I am 9 weeks old now!

We have had an absolutely horrendous weekend (not cat related) which is why there were no kitten diaries online. They will resume as per normal tomorrow.

I did manage to take individual photos again of our babies as I hadn't done that for quite some time and it was long overdue. Some babies were more compliant than others during the photos session, others were pleased to pose for the camera. This is the start of a very busy weekend for us, going into next week, as we have a few different things on the go at the moment, one of which includes monitoring a honeymoon that commenced today between Ashanti and one of our ladies, then there are a few other major events happening, so please do bear with me if diaries are short, or few and far between over the next few days. We also have a girl who is due in approximately 1 week's time so everything really is up in the air at the moment. My one bright spot in our very hectic schedule are the babies. I tell you, when there is so much going on, it is such a pleasure to be able to go upstairs and just sit with the babies and play with them and chat to them.

There was no way at all Liquorice was going to have her photo taken today which you can see quite clearly by the slightly blurred images below. It's not that she wanted to play, or that she was hungry, she just didn't want to have her photo taken and when a Black doesn't want something done, then it doesn't get done. For those of you who have never shared your home with an Oriental Black, apart from the fact that you really don't know what you're missing out on, but you have no idea just how stubborn these cats are. Each different breed colour has characteristics that are solely related to that colour. For example, the Havana's are the athlete's of the Oriental world. They have amazing agility, more so than any other colour, and they move so incredibly fast. The Reds, are just too naughty to be able to live with, but they are naughty in a loving way, unlike the Torties who are simply just plain wicked, but the Torties show you a love that is more intense than any other colour. So, yes there is a personality trait with regards to each colour and stubbornness belongs solely to the Blacks. Already, at such a very young age, Liquorice is extremely clear on what she will and will not do, and if Liquorice wants something, then she will get it. If I want her to do something she doesn't want to do, she gives me that evil look that is a bit special again in the Blacks. When she does this, she minds me so much of her grandmother, Sambuca. I am wondering if Linz really does know what she is letting herself in for?

Many apologies for missing an entry today however we had a number of things to sort out yesterday and there just wasn't time to get an entry online.

It dawned on me that I could get away with not doing any diary entries for Liquorice for the next few days as her new mum currently doesn't have access to the internet and can't read them anyway :) I've really not got any motivation to write kitten diary entries today as I do have other things I'd rather be doing and because I left this entry until last, chances are, it will be quite short. What also makes it difficult is that Liquorice does tend to do the same thing day in, day out, which is sleep, eat, wrestle, pounce, play, groom, explore, and run. That is Liquorice' life as it goes. I could tell you about what she did last night actually while I think of it. I was in the kitten room doing the litter trays and we keep our cat litter in tubs with lids on them and the tubs sit on top of the work surface. I took the lid of the litter tub, I then emptied the entire litter tray contents, went to scrub the tray, came back and here was Liquorice, inside the tub of litter, scratching around and preparing to go to the toilet. I moved pretty darn quickly let me tell you and scooped her up and put her back in the other litter tray that was on the floor waiting to be cleaned as well. You only have to turn your back for 2 minutes and that girl is into something that she shouldn't be.

One thing I must mention is that because the babies are always altogether and all over the place, it is difficult now to get separate photos for each diary entry so it may be worthwhile checking the other diary entries as you will probably find some photos of your babies in the other diaries as well.

Linz, I'm afraid you don't get many photos at all today though as the camera batteries died before I could finish the photographic session. Liquorice seems to have found a new best friend in Little Tuk. I don't know why but they seem to have gravitated towards each other during the last few days and are often found together, either playing or sleeping. I am sure this will change though because ever since she was about 3 weeks of age, Liquorice would be happy to spend time with anyone at all who wanted to be near her. She is the "leader of the pack" at the present time and I honestly don't believe that this is because she is the oldest baby. I feel it's because she is so totally unphased by everything that the rest of the younger babies are all happy to put their trust in her and follow whatever she does, particularly the Tails of Hans Christian Anderson. at the moment I think they look towards Liquorice as being their role model.

Liquorice is doing quite well. Today she has gone over the 800gram mark so I am delighted with this. I don't know she will be quite as big a girl as I originally thought, but she is certainly substantial. She did have those few "off days" last week remember with Cointreau calling, and during that time, Liquorice wasn't really bothered with eating but this has picked up again now and she is back on track so all is going well which I'm sure Linz will be thrilled about. Liquorice is such a playful, happy, loving child, it doesn't matter who is in the vicinity, they are her "best friend". The only time that she doesn't love me is when I am weighing her because I do think she's sick of being plonked on the scales every day, and while she is still a good girl and will stay still, she does have this look in her eyes or resignation as if to say "Here we go again".

I've not really had a chance to do any photos because I'm behind on the kitten diaries and I also have 3 pregnancy diaries to update.

Before starting this entry, we would like to congratulate Liquorice's new mum, Linz, on her great show day out yesterday with her fur child, Lulu.

How on earth did Liquorice manage to get 8 weeks of age without me realising it? I got a bit of a shock this morning when I started on the kitten diaries to discover that she is already 8 weeks old. Some days it seems like she has been here forever, yet other days, it seems like she was only born a few weeks ago. Liquorice is totally in her element at the moment as she has discovered a new game. It is called "Run Up and Down the Stairs, Chase the Younger Babies and Scare the Heck out of them". She really is so funny, the minute the babies were given more freedom and access, she was out of that kitten room like a shot and straight down the stairs. Not stopping to question whether or not she would be able to get up and down them, she just ran as if she had been climbing stairs all of her life. It only took minutes for her to tell the other babies what fun stairs are and next thing I knew, not only was she chasing them up and down the stairs, but she would stop on a step, crouch down and as the other babies ran down the stairs, she sprang up at them, scaring the heck out of them, turning them into little Basil Brush babies, and then the serious chasing would begin. She really is having the time of her life and the great thing about this is while she is so enamoured with the stairs and the chasing games, she is leaving me alone :) It also means that as she is using up so much energy, she actually settles for longer sleep periods and no longer wakes the smaller babies up so they will play with her.