We are 9 weeks old now!

Our Capitals really are our "Terror" litter I'm afraid to say and no matter where I go in the home, I have to be so incredibly careful because they are constantly getting under my feet. Three times during the past 24 hours I have almost had a serious accident because one or more of the Capitals have just ran under my feet, out of nowhere, or they have taking a flying leap towards my legs, and this always happens when I am carrying plates and cups of weaning mixture and syringe feeding milk. They are deadly these children. Dublin has now got a new trick which involves waiting until I am approaching in her direction and the little minx jumps up onto her back legs, not unlike a kangaroo in fact, and holds both front legs out as she leaps towards me. I really do not know what she is trying to do but it obviously has the desired effect because I stop whatever it is I am doing and cuddle her. Why, oh why, can't our 3 Tortie Tarts be as well behaved as their brother and sister? I tell you, Washington and London are angels in comparison. I'm afraid to say though that Washington still insists on whining at me when it is meal times and he still refuses to get out of bed. I have to pick him up and carry him to the food tray. I thought he would have grown out of this habit now but it doesn't seem to be the case.

Don't let the photos below deceive you because the Capitals haven't slept that much today at all. They are not despondent because of the weather, and as I type this, all 5 Capitals are tearing around in my room, creating havoc. Our adult cats have been smart enough to get up high out of the way where the babies can't annoy them. I had been saying in one of yesterday's diary entries that none of the babies had managed to get up onto my desk yet but I spoke too soon because when I came downstairs first thing this morning, I had a look in my room and here was Canberra, Dublin, and London, all up on my desk! Fortunately, there was nothing on there as I pack everything away each night so at least they couldn't do any harm.

As all the registration paperwork has now come back for our Capitals, we would like to officially introduce you all to Schimmel Shesanightmare and I have no doubts at all that as time passes, she will live up to her name :) Our Capitals have been their usual troublesome selves all morning. In fact, they have been relentlessly trying to make as much mess and as much mischief as possible. It must be something in the air because the rest of the older babies have all been exactly the same. All 5 of them are uncontrollable children, not even their mothers can keep them in line now so I have absolutely no hope at all. I think I am raising little hooligans and at times like this, I do wonder what it must be like to breed sedate, quite, well behaved kittens? Eventually, they will tire themselves out and go to sleep. Drambuie is still calling and I will be so pleased when her babies leave and she is booked in to be spayed.

Again today, all entries are not particularly long and there are not too many photos. The reason for this is that we have a vet appointment today for one of our due ladies to have an ultrasound as she is due in a couple of days' time and we can not feel any movement at all. So that will be a double appointment for the scan, then we are also taking Amarula to the vets with us as we are still not happy at all with her condition and we need something to be sorted out asap. So between, and a few bits and pieces of running around, then it's going to be a busy day.

Further to this..........I was planning on taking photos for our remaining 3 diaries when we returned from the vet, however, we were quite a while at the vet, and when we came home, we very hurriedly had to make some massive changes with regards to Amarula and as a result, I just totally ran out of time so I will make sure there are photos in tomorrow's kitten diary entries.

What is it with these Tortie girls and the darn kitchen? Why do they insist on running in at every single opportunity, knowing that they are not allowed in there? Well I know why..........it's because they think it is a game and what fun it is for mum to have to try and retrieve them from behind the washing machine and the bin. Not one of these torties is well behaved at all. They are all little buggers and in typical Tortie fashion, they believe that life is all about having fun, and that everyone else exists just to play with them and of course they don't understand the meaning of the word No. But unlike their Black siblings who get most offended when told they can not do something (Washington and London will sulk if they are told off), the Tortie Tarts simply grin and go and do the same thing all over again that they aren't supposed to be doing. Now I know full well that Diana who is having Port-of-Spain will not find the tortie behaviour a problem because Diana really knows her cats, particularly reds and torties, and obviously with 3 Torties of our own, we know what we are getting with Dublin. It's poor, poor, Julie who worries me because despite me telling her what they are like, I don't know if she will be fully prepared for Canberra. I mean this morning, Canberra was sitting on the bottom step, her grandfather, Ice, was sitting on the floor, and the little minx took one look at him, picked up her paw and smacked him in the head as hard as she could. Why? Because she's a Tortie and she can. No other reason. Fortunately, not only is Ice an extremely tolerant cat, but he totally adores the babies and loves to groom them and play with them so he didn't mind at all that his grand daughter was using him as a punch bag.

I think, that Dublin knows. She definitely, definitely knows she is not going to have her suitcase packed and leave home when everyone else does. I say this because she just seems to think she is part of the family, to the extent where she goes in and out of the cat run with all the "big kids", she uses their litter trays, she spends time enticing them to play with her, and she climbs up and down their large scratch post, totally shredding it, the same as our own adult cats do, and like our adults, she takes every opportunity to try and run into the kitchen when she knows she isn't supposed to. During the evening when Graham is cooking dinner, the kitchen door is left open, and Dublin is the first to run in, behind the rubbish bin, or behind the washing machine, or she will sit at dad's feet. In short, this is Dublin's permanent home and she is fully aware of this. All 5 of our Capitals now go into the cat run, they learnt a little earlier than Liquorice and the Tails of Hans Christian Anderson but I guess they have just followed in the paw prints of their older "siblings" and yesterday, I was not surprised at all to see London running around in the cat run, despite the fact that she is only just gone 8 weeks of age and not particularly large. She really does look so tiny out there, but then so does Port-of-Spain and Dublin in reality. This home is going to be so quiet when the Capitals go and if I could come up with a single reason to keep them here an extra few months, I honestly wouldn't hesitate.

I had very good intentions of getting diary entries online yesterday, however, problems with my computer put paid to that! I had no connection so that was a nightmare, but if that wasn't bad enough, my monitor(s) also died. Today, genius husband solved the problem for me so I'm back on track for the time being.

This diary was the last one I've done today. I'm running out of time and have to get to Tesco before they shut and it's already after 1500. Why is it that some babies are very good during photo sessions and others aren't? Today, Canberra and London were the only babies who were happy to stay relatively still and look pretty for the camera. Washington, Port-of-Spain and Dublin didn't want to know, instead they just wanted to play, and in typical fashion, Dublin was the absolute worst, as you will see when you look at the below photos of her. It was always a toss up as to which baby would stay with us, Dublin or Canberra, and as we can't keep both girls, then the next best thing was to home one with a very special person. As it is now public knowledge, I am thrilled to announce that Canberra will be sharing her home with our good friend, Julie, of Lorimnailie Siamese and Orientals. Canberra, who will soon be known as "Tatiana" will be the start of what can be a wonderful Oriental line for Julie, and with careful planning, I know that Julie will have as much success with this line as we have had here at Schimmel. We rarely ever home any baby as a future breeding queen, but very occasionally when someone very dedicated and ethical comes along, then we are happy to make an exception as in Julie's case. Although at the moment I am not prepared to even think about our Capitals leaving us because I have enjoyed this litter so much that I'm going to put it to the back of my mind that one day that will all have to leave home.