10-17-16 Monday

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Hello, hello, I’m back! Did you miss me?

As it turned out, my vacation was canceled due to storm damage. I thought that meant there’d be no vacationing for me this October, but as it turns out, the people who run the timeshare we’d be staying at called and offered a different week. So I’ll be going on a short vacation at the end of the month after all – but I’ll pre-write and schedule posts to post while I’m gone so y’all won’t have to go without for a second week this month.

I spent the week doing a lot of outside work around the property, stuff I’ve been putting off forever. I raked and hauled off a ton and a half of leaves from the side yard, cleared out a lot of undergrowth in various areas around the back yard, and on Saturday I got out the chainsaw and started clearing the ditch between our property and the property next door. It’s been about 10 years (right after we bought the house, in fact) since I cleared that ditch. I filled the back of Fred’s truck twice over with undergrowth – and a 15-foot tree. The ditch isn’t done yet (I’ll finish it next weekend), but it already looks much better.

So, I called and canceled my flight last Sunday morning, and about 60 seconds later I was demanding my new babies from Winnie. I got them last Sunday afternoon. Wanna see them? You know you do!

Left to right: Raleigh, Chesnee, Charleston and Iva.

They’re all named after cities in North and South Carolina, and so I’m calling them the Carolinas. (I initially wanted to name the girls Myrtle and Charlotte, but those names have been used by the shelter in the past, so I found other names that I liked.)

They found the teddy bear basket in no time flat!

They’re now 7 weeks old – were just under 6 weeks old when I got them last week – and these kittens climb like crazy.

“Does we smell baby food?”

“No lady, seriously. You gots baby food down there?!”

Because they all look so much alike, everyone’s got collars. That’s Iva in the yellow collar, Raleigh in the blue, Chesnee in purple, and Charleston in green. I love the chipmunk stripes down their backs! Charleston (green) has a diamond on his shoulder blades, and a cross (or, if you prefer, a stick figure) on his back.

Charleston’s half a pound bigger than his siblings. Boyfriend likes his food.

They love, despite my many protestations, to wrassle in the litter boxes.

Left to right: Iva, Charleson, Raleigh, and Chesnee.

Let’s meet them one by one, shall we?

Charleston. He’s the biggest of the four, and also the most timid. He’s the one who still runs when I reach for him, and it takes a LOT of convincing (in the form of food or a feather teaser) to get him to come close enough that I can grab him. He was hissy when I first got them, and though he hasn’t hissed since Tuesday, he always looks like he’s thinking about it. I cuddle him often, and he’s very slowly coming around, but he’s proving to be the toughest nut to crack. He clearly WANTS to be friends, he just has to get past the fear.

Chesnee. She’s the littlest of the bunch. She’s also the most confident – she was the first to purr and the first to start approaching me when I sit down on the floor. Yesterday, she even started running toward me when I walked into the room rather than freezing or running away. She was the first to climb into my lap of her own volition, and yesterday she lay in my lap on her back, all four paws up in the air, and slept for about half an hour. Then she woke up, turned over onto her tummy, and fell asleep again.

Iva. She was the second one to purr for me, and at first she seemed nearly as confident as Chesnee. Then she decided maybe I was the devil, and would run and flinch from me. Now she’s settled in between confident and skittish, and I never know which I’m going to get. If there’s food around, she’s more willing to be friends – and yesterday, she willingly climbed into my lap for a short while. Actually, at this point, the only kitten who hasn’t climbed into my lap at all is (no surprise) Charleston. Iva’s super duper playful. They all climb a lot, but Iva is Super! Climbing! Kitty! and likes to climb to the top of the wall-mounted scratcher (about 5 1/2 feet up from floor level) and sit there, making me worry.

Raleigh. Wahhhh! He’s da BAYBEE! I would say that in terms of friendliness, he’s between Chesnee and Iva. He’s not quite as friendly as Chesnee, but he loves to be held, snuggled, kissed, and he LOVES to squeak his sad little meow from across the room, all “Why am I over here and you’re over there and you aren’t snuggling me?” And yet, will he come to me when I call and encourage him to come to me? No. I have to either lure him over with a toy or go get him. Then when I have him, he purrs and purrs and is like “Oh, right. I LIKE you. I forgot!” I’m honestly not sure how I haven’t squeezed him ’til the marshmallow fluff comes out his ears. He is such a MUFFIN.

Obviously, when their collars are showing, I can tell who’s who. I’m still getting to know their faces, and I know that one day I’ll know them at a glance, but for now I’m going to do my best to put the right name to the right face if the collar isn’t showing. If you ever suspect I’ve messed up the name, do feel free to pipe up. I’d rather you say something right away than have me run across the post in a year and get annoyed at myself for getting it wrong!

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There are two new ways you can help out Challenger’s House with very little effort and no cost to you!

1. Challenger’s House is now a Kroger Community Rewards recipient. Kroger makes a quarterly donation as a percentage of your spending at their stores to Challenger’s House, if you have Challenger’s House tagged on your Kroger card. This will cost you NOTHING, and the more people who designate Challenger’s House as a recipient, the more it’ll add up. I will point out that if you live too far from Huntsville, AL, Challenger’s House won’t show up. If you want to get around this, you can do so by changing your “My store” to one in the Huntsville area. Read more about how to make Challenger’s House your Community Rewards recipient by clicking here.

2. Fresh Step Paw Points – Donate your Paw Points to Challenger’s House. Points can be redeeemed for supplies as well as litter – so this is a great program! For a limited time, if you enter code SHELTERBONUS229 into your Fresh Step Paw Points, you get 750 – 1500 points, which you can then donate! (I don’t actually use Fresh Step anymore, but my sister does, and she sends me her points. I just donated all the points I had to Challenger’s House.) Read more about how to do this by clicking here!

(I’ll post these later this week as a reminder, and will try to remember to add it to the sidebar.)

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Well, THAT looks comfy, Newt.

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Previously
2015: No entry.
2014: Can’t take her eyes off herself. Can’t say as I blame her!
2013: (Meadow, all “I’ma sit on your head, Mama, okay? Okay!”)
2012: Talk about living dangerously! Poor Tommy.
2011: “What? I’m sleeping. You go ‘way.”
2010: While he was here, he was clearly COMPLETELY miserable.
2009: Hello, gorgeous.
2008: “Hey. You have two hands, don’t you? Two hands, two cats, THE MATH ADDS UP. Get to petting!”
2007: No entry.
2006: (Maddy learns the art of sarcasm)
2005: Sugarbutt’s back!

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