We are 12 weeks old now!

Snow Queen is a very naughty young lady! First thing this morning after the coffee's were made, (for the humans, not the cats!), I then proceeded to prepare one large meal for the 3 older litters and their 3 mums, 1 meal for Toussaint, 1 meal for Tia Lusso, 1 small bowl with weaning mixture for the Nuts, and 1 cup of milk mixture for the Detectives. I put the whole lot on a tray, left the kitchen, and as I was about to go through the door, Snow Queen proceeded to run straight in. I then had to go back into the kitchen, put the tray down, and try and entice her out from behind the washing machine. But oh no, this was a great game as far as she was concerned. She could creep out a few inches, and as soon as she was within "grabbing" reach, the little minx went straight back in. Ten minutes later I was able to retrieve her, by which time the weaning mixture and the milk mixture were both cold and I had to start all over again. I was not particularly impressed at all. If that wasn't bad enough, as I was trying to get up the stairs, with a full tray in my hand, Little Tuk and Ugly Duckling chose that exact same moment to do their level best to pounce on my feet and trip me up. I really do not know how I got up the stairs managing to keep the tray in tact. The Tails of Hans Christian Anderson really do choose the wrong times to want to play games with me. But what can you do? As soon as I put the plate of food down, they all ran to it and tucked in as if they hadn't been fed in a month.

Our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson were pleased to see the sun shining again today and all 4 babies have spent some time out in the cat run playing chase and sunning themselves on the shelves. Morning, and late afternoon are their favourite times when it comes to being in the run. I'm not sure why though but they do seem to love it out there. They are all continuing to grow at a rapid rate and I really must make a concerted effort to actually get some decent photos of them when they are not all sleeping.

Urgent Notice Regarding Vaccinations - Would all new kitten families of Liquorice, the Tails of Hans Christian Anderson, and the Capitals, please note that all babies will be remaining with us a further couple of weeks. We had a telephone call from our vet surgery this morning and the flood damage to the surgery has been immense. As such, we obviously could not have the babies vaccinated today, and although we have been given the first available appointment to have the kittens' vaccinated, this will not be until August 3rd. This should give you an indication as to the extent of damage, and devastation that our vet surgery has suffered during the floods. This now means that their 2nd, and final vaccination will not be until approximately August 24th, meaning that the babies will not be able to leave home until August 30th. Obviously this will be a disappointment for our kitten families, but disasters like this are not something that any of us can predict. Our only other alternative would have been to possibly try and find a different vet in our area who hasn't become victim to the flood, but we are not prepared to do this because our babies get the best of care with the staff at Brook Veterinary Surgery and we trust them implicitly and we are not prepared to take our babies to a practice with vets we do not know, and vets who do not know our darling fur children.

There are no photos, and no diary entries today, because as of early this morning, we have brand new children in the home and it's an extremely busy day with lots of cleaning up and washing to do.

A note for all our kitten families..................as you know, our babies are booked in for the first set of vaccinations tomorrow morning. Now as it stands at the moment, I have no idea whether or not this will still go ahead. If you had read the Nuts' kitten diary yesterday you will be aware that our vet was flooded out, so I shall phone them tomorrow morning to see whether or not they will actually be open (they have forecast more flooding today/tonight in our area) so I really don't know what is going to happen with regards to the vaccinations. If the vaccinations have to be put back due to the surgery still being closed, then this will mean that our babies will not be able to leave on the day you have all been previously told. I will know for definite tomorrow after I speak with them, so I'll let you know via tomorrow's kitten diary what the situation is.

Ugly Duckling and Little Tuk, just like Liquorice, have not been keen on getting out of bed at all today, but then I know full well that they were also involved in the paper towel massacre and judging by the mess, they must have been partying all night so it's no wonder they are rather sleepy today. Ice Maiden and Snow Queen have been much more active and they have been running around and both girls were happy to show an interest in our visitors, Diane and Del, unlike their Black siblings who couldn't care less that someone other than myself was in the kitten room. One thing I find fascinating about our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson is that Ice Maiden and Snow Queen, both have their fathers' temperament which means that they can be mischievous, but for the most part, they are extremely happy, very loving, cuddly children. Yet Ugly Duckling and Little Tuk without any shadow of, have their mother's temperament and whether or not this is a good or bad thing, who knows :) Both babies are very playful, very stubborn, well incredibly stubborn actually, extremely loving, and they have the same wicked streak that both Sambuca (and her sister, Drambuie) were born with. For me, this is exactly how I want my Orientals to be, but I'm not so sure that Connie and Coral will think along the same lines once their children are living with them............

Again today, I have barely seen our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson downstairs, and if it wasn't the fact that I was going upstairs constantly, not only for the babies, but also to check our our girl who was due to give birth yesterday, then I wouldn't have seen them at all. It's not that they have been inactive slobs, far from it in fact, it is merely that they are choosing to create havoc throughout the entire upstairs part of the home! I have lost count of how many times I have seen Little Tuk and Snow Queen playing chase in the bath tub but at least I now know exactly who is responsible for all the paw prints in the tub that has to be washed down at least twice a day :) I've not had the chance to take any photos at all today as it's been "one of those days" where there just is not enough time in the day to get things done.

Someone has taken my Tails of Hans Christian Anderson and left me with imposters! I say this because all they have done all day is sleep. Now fair enough it is awful weather outside and you know yourself that sometimes, when it's dark, gloomy and raining, you just want to curl up in bed? Well that is how our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson feel. They do look so adorable in their bunk beds curled up with the other babies. The home is very quiet though and it is odd to be able to walk around the home and not trip over the kids.

Yet again another week has passed without me realising it. I was rather surprised when I started this morning's diary entry to see that already our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson are 11 weeks of age. As I type this, they are creating total and utter chaos down here in my room. Ugly Duckling is wrestling with London on the floor, Ice Maiden is shredding the cat scratch post, while Little Tuk and Snow Queen are chasing each other throughout the room. It's probably a very good time to get up and feed the little babies actually just so that I can have some peace and quiet. Believe me, when these 4 are running around, you really do not want to get in the way as they run at full speed with no regard whatsoever for anyone who might happen to be in their way. In a few days' time, they, like the other babies, will be having their first set of vaccinations and I do wonder how they will cope with it and whether or not they will behave themselves. I actually think Snow Queen and Ice Maiden will be very good kids at the vets but I have a feeling it will not be the same for Ugly Duckling and Little Tuk. Which reminds me............registrations came back, however, there is an error on Snow Queen's registration so I have to send hers back to the GCCF to have it amended. Everyone else's registration is correct though.