LostWoods Blog

I took a few pictures yesterday evening of Fin’s run. It’s not as nice as I hope it will be in the future. We have a big blue wooden box under the window for access into the stud room. I hope to replace it with something more fitting for the natural environment. And I have plans to add a small pond and waterfall to the corner of the run — hopefully yet this summer. Anyway, here they are:

 And here are a few pictures of Finny enjoying his run.

And last, here’s Donut, the garage kitty. (aka Tucker) Caboose did not grace us with her presence when I was taking pictures, so a new one of her will have to wait.

Today’s trivia: http://www.funtrivia.com/email/play.cfm?egroup=323149&tmp=1215648307

The newest addition to the family arrived yesterday afternoon — a 9 pound 1 ounce, highly anticipated baby boy. Merrick Conner is the son of my daughter Heather and her husband Patrick. I don’t have pictures yet. Don’t they know proud grandparents who live hundreds of miles away need pictures the second he’s born? Or at least within hours? I will post one or two here once I have some to share. I will be headed out to Oregon on Saturday morning to spend a week getting acquainted with the little man, as well as having some fun with my other grandson, Braysen.

(Photo added 05/01/2008)

I thought I had everything updated last night so it would be okay until I get a real revamp done. Ha! Somehow or another, all the gif files (pictures) I used for my banner and navigation in the template are showing up as boxes with a little red x in the corner. They still work — if you know which one you want to click. Big, long sigh… so tonight I will attempt to fix that. In the meantime, both Chinua and Rockatts are done and working fine today.

In answer to my wondering if the girls are also trying to groom themselves, I saw Keona  licking the top of Izzy’s head this morning. So sweet and cute! Natane is still the rambunctious one of the group and last night he was toddling around their bed trying in turn to chomp each of the girls on their backs. Every now and then someone would yelp and I’d know he’d connected.

Kali is in heat again. It seems that every time she goes into heat and I take her out to stay with Finny, she promptly changes her mind. She doesn’t like Fin for some reason. If Peanut is around she does her best to seduce him, but she is all hisses and growls with Finny. If she doesn’t get over this she may never have babies again.   

Friday was a busy day, trying to get some chores around the house done so we could go to Billings on Saturday for Ken’s family reunion. We spent the night and came back today. It was nice to see everyone, but with such a short visit and so many people, it’s hard to spend much time with anyone individually. To any family who are now reading my blog, that’s another  reason you need to come visit!

I took Crya and Zak outside for their weekly pictures. Cyra’s not sure that being in a tree or even outside is a great idea and I’ll admit, I like that she doesn’t like being out there. It’s better they don’t get too used to being outside. But she did pose nicely for some pictures. I’ll attach an bonus shot of her here — different than what is on the website. Zak is better about being outside, but still not all that comfortable. He’s more interested in exploring than posing.

Polgara’s eye is about back to normal, but I came home this afternoon to find that’s she’s not herself. Maybe I’m imagining things, but she seems quieter than usual. I think she’ll be visiting Dr Jennifer tomorrow if she’s still this quiet tomorrow morning.

Talia is in heat, which explains why she was so intent on weaning kittens last week. She and Shira will be going in to be spayed in a couple weeks. It’s sad to think that they won’t be having more babies, but it’s time they get to relax and enjoy the good life without all the stress on their bodies that come from being in heat, being pregnant, and nursing kittens. Shira will be able to rule the house full time. Talia, more than likely, will still help take care of babies, since she’s done that with other girls’ kittens even when she doesn’t have her own.

Back to work — catching up from being gone a day and a half.

Zakath and Cyradis show no signs of being harmed by the shared mothering happening here. Both are gaining weight, both already have their eyes open, and both seem happy and content to be sharing the same bedroom with seven other babies. One week pictures of the MBs are on the website — even though Talia didn’t much like me making the babies cry by taking photos. You’d think she’s be used to it by now since I’ve taken pictures of all her babies again and again.

Zakath - 8.1 oz

Cyradis - 7.7 oz

Today Peanut was determined to escape from the cat room and go find himself a girlfriend. Since I was cleaning, I was in and out of that room numerous times today. One time he raced past me as fast as he could go, through the dining room, kitchen, living room and front hall. Then up the stairs and down the hall to my room. As he burst into the room and headed for the kittens (which was where the girls were) Kali — who usually loves being around Peanut — puffed herself up and stood in front of them as if to say, “don’t come near my babies! I’ll have to hurt you!” I quickly grabbed Peanut and held him while introducing him to the babies. Peanut has always liked kittens, so I wasn’t worried about him hurting them, but I did see it as my chance to catch him and return him to the cat room before he decided to start marking territory.

I’m not sure what got into him today but I’d guess that some female is about to go into heat. Oh joy. But no girls for Peanut for now. When I get back from a class in Seattle in June he has a girlfriend coming to visit. He’ll just have to suffer until then.

I managed to get 10 week photos of the Leprechauns this evening. Keegan wasn’t willing to pose with her sister and brother for a group shot, but their individual shots all turned out pretty cute. Keiran looks like he’s been playing in the dirt, though. He has a dirty spot on his nose. Heaven only knows what he’s been into!

Talia and Kali continue to play games with their kittens. Kali today decided to steal Cyradis from Talia and put her under the shoe rack. Then Kali went and retrieved a couple of her own kittens and moved them under the shoe rack as well. I found all three kittens and Kali happily living there about noon today. Talia didn’t seem to care as she had the majority of the babies. Nobody seems any worse for the wear, but I am watching them very closely to make sure no kitten gets neglected or chilled.

I decided not to go to Colorado this weekend. My cold shows no signs of improving enough for me to want to spend all those hours in the car — not to mention being a hazard because my head is pretty fuzzy. So I guess I’ll be staying home and relaxing this weekend.