This is it :( Our last 2 fur children are leaving us today which means we will have come to the end of yet another Schimmel Kitten Diary. It was sad to say good bye to both our girls this morning but my one consolation is that they are going to fantastic homes where they will be totally adored. I just hope and pray that they settle in okay and that it doesn' take too long for them to bond with their new families. It will be more difficult for Red Rum as that poor girl is going to get quite a shock when she meets Abingdon for the first time, to say nothing of what Abingdon will suddenly think of his new playmate. Mind you, that boy could do with a girl who won't hesitate to beat him up and put him in his place and I reckon if anyone can do that, Red Rum can. It was lovely to see Wendy again and to meet Dean and Emma. What fantastic kids Emma and Dean are :) So incredibly well behaved and polite, and I was really impressed by all of Dean's questions, and how gently both of them handled the cats. They are a credit to their upbringing. Unlike her last visit, no one embarrassed us by spraying anywhere they shouldn't until half and hour before the end of the visit and then it started as per usual. Parsley really outdid himself yet again by waiting until the very last minute, aiming at the radiator, right where Wendy's bag was <sigh>. The only other incidences were had were that of screaming cats calling to each other. Lucy is still screaming and Ashanti, whom I have now named Houdini, is screaming back. Last night, Drambuie, Ashanti, and Tuaca were upstairs, while Lucy was downstairs. I put the chain on the stair barrier, thinking there was no way on earth he could get out and get to her downstairs. You can imagine my shock and horror when I got out of bed at around 7am came downstairs to let the dogs out, only to discover Ashanti and Lucy sleeping in the bed together!! Lucy had an extremely smug look on her face as well I might add which does not bode well at all! I have made a note of the date though but am praying that they didn't actually do anything. Anyway, back to Red Rum, she did look so tiny in her little carrier, but then don't they always. I know she will be cherished though and that she couldn't have gone to a better home and hopefully it will not be long at all before she and Abingdon are the best of friends. Thank you so much Wendy for giving our babies such a wonderful life, and thank you for the chocolates as well. This now brings me to darling KT, now I know full well that she is going to an excellent home because not only did I think Zoe was lovely the first time I met her, she also came extremely highly recommended as a prospective kitten family by a very close friend. It was really lovely to see Zoe and her mum again and KT showed her approval of her new family by having cuddles with her mum, and also nibbling on our visitors fingers. She looked even smaller in her carrier than Red Rum did because KT and Desert Orchid were always our "petite" girls, little dollies really, whereas Red Rum was much more of a "bruiser" bless her. KT really is such a pretty little thing and I'm hoping that it will not take long at all before she and Zoe develop a special bond between them. It's so very obvious how much Zoe adores KT already and I know this is definitely the right match between baby and family. So thank you Zoe, for giving our little girl such a special home.

This means of course that the Racers kitten diary has finally ended. I'd like to thank each of our new kitten families, Ian and Mary; Sarah; Zoe; Pauline; Bev; and Wendy; I hope your new family members bring you many years of happiness and love. Already we have had some lovely updates on our babies in the new homes and the photos speak for themselves as to how happy, content, and loved, our Racers are which is what we want for each of our babies that leaves us. I'd also like to thank our wonderful vet, Jo, for taking such good care of our Racers, and thank you also to those people who have been following our Racers progress. For those of you who are bored enough to read the kitten diaries on a regular basis, I think there should be enough diaries online for the next few months to keep us all occupied ;)

This is my last day with our 2 remaining Racers because sadly, they are leaving me tomorrow. I reckon though, that both girls will be glad to go, just to get away from their mothers' screaming! Tia Lusso came into call yesterday morning and has screamed like a banshee all day and all night long. Poor Kingston Town and Red Rum have no idea what to make of this hormonal change in their mum and they have been having some time away from her. As you know, we have 2 indoor stud cats and naturally, as soon as Ashanti gets a whiff of a calling girl, he is there like a shot, eager to please <sigh> As a result, Lucy has had to remain upstairs while Ashanti remains with the non calling cats downstairs and let me tell you, they are doing everything humanly possible to try and get to each other. You have no idea! KT and Red Rum have been spending time downstairs with the rest of their family, without their mum and this has not bothered them at all thank goodness. Although having said that, when Red Rum had enough of not seeing her mum, she simply scaled the wire door that is at the bottom of the steps, she climbed until she reached the gap that allows the stair rail to slot through, and she just went straight through that so she could be back with her mum. Apart from catching up with diary entries, a lot of my day today has been spent catching up on the chores I didn't get done yesterday, as well as doing the paperwork for our 2 girls so it will be ready for tomorrow.

There is no entry for today as Sambuca gave birth and I've not had a chance to be on the computer at all as I've spent the day with Sami in our bedroom.Tomorrow the diaries should resume as per normal................hopefully!

Here we go again...................yet another of our children leaving us. This time it is Phar Lap's turn. Of all the Racers, this boy is the one I will miss the most. It's odd when you consider I am a firm lover of the Tabby Point Siamese so why on earth our little Seal Point man is my favourite in the litter, I really do not know. Phar Lap is so incredibly loving, and he and I are incredibly close. I only have to call his name and he comes running to me for cuddles. He really is totally irresistible and I am going to miss him an awful lot. I know however, that he's going to an amazing home, he will be able to play with Rodney, as well as LJ, Alfie, Lulu, and Galliano. Just like the previous Racers who have now left us, we are 200% sure that we have made the right decision in the home we have chosen for Phar Lap. Pauline will adore him, and I know that it will not be long at all before my little man adores Pauline. He will be cherished, his home will be a permanent one, and I reckon once he and Rodney bond with each other, Pauline is going to have an awful lot of trouble on her hands in the form of mischievous fur children :) Phar Lap has a very long journey back to Pauline's and I have to say that whilst I really enjoyed seeing Pauline again, I did find it extremely hard to let Phar Lap go. He wasn't he only one leaving with Pauline today because as well as Phar Lap, Galliano also went off to his new home with Pauline. When we had Galliano neutered, he would not integrate at all back into family life, unlike his father who fit back into the home once he was neutered. Galliano was not happy at all and was upset by the presence of our 2 indoor stud boys, Ashanti and Tuaca. Even though it broke our hearts we had to do the right thing by our man. Pauline has a special affinity for Blue Points and we know that Galli will have a much better home with Pauline and her own fur family as there are no entire cats there and he will have access to a lovely garden which will be ideal for him. I did find it so very difficult to put him in the carrier and yes, I did cry, but ultimately, he will be better off and he will certainly be happier. Thank you so much Pauline for giving our little man and our big man such a very special home, and thank you also for the lovely chocolate and the wine. The fur family also say thank you for the lovely toys but I'm afraid to say the Culpeper toys no longer look as new as they did when you give them to the cats. In fact, they look quite disgusting but it isn't stopping them from playing with them :) By now, you all know the drill, today's photos are of Phar Lap only as it is his "Special Day". One of our other Racers had a very special day today and that was Red Rum because she got to meet her new mummy, Wendy, for the very first time. Red Rum will be sharing her home with Abingdon and not only was it great to see Wendy again, (she is a marvellous, adorable girl), but it was also lovely for Red Rum to meet her new mummy and to have cuddles with her. Thanks so much as well Wendy for the lovely Australian wine. That was really kind of you and I didn't actually notice until after you had left! Fortunately, both Pauline and Wendy are very used to our cats and didn't batter an eyelid when Parsley sprayed on the back of my chair, missing Wendy's coat by millimeters, nor were they phased when some darling boy decided to wee in a cat bed that had only been washed this morning! Then poor Wendy had cats springing from the windowsill onto her lap as she made the mistake of sitting near the window so the cats were bounding in and out of the cat run and using Wendy as a springboard. Then there was the incident that sent Wendy's cup of tea flying at which point she asked how many rolls of paper towel I went though each day. To which I had to admit 4 per day. Then there was Tuaca who kept nibbling on Pauline's toes! If nothing else, life is certainly never boring in our home :)

It is entirely possible that by the time our remaining 3 Racers go to their new homes, they may well end up as large as an elephant! As to the reason why................well, whilst I know in my head that 3 babies have left me already, I don't seem to be able to remember this at meal times so for each meal that Kingston Town, Phar Lap and Red Rum get, it is the equivalent of a meal for 6 babies. In other words, I keep forgetting to reduce the portions for each meal and am still putting down enough food for 6 babies. They do get help with their last meal of the evening though because every night now, Ashanti sleeps upstairs, curled up with the baby Racers so he shares their meal as well. It really is incredibly sweet to see this rather large adolescent male cat curled up in the bunk beds amidst the little kittens. Every time I see him up there I can't help but smile. As for the Racers, well they seem to adore Ashanti (which is natural because after all, who doesn't adore him????????) and they play with him, and seem to really enjoy his company. You will notice that I did actually manage to get some photos today for a change and I'm sure this will be reassure for Zoe because she'll be able to see that her baby girl, KT, does still have 4 legs and not 3 :) As I type this entry, dear KT is on my lap, purring away, having just come in from the cat run where she had been sunning herself on the shelves out there.

There's no photos in today's diary entries because I'm still trying to catch up with all the chores that didn't get done due to the rather manic weekend. I'm hoping that by tomorrow morning everything will be back to normal.

I know I said this yesterday but the house is an awful lot quieter with just Phar Lap, Kingston Town, and Red Rum left in the home. Having said that, all 3 spent most of this morning tearing around downstairs, upstairs, and in and out of the cat run, getting under my feet as per usual. Phar Lap is the only one of the 3 remaining Racers who seems to be aware that there are missing littermates because I have spotted him checking every single room searching for his missing mates. I have told him that on Wednesday, he will have lots more playmates to have fun with as he will be leaving to go and live with Pauline and the rest of her fur children. He is actually the next of our Racers to leave, followed by darling Kingston Town who will be leaving on Saturday. Even Tia Lusso seems a little bit "lost" at the moment and has concentrated most of her time playing with her children and snuggling up with them.

Such another very sad day as 2 more of our Racers left us. The first to leave was Shergar and even though it was lovely to see Bev again, it was not so lovely to let our little man go and i know that Graham is certainly going to miss him. I know that Bev is going to adore him and I think the most stressful part for Shergar was the train journey home but Bev very kindly phoned us to let us know they had arrived safely. Shergar is going to have so much fun in Bev's home and I don't think it will be very long before he has Bev and Duncan wrapped around his little paws. Now Sea Biscuit on the other hand is going to have fun and games with Ian and Mary's current fur children and as she matures, she and Phoebe will no doubt be battling it out to see just who will be the "boss". It's always a pleasure to see Ian and Mary, and yesterday was no exception apart from the fact that they were taking our little girl away from us. She did look so tiny in her carrier. It's always so difficult to say goodbye to our fur children, even when we know they are going to fantastic, permanent, loving homes such as the homes with Bev and Duncan, and with Ian and Mary. We are so grateful that our kids have gone to such good homes and we also appreciate the phone calls/emails saying that our kids arrived in their new home safely. Already, the house seems so much quieter without Shergar and Sea Biscuit and I know that Phar Lap has definitely been looking for his brothers and sisters. Lucy on the other hand, isn't particularly bothered that her family has now been reduced to 3. Just like every other "Special Day" the only photos in today's entry are of Sea Biscuit and Shergar.