I really can't post anything at all for today as I have spent the whole day at a cat show. So apart from giving the R's their very early breakfast and 2 dinners, they were again in the care of hubby. I've been told that they were fine all day and they had made good weight gains that night so he's done a wonderful job babysitting them. We did have a wonderful show day out though with both Sambuca and Drambuie winning their Open Classes and getting BOB, and many congratulations to the other Schimmel babies who were there, also congratulations to our many friends who were there with their lovely cats who also did really well.

I'm feeling really tired after my journey yesterday and I have so much to do today that I don't actually know where to begin! I had some nice cuddles with the R's this morning to make up for my absence yesterday. Rosie and Danny are starting to become very feisty little babies, with Danny being the worst. He was on the sofa bed today and his mother was quietly lying down when he snuck up behind her and bit her very hard on the ear. Tia was livid. She turned around and smacked him in the face, and then bit him twice on the leg and made him squeal. (I was looking on trying not to laugh out loud). You would think that would have been enough to teach him not to do it again but within 5 minutes of being chastised, he then bit her on the tail, only to get the exact same telling off. Rosie had been watching this with great interest and thought she'd give it a go as well, however she decided to bit poor Gino who was curled up trying to sleep. He let out a very loud squeal and then bit her back which only encouraged her to do it again. All 6 babies are now able to reach the sofa bed which is great. They can climb all over the place now and there is simply no stopping them at all. It's such a joy to just sit in the chair and watch their antics now.

I think this was the first day that I didn't manage to get an entry done in time for that day. Mainly because I wasn't here all day so don't actually know how the R's spent their day. I was in Cambridgeshire visiting a very good friend and darling person called Maureen and her gorgeous Choc. Pt. boy, Cassy, and I had the most wonderful time. The R's were left in the care of hubby who was left with feeding plates and instructions. Obviously they were well looked after and were fed in my absence because they had normal weight gains last night. Apart from that, I couldn't really say anything else about them. My new pc was supposed to have been delivered yesterday, after all this time without it, however it didn't arrive due to "delivery" problems so it's supposed to be definitely arriving today which will be great as I can finally catch up with everything I am so far behind on.

When I went to feed the R's their dinner last night, I was surprised to see Rolly on top of the sofa bed having a game with his imaginary friends. Up until now, none of the R's have been able to climb/jump up that high. It looks like they are growing up fast and there will be no stopping them soon. It has been a relatively quiet day today as far as the babies are concerned and there hasn't really been anything spectacular to mention. None of the babies had any reactions to the worming so I was really pleased. Birchy has been making attempts to eat the dry kitten food. Unfortunately, rather than try and eat out of the bowl, he waits until his mum scatters it on the floor and then he plays with it for a bit and then has a nibble. Most of the R's are now all drinking water from the water bowl which is lovely to see. I always get a laugh watching them do this because there's always one of two who can't judge how far in to put their mouths. Every now and then one of them will try and have a drink and end up dunking his/her whole face in the bowl. Their purrs are incredibly loud now and they take after their mum in this aspect as Tia can purr for England.

I must start this entry off by saying a big thank you to Chris of Aportent Siamese and Tina of Maroochydoore Siamese & Orientals. Both of them took the time out of their busy lives to assist me with the colours of the R's and it's been a really big help. As it stands at the moment, it looks like the R's are a mixture of Blue and Lilac in both solids and tabbies, although at only 4 weeks of age, it's still early days and they will change quite a lot over the next few weeks. The babies aren't particularly happy with me as today was "worming day", always a messy affair. I normally worm the babies for the first time when they are about 3 1/2 weeks of age so I'm running a bit late with this litter. They all took it really well though with very little complaints and I'm really pleased. The babies are all coping quite well with the heat we've been having and it hasn't put them off their food either. (it's not unusual for dogs and cats to go off their food on a very hot day). Apart from that, everything has been relatively normal, no one has drowned in the water bowl and there's been no more heads stuck in the bars of the cat carrier. The R's are creating a lot more work now, particularly as when they use the litter tray they do tend to scatter the litter all over the floor. Some of them also still insist on standing in the food which means that unless I catch them in time and wipe their paws, they are then walking food all across the floor.

All I can say is: Thank goodness the weekend is over!! Although thinking about it, this week is going to be as busy, if not more so than the weekend was. Don't you just love cat carriers. They come in so handy for so many things. The babies had their first experience of a carrier late yesterday afternoon. I wanted to do the floors in the Kitten Room, so I got the carrier out and popped all the babies in there, put the carrier on the sofa and got on with the floors. There was instant silence! It's the first time since they were born that there wasn't even a peep out of the R's. This silence lasted until the entire floors and worktop had been done. I wish I had started using the carrier sooner. It also comes in very handy for weighing. When I weigh the babies now, after I've weighed the first one, I pop him in the carrier and close the door so he can't get out. I then weigh the second baby and pop her in the carrier and so forth. This way, I make sure that I definitely do not weigh the same baby twice. And yes, I have done that before! All was going really well until I had weighed the last baby, went to take the others out of the carrier to find that Birchy had stuffed his head through the bars in the door of the carrier and it was firmly wedged there. Fortunately it's a Gulliver carrier which has a top opening flap so I was able to put my hand through the top, put the other hand at the front, try and fold his ears back to stuff him back through as I gently tugged from inside the carrier. I have a feeling that he'll never try that again!! I've also learnt the value of newspapers for feeding. Up until now, I had been putting each meal down on an own pillowcase (I have loads of kitten bedding which consists of pillowcases, quilts, sheets, jumpers, tea towels etc. etc.). This meant that after each meal I'd have a pillowcase or similar to wash. At this stage the babies are on 4 meals a day! I hated the thought of the little ones not having a soft dining area.....................that's when I figured out that I have really lost the plot! After figuring out that I'd washed 28 pillowcases due to feeding, it finally dawned on me to put a newspaper down instead. The paper can then be thrown straight away and I cut down on an already immense washing load. As it is, the babies bedding is usually changed and washed 3 times a day.At some point either today or tomorrow I'm going to have another look at the R's sexes just to see how many are wrongly named. I have a feeling that some of our boys may indeed be girls but I haven't been that concerned to be honest. So long as they are all healthy, then sex is irrelevant for the first few weeks. I've noticed now that the R's no longer rely on each other quite so much for sleeping and comfort. More often than not, when I enter the kitten room now, some R's will be in the carrier asleep, some will be in the bed, whilst others are in the covered part of the cat scratch tree. It's good to see that they are becoming so independent now.