Day 92 - December 1, 2007

Such a manically busy day today as Gary, Antony, and James left home, so did our remaining 2 Ray J's, so I've had almost no time at all to get any kitten diaries online and as it stands, the Ray J's and the Chefs diaries will not be sorted out until tomorrow.

Let's start with Gary....................Liz and her husband arrived this morning to take home Gary, (and Jonesy from the Chefs litter) and it was great to see them again, despite me being a tad frazzled due to having so many babies leave home all on the same day. I generally don't let this many go on one day but it was just the way it worked out this time around. After having cuddles with their children, I placed them both in the cat carrier and like everyone else who left us today, they looked so incredibly tiny and vulnerable. Out of everyone who has left us, Jonesy and Gary will probably settle better than anyone because they have each other. This makes such a massive difference to babies who leave home because if one of their siblings is with them, they are not as stressed by the whole "house move". You couldn't get 2 more opposite cats in personality. Gary is a real darling, a total honey of a cat and one you could cuddle for hours on end. He loves nothing more than sitting on a lap and being adored. That is not to say he can't be a little terror at times because in typical Siamese fashion, he certainly has his mischievous moments. I have no doubts at all that once he and Jonesy are settled, they will be playing mad racing and chasing games throughout Liz's home but hopefully not at 3am! I know that Gary will do just fine in his new home because he has an amazing new family who will spoil him as much as we have done here and he will never be short of cuddles and attention. We are so grateful to Liz and her family for providing such a perfect home for our boys.

Amie, Hannah, and Liam turned up around the same time as Liz did, to collect Amie's new baby, Antony. In a way, Antony should do just fine because he has gone to another "chaotic" house. As most of you can imagine, there is always something going on here with the cats, or people visiting etc. and I know that Amie also has a very busy home life with her own cats and children etc. so whilst Antony may be feeling lost for the first few days, he will soon settle in with Amie and her family and his new playmates. Amie is such a darling, and Hannah is a wonderful girl, well mannered, gentle with the cats and babies, and she is one of those children who are a pleasure to have in your home. I know Hannah will definitely spoil Antony and Amie might be hard pushed to get her own cuddles with him if Hannah has anything to do with it :) One thing Antony will never go short on is love and attention and this is what we want for our babies when they leave us. I am very fortunate in that I'll be seeing Antony again in January at a cat show which I am really looking forward to and hopefully, as time passes and he matures, he will do his new mummy proud. I do know however that even if he isn't successful on the show bench, Amie will love him regardless just for being the special boy that he is. Antony has been very fortunate to be homed with such an amazing family.

The last of our Chefs to leave us today was James. His new mum and dad, Kate and Chas arrived late this afternoon to take their new little man home and he will have the time of his life once he has settled in. Out of all of our babies, it is James who will possibly find the move the hardest because he has gone to a home with no other cats and because our babies have such an extended family here in our home, it's a huge shock to suddenly be an only child. What will make his transition easier is the love and care that I know he will be given by Kate and Chas. They are 2 very, very special people and James will want for absolutely nothing. I just hope that he does not become too fascinated with the other fur children in his new home and I would not be surprised at all if he spends quite a lot of time just sitting and watching them, wondering just what on earth he is supposed to do with them :) James is a lovely boy, full of fun and mischief, and not averse to a cuddle or two, something that I know will be freely given in his new home. We are so lucky that Kate and Chas found us when they were searching for a baby because their home is exactly the sort we are looking for when our children leave us. Unfortunately, none of my photos of James turned out because at the time I was taking photos, Sambuca and Nocino were in bed with Gary and each time I pressed the button, one or the other of them ended up in the photo instead of poor James. This is a shame as he is one of those boys that you would describe as being "incredibly pretty".

There are now only 2 Chefs remaining. I don't count Jamie because she has now become Kamora and is part of our own cat family, however Heston and Gordon have yet to find their own special homes. They are both wonderful little people who will bring their new families much love and pleasure and when the time is right, we know that the right homes will also come along for them. In the meantime, they will both obviously just join our own cat family until they have special families of their own.

This diary will remain here now until Gordon and Heston leave us, although there will be no more entries now until that time.

Day 91 - November 30, 2007

This is the beginning of an extremely manic weekend as we have babies leaving us today, tomorrow and also on Sunday. This means that we obviously will have kitten families here throughout the next 3 days and I will be constantly doing paperwork. Basically, between now and Monday, all kitten diaries will be fairly short with only a few photos, but I will do my best to make sure there is an entry online every day.

I had to smile at Gary, Gordon, and Heston this morning because I was sitting here at the computer, having a quick coffee after everyone was given breakfast, and out of the corner of my eye I spied some "little people" come into the room. As you are aware by now, we have only very recently opened up the entire home again, and this is possibly the first time the babies had wandered in for a proper look. My attention was totally diverted from the email I was sending as I just watched the babies explore the fire, under the work surface, stare at Jag and daring him to come close (which he didn't), and once they had satisfied their curiosity, they decided they would go back into the hallway and back room to create havoc in there. It really is great to see the Chefs going about their business and treating the home as if they owned it.