Guest Kittens - the Breakthrough.

It's been two weeks since Guest Kittens 2 and 3 moved into our improvised Sunflower Kitten Hotel.

During that time they have grown like ... well, sunflowers, and after a painstakingly slow process of acclimatisation and a small amount of blood spilt - mine - they have finally stopped seeing us as a threat.

Two days ago, we experienced a major breakthrough. Turn up the volume and check out the result here:

It's been quite an adventure, getting this far. Confrontational, too. I'm not the most patient person on the planet, so this is a life lesson, a story of apprivoiser, like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's little prince who had to go through the necessary steps and rituals to approach and befriend his fox.

What a fragile and hard-won construct trust can be - and rightfully so.

But now we've come this far, we've got a good chance of finding this precious duo a warm and loving home.

They're still a bit shy, but I'm sure that with continued TLC they will blossom into the most affectionate cats you can imagine - just like their mum and their big sister. And they make great entertainers - the perfect distraction while you're trying to write ...

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Kitten Said No ...

(No comment.)

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Sunflower Kitten Hotel.

2012 started well for Guest Kitten 1. On the second day of the New Year, she moved to a big house in the historic centre of Bruges (how lucky can you get ...) to live with a loving couple, their wonderful little girl and two big-hearted Golden Retrievers.

Since her departure we've managed to capture her two remaining siblings and now they too enjoy the perks of our temporary three-star Sunflower Kitten Hotel (formerly known as: The Conservatory).

They're still very shy, but each day they become more curious, playful and at ease. Earlier this morning one started purring when I was near, which makes me hopeful they'll want to check us out soon.

It means that in a matter of days, these two cuties will also be ready to go to a new home.

Therefore, if you're anywhere in or near Flanders, Belgium and you have a big heart, house or garden, drop me a line.

Below I've enclosed two more videos - for your entertainment and okay, maybe a bit to play on your emotions ....

Feel free to pass them on to your family and friends! ;-)

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Looking for a Home - the Sequel.

Two weeks ago I shared a few videos of our newest Guest Kittens and wrote about the subsequent 'Looking for a Home' campaign. Well, a lot has happened since then.

First of all, we've officially adopted their mum. She's been to the vet, has been sterilised and she's recovering well. We've named her Maharet, after the character from the Anne Rice novels.

We've also been working hard to gain our Guest Kittens' trust, with mixed success. It's going to be a long process, but worth the effort if we want to find them a good home.

Guest Kitten 1 is now lodged in our conservatory and we're getting close to being able to pick it up and pet it, without it crawling into a corner and hissing its tiny vocal cords in a twist.

Here's a video of Guest Kitten 1 'playing it cool'. Not an easy job when you're snuggled up on a giant sunflower ...

Anyway, this little cutie is still looking for a warm and loving home, so if you've got a whole lot of love and a little bit of time and space, drop me a line!

Guest Kitten wishes you a wonderful year's end

and an even better start of 2012!

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More Guest Kittens - Looking for a Home.

Last September, I recounted the adventures of Guest Kitten. I'm happy to let you know that in the meantime we have adopted her, she has undergone the inevitable veterinary procedures and she now goes by the name of 'Spook'.

A few weeks ago, we discovered she has 3 younger brothers and sisters. In other words, new Guest Kittens have arrived. 

Their mum, who was left behind by her owners when they moved earlier this year, is now lying on a cushion in the conservatory, awaiting a visit of her own to the vet. She knows what we have in store for her; she's been glaring at me through the window all evening.

Still, we can't continue adopting every stray cat in the neighbourhood (I admit I have considered it), so we are looking for a new home for the Amazing Kitten Threesome. If you happen to live anywhere near Belgium and have a big heart, house or garden, drop me a line!

I don't need to tell you they are the cutest kittens ever. You know you want to be cuddled up in front of a fire this winter with a few of these crawling all over you:

And if you're still not convinced ... 

(warning: do not watch the following video if you're cuteness intolerant or easily swayed by emotion!)

Pretty please?

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Cat Tales.

We have cats, or - more correctly - cats have us.

Our Feline Overlords are called Cleo and Pixie and we've chosen to keep them outdoors. They have our garden to play in and plenty of (other) unkempt urban wilderness nearby. I often envy them.

Cleo is the Queen. She rules the garden with well-timed and unexpected attacks on anything with the audacity to move or breathe in her queendom. This includes her brother Pixie. (See picture above. If you look closely you can also see our Naughty Tree.)

In the absence of toes to chew on,
Pixie will settle for fingers.

Pixie is a beautiful cat but an unbelievable coward. I suppose it's partly my fault because I had him turned into an ex-tomcat several years ago. (Sorry, guys).

The removal of his Dignity and Pride has no doubt made him the laughing stock of his champagne-cork-soccer buddies and he's developed a toe fetish since. I suspect it's a coping mechanism.

About two years ago, our neighbours got a new cat. A domesticated one. You know the type: sociable, people-loving and utterly naive. Cleo hated her from day one. Pixie pretends he does too, but you can tell he's actually scared of her.

More than a year of hissing, growling and pitiful meowing later, the neighbours' cat got pregnant. When her Humans moved, she got left behind, so she's been eating Cleo's and Pixie's food since, which hasn't improved their opinion of her.

In turn, Mum abandoned her remaining kitten and I had to adopt it. I tried not to, but have you ever said no to a kitten?

The first weeks, this was the side
of Guest Kitten we saw most.

Guest Kitten is one of the cutest specimen I've ever seen and she believes our cats are her family. When she started to follow them around, it worried me at first. I expected to find pieces of Guest Kitten impaled on herb stalks to mark the borders of Cleo's territory.

It hasn't happened. Cleo is apprehensive but seems to tolerate Guest Kitten, while Pixie is - you've guessed it - afraid of her.

Guest Kitten at play.

In the beginning, Guest Kitten wasn't too crazy about Humans, but after weeks of 'apprivoiser', as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry called it, she's warming up to me.

So far I've been able to pet her, pick her up and determine she's a 'she'. She's also beginning to rub against my legs. I guess I'm hers now. I don't mind. Did I mention how adorable she is?

Now, Guest Kitten needs a name, and this is where you come in. I'd love to name her after a female character of a novel, be it from a published one or a WIP. Yours or someone else's, I don't mind, as long as it fits. Please post your suggestions in the comments and I promise I'll consider each and every one.

To help you choose, here's Guest Kitten in action, exploring a box:

However, in the end, the box was claimed by the Queen herself ...

... while Pixie watched from a safe distance, ready to escape at the first hint of danger:

Afterwards they met up for family dinner. There was much rejoicing.

The End.

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K is for Kittens.

I'm a cat person. I love how they don't grovel. Ever. Even when you feed them, they'll make you feel like you're the one who should be thankful.

Cats are fabulous at every stage of their lives, but I find them completely irresistible as kittens. Kittens are the epitome of cute.

Therefore, without further ado ... 8 great photographs of kittens. I'll leave it up to you to come up with captions!


1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Which one is your favourite?

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Photo 1: 'Im a big mighty tiger!' by Anette K. Available under a creative commons license. © 2009, Anette K.

Photo 2: 'kitten' by Gary Goldberg. Available under a creative commons license. © 2005, Gary Goldberg.

Photo 3: 'Kitten' by jm2c. Available under a creative commons license. © 2009, jm2c.

Photo 4: 'Kitten faces' by Barbara Quinn. Available under a creative commons license. © 2008, Barbara Quinn.

Photo 5: 'Kitten & Barolo' by Alex Brown. Available under a creative commons license. © 2010, Alex Brown.

Photo 6: 'Kitten - Bitey' by Nicholas Lee. Available under a creative commons license. © 2006, Nicholas Lee.

Photo 7: 'Kitten, reading subtitles' by Eddy Van 3000. Available under a creative commons license. © 2007, Eddy Van 3000.

Photo 8: 'Kitten in a bowl' by Ragnhild Brosvik. Available under a creative commons license. © 2005, Ragnhild Brosvik.

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Cats.

Just a quick find for today: several suggestions on how to store and organise your cats.

I found it really funny. The cats on the other hand seem not amused.

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Ideas for the Holidays.

Amazing how time flies... we're nearly halfway into November! Less than a month from now, many of us will be preparing for the holidays and thinking about presents to put under the Christmas / Yule / Hanukkah tree.
In order to get myself in the right mindset, in the next couple of weeks I'm going to try and post a bunch of party, decoration, food & drink and gift ideas.

(c) christmasstockimages.com

First of all: the tree. I have to admit: I love the smell of a real tree. Still, I hate the thought of slaying it just to decorate the house for a while.
Therefore, many years ago, I decided to buy a tree with roots and plant it out in the garden afterwards for reuse the next year. Unfortunately that didn't work out. By the time I got around to putting it outside, it was too far gone.

After three years of miserable failure, I finally succeeded to save one. I planted it in my herb garden (where it really didn't fit in), didn't dig it out for the following holiday seasons and eventually moved it to another part of the garden where it died anyway. In my defense, I did cut it up and compost it.

In the meantime I've found a compromise: I wait until a couple of days before Christmas, when all normal people have long got their tree and the only ones left are the poor little ugly trees nobody wanted. That's when I come in, a superhero with wool mittens, offering that little, despairing, cut-down tree an opportunity to fulfil its final purpose: to bring beauty and joy to a living room. And every year I'm surprised what a bit of careful pruning, lots of sparkly lights and lavish gold-coloured decoration can achieve.

But as perceivers go (another not-so-covert MBTI reference), I'm always open to consider alternatives for the classic tree, and a few of these certainly hold potential:

Last year, on a champagne tasting trip to France, I saw this at the Mercier house:

Wouldn't that make a brilliant, bubbling Christmas tree? I swear, if anyone wants to get me one of those, I'll take good care of it! I might even share.

Just in case you're not a millionaire, here are a few other, more budget friendly suggestions:

A tree made with your favourite chocolates:

Or your best-loved books:

And I just love these:

• My absolute favourite from All the luck in the world.
• Actually, this sushi tree might be even better, if you don't mind having to make a new one each day. Great idea for a seasonal party though!
• Clever Karen's vintage card tree.
• The wooden possibiliTree®: a frame you can decorate any which way you like.
• Get creative with the content of your bookshelves and see how observant your visitors are.
• Got a hammer and nails? Find a couple of pieces of wood to recycle and make one of these, or get one at Wood & Wool Stool.

And now for something completely different, but not entirely: if you'd consider getting someone a pet for a present, see how to wrap it below. Buffoonery, I say!

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