LostWoods Blog

Yes, I made an attempt again tonight to get pictures of Taiba. One of them (out of 18) borders on acceptable. It’s on her page and on the Available Adults page. The rest… well, they are typical Taiba. And moments before I tried to photograph her she was sitting on the kitchen counter — sitting up tall, eyes wide open, mouth closed… beautiful!

Sigh…

On the other hand, Natane and Ohanna were more cooperative. New pictures of them are on their pages, too. Here are a couple kinda funny ones and one beautiful shot of them together.

Natane says, “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Fine! I don’t want to talk to you, either!” Ohanna replies.

But we are willing to pose for the camera.

Elsewhere in the house, Kalispell is once again beginning to resemble a cantaloupe. I’ve told her that five or six babies would be okay, but eight is too many. I hope she’s listening. LOL!

I should have new pictures of the Warrior Cats tomorrow. Sondra had her hands full today with vet appointments and a lunch to attend. Cross your fingers. I’m my usual impatient self, dying to see new photos of them.

Now that the final standings for TICA are out, I have some more bragging to do about the LostWoods kids and grandkids.

Starting with CFA, we are celebrating two regional best of breed awards. Norlights C McCoy of LostWoods is the Best Norwegian Forest Cat in CFA’s Gulf Shore Region. Also in the GSR, LostWoods Frue Skadi of MacchaSkog (previously known as Ce’Nedra) was the 3rd Best NFC. In CFA’s Northwest Region, LostWoods StarSong Finale is the Best NFC. Way to go, Smack, Skadi, and Fin!

In TICA we have even more to cheer about. First, a HUGE congratulations to ForestKatz Treat who is the Best NFC Alter in TICA, 17th BestAlter internationally, 2nd Best Alter in the South Central Region and who earned his Lifetime Achievement title for having earned at least two RWs and one IW!!! (Actually, that’s two IWs now…) Treat is the son of LostWoods Torianna of ForestKatz and a full brother to Basia.

Next, let’s have a big hooray for LostWoods Cyra of ForestKatz who ended the show year as 20th Best Kitten, 10th Best LH Cat, and Best NFC Cat in TICA’s South Central Region. The little Fish was also 5th best NFC kitten for the year and 10th best NFC cat in all of TICA. (If I got any of that wrong, I’m sure that Jim will set me straight.)

And as I mentioned last week, another hooray to LostWoods Majestic of Foresttales (Magic, aka Kheldar) who was the 17th Best Kitten in TICA’s Mid-Pacific Region.

Congratulations are also in order for ForestKatz Mr Wickett of KSNorskatt who came on strong at the end of the season to be 9th Best Kitten in the South Central Region, along with being Best NFC kitten in the region. MW also 2nd Best NFC kitten internationally. MW is Basia’s littermate. He is owned by newbie Sharon Poer who must be over the moon at her handsome guy’s success.

It was a great year for the LostWoods family and extended family. I’m looking forward to seeing how the cats do in 2008-2009. Basia is going to be out and about some, hopefully getting her titles in TICA. If I don’t place Natane, I’ll be showing her when I take Basia to shows and I may be bringing out Lira Bug in hopes of getting that one last Best so she can be a Supreme in TICA. (She’s already a Grand Premier in CFA, as well as a RW in both associations.) Ohanna is going to live with a person who will showing her in TICA. Brenda will be showing Keona, as well as probably bringing Comet out to try for his Grand Premier title in CFA. She may also continue to work on Smack’s Grand – if the hormonal teenage boy will settle down a bit and cooperate. And there’s been interest from a couple breeders in Danica’s kittens so it’s quite possible you’ll see one or more of them in the show rings this winter. And let’s not forget Magic, who will be making a winning impression in Alter class in TICA this year. Look for us all at a show near you.

… but Sondra is keeping her promise to take pictures every week for us. One week pictures of the Warrior Cats are up on my website. (Ask and you shall receive, Michelle!) I’ll update Sondra’s a little later with the same pictures. As you’ll see, the babies are starting to open their eyes. They are all gaining weight well. Danica — silly mom cat — has decided that the bigger of the two nursery boxes is the proper home for them after all. This after she insisted they must be in the little, cramped box for the first several days. I guess she came to her senses and realized they would all be more comfortable if they had a little more room.

I’ve been busy this week doing some work on the NFCFA Constitution. I think I mentioned that I’d been appointed By-Laws Committee chair, so along with learning my duties as Breeder Division Secretary, I’m also deep into the workings of NFCFA in general. I think our Constitution proposals are nearly ready to be shared with the membership as a whole. I hope that we’ve listened to what has been said by members over the past five months or so and have written something that they will approve of. Oh, I’m not naive enough to think that 100% of the members will be happy — although I’d love that! — but I do think we are proposing changes that the majority will like.

After our HOT weather last weekend we’ve been having cool and rainy weather for days. I think it’s supposed to be somewhat nicer in the next few days, though. We’d hoped to go camping, but with the possibility of rain or snow in the mountains, we’ll be staying home to work on the gardens and relax around the house. I hope you all have a pleasant long weekend!

The other day I told you that I’d heard from Magic’s owner about what a wonderful show he had his first time back in the show hall in six months. Today, I saw the show report on the TICA list for that show. Magic was the Best Alter overall at the show! I know I was cheering before, but I think you should have been able to hear my whoop! of celebration almost all the way to Magic’s home in Oregon this morning when I saw the report. Again — way to go, Magic and Connie! Here are a couple pictures of him that Connie sent me last week.

Greetings from summery Montana where we enjoyed temps in the 90s over the weekend. I planted a bed of wildflower sod while Ken and Jeremy put down a stone border for our garden this weekend. It was nice to get to work outside and start planting. Can’t get too carried away because winter could still return for a quick visit, but more and more plants are popping up. And summer may soon revert back to spring,  as today is supposed to be a little cooler (low 80s) with Wednesday back in the 50s and rainy. For new readers of the blog, go back to about this time last year to see the beginnings of the flower gardens here at LostWoods. This year we’re adding a semi-formal garden for some herbs and other edibles. That is, if the deer don’t decide that everything we plant is a buffet for them. Much as I enjoy watching the deer, they are darn annoying when they chew on the trees, the roses, and assorted other plants in the yard. Sooner or later we’re going to have to give in and fence the whole place to keep them out.  

Today is my first sandal and cropped pants day of the year. I’m lucky to work at a place with a very relaxed dress code. Actually,  on my first day of work my supervisor’s comment about the dress code was “we prefer you to be dressed.” LOL! And so, we dress pretty casual around here. I never wear shorts to work and I rarely (maybe twice in the two years I’ve been here) wear anything with sayings or logos on it. But jeans, cropped pants, tank tops, and tee shirts are a staple of my wardrobe.

Keona went to Colorado to live with Brenda on Saturday and Brenda reports she’s settling in well. She and McCoy (her future boyfriend) are becoming friends and playing wildly. She’s met her Beau-dad and he is acting more like a father figure to her than a playmate. Brenda says it’s funny to see them adopting the father-daughter roles considering they just met and, of course, had no idea that is their blood relationship.

Isadora headed off to Virginia Saturday where her plane was met by her new mom and dad. They called after she arrived and are delighted with her. Upon arriving in her new home, she set out to explore the brand new cat tree and the rest of the house. I’m sure she’s going to be very spoiled and loved there.

In other LostWoods kitten news… I heard from Magic’s (the kitten formerly known as Kheldar) mom on Saturday evening — a quick email to say I should call her Sunday morning so she could tell me about what happened at the show on Saturday. So I did. Connie was thrilled with our little guy’s day — especially considering he hadn’t been in a show ring for six months. We talked again last night and Magic ended up the weekend with finals in 11 of the 12 rings at the show, including two Bests! Whoo-hoo! I guess this would be a good time to also announce a season brag for Magic — he was the 17th Best Kitten in TICA’s Mid-Pacific region for 2007-2008. Way to go, Connie and Magic! I’ll be seeing them in Chehalis in mid-June and can hardly wait. Yes, I’ll try to take pictures to share with all of you.

Speaking of pictures… Beth sent me some of Brasen and Keiran (aka the Master of Disaster) a week or so ago that I’ve been meaning to share. Here are the boys sitting in the window. Aren’t they handsome?

And here’s a picture of Bannack (now known as Tikki) that his owner sent me recently.

Kyrith’s Kaye-mom sent me a picture of him recently, too, but I don’t have it on this computer, so I’ll post it another day. It’s so fun to see how my fur babies are growing up!

Sondra reports that all the Warrior Cats are thriving and Danica is a wonderful mom. Danica does insist that the kittens be in the little (about 12″ x 12″) box instead of the bigger (about 12″ x 24″) box where Sondra thought they should be. She kept moving them. Sondra compromised with her and put some blankets in the small box. Now Danica leaves the kittens there — although she does takes breaks from them and lounges in the bigger box! We’ve decided the dark boy is a brown tabby and white, not a black and white.

Thanks, Michelle, for catching my mistakes on the Warrior Cats page on the site. I think I have everything fixed. That’s what happens when I work on two sites (mine and Sondra’s) at the same time. I forget what I’ve done where. That and I just can’t type… Off to lunch now before I make too many more typos in here.

Pictures, as promised, and a few more details.

The theme for this litter is the Warrior Cats from a series of books that Sondra’s girls love. Oh, yes, I’ve read them, too, and they are good. (www.warriorcats.com) We’ve named all except the dark boy. Notice I say “dark” boy. That’s because the jury is still out as to whether he’s a black and white, or a cold brown tabby & white. Now that I’ve seen pictures, I’m leaning toward black and white, but we’ll see if more tabby markings develop over the next few days. Right now he has some faint stripes on his tail, but it’s possible they are just ghost markings.

Kitten one is a boy, as I mentioned before. His name will be either Feathertail or Thunderstar. Kitten two is a girl, named Tawnypelt. Kitten three is a girl, named Brightheart. She’s the one with lots and lots of white. Kitten four is a boy, named Firestar. He has a lot of white, too, but not as much as Brightheart. Kitten five is another girl, named Dawnflower. She’s the one with the patches of brown and red.  

I can’t update my website from work, so you’re just going to have to check back tonight for individual pictures of the kittens. I do have them and all I can say is, Danica and McCoy did good! These babies are absolutely darling!!! I just wish I could see them in person, but that will have to wait all the way until mid-July when I go through Colorado on my way to Wichita Falls. But I’m sure Sondra, her family, Brenda and Grant will love these babies half to death — like they do all the kittens.

Just a preliminary report… I’m waiting for Danica’s other mom Sondra and our faithful friend and assistant midwife, Brenda, to determine the sexes of the kittens and send me pictures. And maybe even names… But just to whet your appetite (as mine has been), here’s the news from Colorado. (Sondra’s account of the events, slightly edited by me.)

At 3:20 this morning Sondra’s daughter came in to tell her she woke up to a kitten crying. So kitten one was born about 3:20 am and is a brown and white male who weighed 4.2 oz. Sondra called Brenda and she came over to find that now kitten two had been born just as she walked in. A red and white, lots of red and this one weighed 4.1 oz. They were a little worried when they cut the cord and it started to bleed so they called me but all is fine. Kitten two was born at 3:32 am. At 3:58 kitten three made it’s way into the world. Another red and white but this one has a ton of white and a really big inverted V on the forehead. Darling. Kitten three weighs 4.0 oz. No wonder she was so big huh?! But she was still big and so they knew another was in there and sure enough at 4:40 am kitten 4 was born. Scared them a bit as this one was breech and just as Sondra was about to help the head out, Dani gave another push and out the baby came and is fine. Brenda said she thought this one was a big one and she was right, kitten 4, another red and white, a good mix of both, weighed 4.5 oz. So Brenda had to leave so she could get ready for work, but still another was on the way. Brenda was not here to see kitten 5 born at 5:02 am but it came probably by the time she got home. This one is for sure a girl since she is a patch tabby much like her mommy. She is the smallest but still weighed in at 3.8 oz. Mom and babies are doing fine and Sondra will try to get pictures later.

Like Sondra said, it’s no wonder Danica was so big. Five babies is a big litter for an NFC and their birth weights are all above average. Since then I’ve talked to Sondra on the phone and she reports that Dani has thoroughly cleaned herself and the kittens and the whole little family is settled down to contentedly sleep and nurse. I can’t wait to see pictures!!!

As requested… or at least partially meeting a request… here’s a six month picture of Rand I took a couple weeks ago.

Taiba… well that little miss is a pain to photograph because she always — and I do mean ALWAYS — talks to the teaser. So all I get are weird pictures with her mouth open and her eyes all squinty. I keep trying. Really, I do! So one of these days I just know I’ll catch her with her mouth shut, eyes open, and doing justice to her pretty self.

More news when I have it.

Time flies… A year ago I started playing around with blogging, never expecting anyone except my family, friends, and kitten owners to read it. Since then I’ve heard from quite a few other people and discovered that my family and friends don’t read it very often at all! How funny! I was much better in the beginning about writing nearly every day, so my new year’s resolution is to get back on track and write more for you. I’ll try.

Danica has not had her babies yet, but Sondra is thinking they’ll arrive any time now. Here are a couple pictures of our very fat girl. The one of her on the toy box shows her favorite position — flat out on her tummy on some cool, hard surface.

The Winter Gifts are 14 weeks old today. Keona and Isadora have their health certificates and are ready to get on planes to their new homes. It’s looking like Keona will be able to leave Friday afternoon, but Izzy will have to wait until Saturday. Izzy has to be on the earliest flight out of Helena in order to make her connections across the country and the Thursday and Friday early morning flights are full. So I get an extra day or so to play and cuddle with her. There’s a new group shot of them on the web site, along with their 14 week pictures.

Xaria came home with me from Oregon. It’s a long story, but comes down to she wasn’t a good fit for Heather and Patrick’s home right now. I’ll be looking for a new home for her. Brenda and I have a lead that she is following up, so maybe that will work out. Here are a few pictures of her.

Oh, by the way, Comet has been adopted by a couple in Colorado Springs. They are crazy about him and he seems very happy with them. He’s close enough that Brenda can visit now and then, and she’s going to show him a little this winter in Premiership.

Speaking of Brenda and our boys… She took McCoy to a TICA show in Albuquerque last weekend. Our Smack earned finals in six rings, including a Best. She has yet to send me the complete list, but as soon as I get it from her, I’ll update the Show News page with his results. He’s more than likely a Quadruple Grand Champion in TICA now, needing only a few more points and another Best to be a Supreme Grand Champion.

I have more show news coming up… The results aren’t official yet in TICA, so I’ll wait a little longer and put all the LostWoods season award brags in one post. It was a pretty good year for some of our babies and grandbabies.

Yes, I made it out here safe and sound and have been hanging out with Heather, Patrick, Braysen, and baby Merrick. We’ve been blessed with a couple days of sunny weather, so we’ve had a chance to spend some time outside and also go to the park. Braysen thinks that plants need to be fed with rocks, so he has spent a lot of time dropping rocks onto the shrubs in Heather and Patrick’s front yard. I’m not sure why rocks are the food of choice, but he spends long (for a two year old) periods of time “feeding” them.

Also in the plant front… this morning Braysen got in trouble for playing in the dirt in the potted plant in the family room. I got out the vacuum and cleaned up his mess. Not ten minutes later he did it again. And I cleaned it up again. Then we went to the park for a little bit. After we got home, while we were all getting and eating lunch, Braysen once again visited the plant. He took a handful of dirt and neatly piled it up on the floor beside the pot. Then he got the toy vacuum out and proceeded to take it to clean up the dirt. I had to go into the kitchen so he wouldn’t hear me laughing at him, leaving H & P to deal with their little mess maker. Kids!

I’ve taken pictures of Braysen, Merrick, and Xaria so far. The sweetest one I got of the boys has Braysen sitting on the floor holding Merrick’s hand.

It’s not the best shot I’ve taken in the past couple days, but it is certainly the one with the most “Awww!” potential. Braysen is much too busy to pose for pictures, so I just hold the camera and wait for a worthy shot. Neither he nor Merrick respond to a teaser worth a darn! LOL!

Xaria is beautiful and funny. I see a lot of her mother, the Queen of Everything, in her. She also has the most gorgeous green eyes. I’m still trying to get a shot that shows them off well. I have one, but her face was a little dirty, so I’m trying for a better one.

BTW, the runoff election for Breeder Division Secretary in NFCFA finally is over and I will be spending the next two years doing that, along with serving as By-Laws committee chairman. Going to be a busy time.

Our dog Colter (part Husky, part Golden Retriever) has been spending more time in the house lately. He’s a good dog — he’s two weeks younger than Shira and we’ve had him since shortly after she came to live with us, so he grew up knowing the cats and learning that touching the cats was unacceptable behavior. Not in time for him to refrain from carrying Shira by her tail and injuring it, but he has never hurt a cat or kitten since. Of course, we don’t leave him with the kittens unsupervised as one wrong move — however unintentional — could seriously injure or even kill a kitten. When he’s in the house, he lies down on near the couch and chews on his bones or toys, happy to be hanging out with us.

Basia is fascinated by Colter. She watches him closely and has inspected him from all angles. He ignores her. The last few times he’s been in the house, she decided to go a little further. She sits down on the floor about six inches away. Then she reached out and touched his nose. Repeatedly. Petting him, maybe? She bats at his paws. She rolls around on the floor looking up at him, almost begging him to play with her. He ignores her. The only time he ever reacts is if she gets too close to his bone. Then he makes a kind of snorty sound to warn her away.

It’s pretty funny to watch her. I think she really is trying to make friends with Colter. Or maybe she’s just taunting him. I prefer to think that her sweet self just wants to be friends.

Off to Oregon in the morning. I’ll stay until at least the 10th, and most likely the 11th, so no new photos of the Winter Gifts this week. I probably will write in the blog once or twice while I’m gone though. Heather and Patrick have one of my kittens — Xaria from the Wedding Gifts litter — so I’ll try to get some pictures of her for you all. And I plan to go visit another person or two in the area that have NFCs, so maybe I’ll have some pictures of them as well.