawn Abyssinian (Crystal) will find this game just too irresistible and join in the fun!


Leave alone in conservatory and put kettle on for peace. Forget the quiet !!!!

Friday 10 December 2010

Pink Negligence

Otherwise titled "Who killed the flamingo in the conservatory?"

The Housekeeper has just returned to the house from the workshop after 2 hours of packing to find shredded cerise pink marabou feather EVERYWHERE.

I should explain ..... The Housekeeper is also a Wardrobe Mistress and the conservatory currently houses the costumes from the entire cast of a pantomime, waiting to be washed, in black bin bags. Amongst the costumes was a bin bag containing a pink dressing gown which was edged in thick marabou boa, referred to in the script by the dame as her "negligence".

Considering the volume of pink feather now strewn across the floor its a wonder that the negligence doesn't look like it has been touched (a good job as it is being borrowed tomorrow!) Also, consider that The Housekeeper sits in the workshop in full view of the conservatory and didn't see any of the above happen.

Now we just have the feathers of a dead animal strewn across the whole of the floor and four Abyssinians, all with different expressions on their faces. The kittens are sat on the settee in the conservatory dozing. Amber is sat on the scratching post in the conservatory with a puzzled look on her face of "what the hell happened here" and Crystal has the innocent, look of a cat who has been in the workshop with The Housekeeper all morning and "didn't do it so you can't blame me".

Thursday 9 December 2010

Lesson of the Day - Jasper

Key Strokes

CAT: "Mee-at Meow" - I'm a bouncy Abyssinian kitten and it's 11:20pm and I'm running. A nice circuit of the dining room after supper and .....oh .....what was that pretty blue light I've just put my paw on? .......

HUMAN: JASPER !!!!!!!! that was the power switch for the "*******" laptop.

Luckily the people that the Housekeeper talks to on MSN at this time of night don't take it personally when they get disconnected mid sentence and are usually still online when the laptop has been rebooted.

- - - - - - - -

11:30pm: Jasper sat in hammock, paws curled in towards his chest, just below his nose with a contented, supper eaten, kitten grin on face and tightly closed eyes but fully alert ears.

"Stood on a laptop power button? Who me? No, can't have been me, far too cute to do that, I am"

Lesson of the Day - Dino

CAT: When I say I am hungry and I squeal at you at the top of my kitten voice, at your feet as you have the cat food tin in one hand and the fork in the other - I mean it - I'M HUNGRY!

HUMAN: A cat food tin being held too low to the ground whilst forking through the dinner in the cat bowl, will have a cat's head IN the tin, eating from it, if you don't get the food in the bowl sorted quickly enough for the said hungry cat.

That or a fork prong in very close promimity to a kitten's nostril!

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Silent Night ....

Or ...in the case of this household, silent evening, as everyone is curently asleep. However any Abyssinian owner will tell you that all this changes at 11pm when the wind gets into an Abyssinian's tail and they feel the need to run around the house at break neck speed, yelling like a banshee.

Crystal is in the lounge on the leopard print throw

Amber is in the radiator hammocks in the bedroom, full stretch across both of them.

Jasper and Dino are in the hammocks behind me in the dining room


You can almost hear the Zzzzzz's!

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Get .....

  • Out of the bin
  • Out of the bag
  • Out of the box that I'm trying to pack costumes in
  • Out of the fridge
  • Off my pile of papers
  • Off my fleece and stop chewing the cord
  • Down from the top of the clothers airer
  • Down from the kitchen work surface
  • Down
  • Down
  • Down (I'm sure I've already told you to get down)
  • Your head out of Crystal and Amber's dinner
  • On my lap and have a cuddle!

Monday 6 December 2010

Self Wrapping Presents

A birthday present which arrived on Friday afternoon from my "bestie" in Somerset was sealed in a cube shaped box and wrapped beautifully in pink cat design wrapping paper. Not being a paper tearing present opener, I carefully removed the sellotape and slid the wrapping paper "box" off the cardboard box, leaving the present to open. After both sitting ON the box, the kittens decided that the wrapping paper would be far more fun to play with.

Having commented that my official birthday present from Mr Housekeeper (Jasper!) hadn't even had a bow on, let alone been giftwrapped, it was very amusing to see both kittens get stuck into wrapping themselves.........



Friday 3 December 2010

Birthdays

It's The Housekeeper's birthday today .... the meaning of life, the universe and everything (if you are a Hitchhikers fan).

As much as The Housekeeper loves her two interactive Abyssinian birthday presents, it is now 1am in the morning and they are both BOUNCING. They are tearing around the house, thundering up the stairs, fighting and chirping at the tops of their voices.

The Housekeeper has picked them both up and looked for the battery compartment to remove the batteries or the "off" switch, but cannot find either.

It could be a LONG night.

Thursday 2 December 2010

Hi Ho, Hi Ho. It's off to Hire we go ....

Six dwarf costumes and a a genie... sitting in the hall in a huge cardboard packing crate with a four way fold top waiting for the 7th dwarf to arrive back from Aberdeenshire, to be added to the box before it can be sealed so that the consignment can then be shipped to Liverpool for this coming weekend.

Unfortunately, four way top folding isn't very strong when something heavy and or live sits on top of it, dips in the middle and creates a gap into which something can fall.

Even more unfortunately, when you push against a four way fold from underneath - the gap closes up and the contents are trapped.

15 minutes last night.........

  • Crystal in box. Jasper tormenting her through carry handles. Crystal headbutting top of box but can't get out as she is closing up gap. Crystal removed from box.
  • Amber on top of box. Crystal with paw on Amber's bum "helping" her into the box. Both removed from top of box
  • Jasper launching himself at top of box from floor and failing to get high enough so starts leaping from the stairs into oblivion in the hopes of landing on top of box.
  • Jasper falls into box. Jasper removed.
  • Bag put on top of box as deterant. Jasper and Dino launch themselves into bag on top of box and all fall into box. Bag containing kittens removed from box.
  • Ten minutes later - noise from box. Dino removed from box AGAIN.
  • Kittens taken into lounge and put on settee and box moved to porch and door closed.
  • Noise coming from box. Amber located in box in porch and removed.

This morning.

7th dwarf arrives and is packed into box. All cats counted and accounted for at least 3 times before and after the box has been sealed !!!!

Sunday 28 November 2010

There were 6 in the bed ......

and the little one said .... Nothing at all, they were both sound asleep!!!!!!!!!

Last night was the first night that we did not shut the kittens into the lounge overnight and left them with free access to the house. After approx. 10-15 minutes of running up and down the stairs it finally went quiet and I dozed off.

At 4am when I woke up there was a small warm Dino curled up in the space between the two pillows, next to my head. On closer inspection, there was also a fully stretched out Jasper with his tummy against the edge of the pillow with his paws wrapped round it. Crystal was curled up at the foot of the bed on Mr Housekeeper's feet and when I stirred, Amber came up too and lay on my chest for a while and we had a lovely cuddle.

When Amber got down, Jasper then came and made himself into a wriggly cat collar around my neck. Cute - but having the insides of your ears and your face washed at 4:30am when you are trying to sleep isn't much fun. I know how Dino feels now!!!

This morning Amber was found sitting on the top of the stairs with Dino on the next one down, playing with her swishing tail AND NO HISSING OR GROWLING! Last night, the kittens and Amber all enjoyed a cat game, chasing the reflection of Mr Housekeepers glasses across the lounge floor. Crystal still seems to have a very short fuse when the kittens are running riot and tells them in no uncertain terms when she has had enough, however, after a week, I think we are finally getting somewhere.

Friday 26 November 2010

2nd Breakfast

We appear now to have reached a cat compromise in the house. Crystal sits in the same room as the kittens and  supervises, but doesn't join in their games. Amber is still avoiding them at all costs except when there's a game to be played with a human and a feather and seams to breathe a visible sigh of relief when we "put them to bed" in the lounge and she gets some "me time". She is still growling at the kittens. The kittens haven't even been with us a week yet so it's all to be expected.

The main "issue" over the last 48 hours has been cat meal times. They are a NIGHTMARE.

The kittens are at their liveliest first thing in the morning, when they are let out of the lounge which means that the girls are more wary and keep their distance. I'm feeding the kittens breakfast first in the hopes that once settled with their head in their bowls, I can then feed the girls and everyone can eat breakfast together. NOT A HOPE IN HELL.

The kittens eat. Sorry. No. The kittens HOOVER their food then if not covered over, they start on the girls breakfast too.

I dished up the girls dinner last night, once the kittens were eating and immediately covered both bowls with a plate to keep them fresh until the kittens had finished theirs and settled down in the lounge. However Dino had obviously decided that he was still hungry and managed to slide the plate off the bowl and was found tucking in.

This morning, the bowls are covered with plates and each have an unopened tin of cat food on them - and YES, Dino has STILL managed to get to the food.

I have tried cajoling Crystal to come and eat once the kittens are settled and she can see them in the radiator hammocks, but she doesn't appear to want to at the moment and I'm not too sure exactly how much the girls are eating, which is worrying. However, As I have just finished typing the above, Crystal has just climbed onto the table with Leggy Cat (her favourite toy) in her mouth and deposited him in front of my hands. It seemed like a "thanks Mum, I know that you're trying" moment.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Chip and Pin

oo*yhuuuuuuuucv (said Jasper, as he leapt from the filing box onto the keyboard)

Poor Amber. It's been a bad few days really. Not only is she still suffering from the upheaval from the invasion of the two mini-me's, Amber has a skin condition which can be very nasty but having had a steroid injection on 2nd October, had been under control and the affected area had grown fur and she starting to look very beautiful. Unfortunately, we noticed last night that a patch which had started to reappear in the crease of her mouth had spread, so I rang the vets and got her an appointment for a repeat steroid injection. The vet reckons it could just be the stress of the last few days which has brought it on again - so we shall see in due course.

As I had to go anyway, I also decided to take the boys to be registered and get their microchips done. They were impeccably behaved. THEY played cute in the basket and at the vets and didn't make a sound.

Amber charged round the house crying before she had even seen her box and resorted to hiding behind the freezer in the outhouse. Having been extricated, she did at least stay quiet in the car (first time ever!) but by the time we were at the vets her ears were trembling and she was in a right state. I got her back into the house first and she sat quietly in the kitchen, waiting for some crunchies.

Jasper, however, decided on his return to the house to do a lap of honour at full speed and full voice and in the process frightened Ams who, in an attempt to escape Jasper and his war cry, ran through her cat flap into the outhouse. What she didn't bargain for was Jasper - following her at full speed straight through the cat flap, still yelling! It took him a couple of attempts to work out how to get back through the cat flap on his own without help, but it didn't take long.

Amber then went and settled in her hammock in the dining room, out of kitten reach, that was until the terrible twosome bounced into the one next to her and tried to cuddle up! With a look of sheer disgust, Ams took to the bedroom cabinet and the clean pile of washing, made a nest and has been there all day!

The kittens have obviously decided that the radiator hammocks are a good place to sleep and are now both curled up in the same one, snoozing.

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Lesson of the Day - Human

CAT: Human beings make a great bed!

HUMAN: Deciding to "just" spend 5 minutes on the settee cuddling with the kittens at midnight before you go to bed is fatal. I woke up at 5am, still on the settee with Jasper on my chest, fully stretched out and Dino in the gap between me and the settee back, with his paws wrapped round my leg, again full stretch.

That said, I am amzed that, once asleep, 14 week old kittens obviously do not move or wiggle very much as they didn't wake me up at all. Unfortunately 5 hours on the settee and 2 hours in bed, actually feels like just 2 hours sleep this morning.

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Lesson of the Day - Jasper

There's a pattern emerging here ........

CAT: Brown sauce tastes nice!

HUMAN: Placing the splodge of brown sauce too near the edge of a plate and within reach of a cats tail causes a huge mess when said cat swings their tail through the brown sauce and then swings their tail all over your face, top, settee and carpet.


CAT:  Putting on your cutest kitten face and standing on your hind legs with your front paws and giving Amber a "cat kiss" and then mewing in her ear whilst asleep, still results in a swift hiss, even after she has played chase with you with a pheasant feather two hours earlier and pretended that she likes you.

CAT: Stairs are fun to run up and down, especially if you have only ever lived in a bungalow. They are still fun even if you have run up and down them together constantly for 20 minutes with your brother in hot pursuit. They are even more fun if you let out your loudest "me-at meow" as you reach the top each time.

Lesson of the Day - Amber

CAT: Diving head and front paws first down a 4 inch gap between a heavy, full box of costumes and the hall unit to chase something seemed like such a great idea when bored because the whole of the rest of the household had gone to bed (approx 1:10am!)

Ending up (literally!!!!!) with just my back legs from the knees to the paws flailing and my RBS logo in full view is not a ladylike look. Not having enough room to turn round, enough height to push myself out backwards or enough room to get into the gap and turn round and having to yell for help, puts a severe dent in one's cat pride.

HUMAN: How the hell do you a). laugh with tears running down your face in the middle of the night without waking the whole house up and b). make a split second decision betweeen rescuing the cat or going running for the camera for blog evidence?!!!!!!!

PS. I chose the rescue option!
PPS. Amber has just bought me here new favourite "moppy" toy as a thank you and dropped it at my feet!

Monday 22 November 2010

Sink or Swim?

Facing the busiest Monday since Halloween, there was no way I could take the day off and babysit kittens and fend off squabbles, but nor did I want them to be cooped up in one room all day, so Crystal came to the workshop with me so the boys didn't get hissed at, whilst Amber was left to babysit. She has kept her distance over the last 2 days but hasn't actually been hissing or growling at the kittens, so far.

Each time I went back into the house, the kittens were bouncing in the front room, having not ventured too far on their own, or so it seemed. Yet there definitely less cat food in the girls cat bowls come lunchtime!!!

I left Crystal in the house in the afternoon to see what would happen and by 4pm it appeared that a toleration stalemate had been reached. Crystal was even seen nose to nose with Jasper at one point, giving him a "cat kiss" (although she did then ruin this tender moment by hissing at him 2 minutes later!).

Jasper is definitely dominating in the cuddle stakes and determined to be as close to us as he can get, turning circles as he snuggles into our necks and chirping loudly.

The kittens were put to bed at 11:30pm this evening after I came home from a pantomime dress rehearsal. And that's when the REAL fun started. Crystal and Amber must have had one of THOSE cat conversations, during the evening, which revolved around proving to us humans that they are in fact, also 13 week old kittens who love to chirp as they thunder up the stairs, try to barge their way through the closed spare bedroom door and, in Crystal's case, attempting to scale the clothes dryer. How long will it be before a 13 week old kitten tries that one out for himself .............. I give it hours, rather than days......

Lesson of the Day - Jasper

CAT: The Doctor Who scarf style cat dancer toy is great fun and must be caught at ALL costs. After all, I have 9 lives.......

HUMAN: A kitten will chase the moving end of the Doctor Who scarf toy across the floor, furthest from the stick/handle, repeatedly until tired and sleepy. WRONG - the kitten has other ideas and aims for 3 foot in mid air to catch the stick instead after just 3 minutes of playing.

CAT: Chasing the moving end of a scarf thing across the floor, gets boring after a couple of attempts. There's no instruction manual with this toy, so who says I have to stay on the floor anyway.....

It's far more fun to launch yourself off the seat of the settee, then the arm of the settee and yes, the back of the settee - INTO MID AIR - to attempt to catch the stick end when it is raised out of your reach.

HUMAN: Doctor Who scarf toy PUT AWAY rapidly!

CAT: I gave her THAT look. I put my cutest kitten face on, blinked, blinked again slowly for effect and promised not to do it again (ok, so I lied!) but she still put the scarf thing away. Guess it's back to the boring, safe ping pong ball again, then.

Sunday 21 November 2010

Day Two

7:00am - Got up to make some hot blackcurrant and get cold capsules and settled in my dressing gown on the settee. Within 10 minutes I had two very purry kittens curled up on my chest. Both seem to be enjoying strokes and cuddles. Jasper settled himself round my neck on his side and Dino then curled up by my feet and we all snoozed together until 9am before feeding everyone breakfast.

9:30am - We have opened the lounge door. Crystal is growling at the kittens from through the banisters on the stairs, as they explore a little further each time they venture out of the room. Amber is staying in the bedroom!

4:30pm - I came home very briefly from the village hall to check on the kittens, who were both sound asleep on the settee, on their backs, legs entangled. They haven't settled in at all well then!




11:45pm - Mr Housekeeper has been in charge for the majority of today as I have been at a technical rehearsal for panto. The kittens have been very lively, exploring downstairs but have been growled at by the girls when they have attempted to go upstairs. Amber has stayed firmly in the bedroom. Crystal appears to be supervising the kittens from a distance but is still hissing at them a lot and neither of girls appear to have eaten very much today. Hopefully things will improve for them tomorrow as I hate to see either of the girls looking so bewildered and miserable.

Saturday 20 November 2010

Day One!

After a 3 hour journey, we arrived to pick up the boys. Dino slept whilst we were there and Rosie his Mum made sure that he had a good wash before he left for his new home.


Jasper played.

An hour later and we were on our way home with two QUIET? Abyssinians in the car.

It took Dino about half and hour to find his voice and he yelled periodically to ensure someone was still in the car, whilst Jasper slept most of the way home, as did I - full of cold. We arrived home at approx. 4:30pm.

4:35pm - Crystal strode into the lounge, took one look at the full cat carrier and hissed. Dino growled back from inside the box!  Crystal removed from the lounge! Dino straight out of carrier. Completed several laps of the lounge. Jasper still in his cat carrier, buried inside the fleece!

4:45pm - Dino has decided that the brown feather boa is the best toy ever and is laying on his back with it in his paws. Jasper is still in the cat carrier.


5:00pm - Jasper has finally made an appearance, with a very foxy tail and fur standing up on his back. Having surveyed the lounge from the arm of the sofa, he's now hiding behind the sofa!

5:30pm - Dino and Jasper are now sharing the brown feather boa. Dino striding around, Jasper a little hesitant. Jasper and Amber have met briefly thanks to Ambers ability to get through an almost closed door. A little hissing from Jasper and Amber runs away. Crystal is growling from outside the lounge door.

6:15pm - Dino has found the food and tucked in. Jasper doesn't seem very bothered about anything other than the brown feather boa!

6:30pm - Jasper has used the litter tray.

6:32pm - Dino has used the litter tray.

We are now taking it in turns to be in the dining room with the girls - I am currently blogging and printing packing slips for work with help from Crystal whilst Keith supervises the boys.

7:00pm - Two exhausted kittens asleep under the sofa. Two adult cats eating tea. Two exhausted humans with wine and tea on its way.

7:45pm - The running started ......


11:45pm- The running finally stopped. Dino flaked one one settee whilst Jasper curled up behind my legs as I snoozed on the other settee. Managed to scoop him up and have a cuddle with him in my arms as he fell asleep. Moved them both to their fleece bed and left them to sleep at approx. midnight.

Lesson of the Day - Jasper

CAT: The gravy from beef marinated in Guinness tastes great, but does make a mess of the fawn fur and takes ages to clean off the paws.

HUMAN: A 13 week old kitten standing on their hind legs is taller than you think they are!

Friday 19 November 2010

Lesson of the Day - Crystal

CAT: There are only so many times that you can leap from the kitchen floor to the 3 inch ledge on the front edge of the kitchen sink before you a) find that the sink is full of washing up water, rather than empty and b) miss your footing and get your back legs and tail VERY wet.

HUMAN: Following a wet Abyssinian with hurt pride and trying to pick her up with a towel, whilst wearing a short sleeved tshirt, in a vain attempt to be kind and help dry her off is a BAD idea!

Introductions

Before we get invaded tomorrow, I thought that I should introduce you to everyone. All of the following pictures were taken by the Abyssinian's breeders at approx. 13 weeks old, before they left to come to their new home.

In order of appearance .....

Koppercat Crystal Couture (Known as Princess Crystal or "Riz")
Crystal is a Female Fawn Abyssinian



Merrydancer Fern (Known as Amber, Ams or more commonly "Thuglet")
Amber is a Female Sorrel Abyssinian




Merrydancer Nice Touch (Known as Jasper)
Jasper is a Male Fawn Abyssinian



Merrydancer Nice Job (Known as Dino)
Dino is a Male Sorrel Abyssinian

Wednesday 17 November 2010

All is Calm, All is Bright!

It's the post tea time slumber ..... Crystal has installed herself in the radiator hammock in the dining room. Amber is curled up, somewhat squirrel like on the fur throw on the sofa.

Neither have any idea just how much their small lives are going to change in 48 hours time!!!!

The only evidence of things to come is the additional food mat and new, empty cat bowls on the kitten floor and the new, but as yet unslept in (but kicked across the floor) cat bed.

This appears, to be akin to the freshly decorated nursery with cot and fluffy toy, waiting for its new arrival!