Well today is the worst day of all I think because Rodney has only just left me which means our Trotters have all "grown up now and have left home". This is so sad because they are such a beautiful litter, who rarely gave me any problems apart from the odd incidence here and there. Rodney was very special as he is the first Red Point Siamese kitten we have ever bred and both Graham and I love his colouring and it's going to be so strange not to see him running around the house and playing games. He is such a loveable, bright, and sometimes mischievous boy and I just hope that he settles in well with Pauline. Poor Pauline has a very long journey with Rodney and he did look so very little in his carrier, but I know he will be comfortable going home and hopefully he will settle down and have a sleep. Amaretto totally disgraced us during Pauline's visit because she has a touch of diarrhoea, brought about by suddenly eating way too many different varieties of wet kitten foods that she is not used to. Lo and behold, she jumped up on Pauline's lap for cuddles and promptly left a lovely mess! Once that was cleaned up, we were able to finish going through all of the paperwork and the time had come to put Rodney in his carrier. I know he will be cherished at Pauline's home and once he is settled in, he will have some lovely new feline playmates to have games with. It's always so difficult when the babies leave and I know Pauline was just as worried as me with regards to the long journey home, and then settling him in. Pauline will spoil him and will love him just as much as we do and we couldn't ask for any more for one of our babies. A big thank you to Pauline as well for the lovely bottle of wine, the chocolates and soaps. That was a lovely surprise.

This does mean however, we have now reached the end of yet another Schimmel kitten diary and while I'm actually pleased that I don't have to write any more entries in this one, it is so incredibly sad to have lost all of our Trotters. I know of course, that they aren't gone for good as already their new families have been wonderful with updates. It's times like this when I have to keep reminding myself over and over again that the babies are not, and were never mine, instead, they were on loan to me so that I could raise them to be happy, beautiful, confident babies, so that they could then live with their new families. It is so hard though to give them up and despite still having Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat here, the house is empty and will seem that way for a long time I think. Toussaint was a superb mum, she could not be faulted at all, and despite the difficulty at the beginning resulting in the C-section, she gave us 4 gorgeous babies and she was a fantastic mum to them all. I just hope it won't be too difficult for her now that they are gone. The one thing I have noticed though, was that while Toussaint was being a mum, the very close relationship she had with me actually had changed because suddenly her babies were her priority which is at it should be. But during the last 3 days, she changed again. She has been coming up to me for special cuddles, and she has also resumed sitting on shoulders and grooming my hair which I have missed. It is wonderful having her back :) I really am going to miss our Trotters so much, but they all have fantastic new homes and I know they will be looked up just as well as we have looked after them here. So at this point, I will now say many, many, thanks to all of our wonderful new families. I hope your babies bring you much love, joy, and happiness for the remainder of their lives with you. I would also like to thank Teen for her support and prayers when Toussaint was rushed to the vets during labour. Also many thank you to all those very kind people who were praying for Rodney when he injured himself, and for the lovely emails I received. This diary will now close, but a new beginning is just around the corner as our first 2007 Siamese kittens are due to be born very soon................................

Such a sad day :( We only have 1 Trotter remaining and that is Rodney. He will be leaving us tomorrow. This really is one of the worst parts of breeding, having to let our babies go and I do find it so upsetting. Del Boy and Trigger looked so tiny in their carrier, although give them 3 months and they will have outgrown it :) We had a couple of incidences with the paperwork today. The poor girl was sitting beside me, reading the sales agreement again, and sure enough, in drops Tia Lusso scattering half a cup of tea all over the agreement that she was reading. Okay, give her another copy to read, and re-print one of the agreements. Whilst reading through that one, in comes Toussaint out of the cat run, with muddy paws, and stands on one of the other agreements. At this rate we were ready to give up I think. I now remember why I usually take kitten families through to Graham's room on "Leaving Day" as it's so difficult to go through paperwork with our adults and kittens running about. Still, we did get there in the end. Both Del Boy and Trigger are super loving boys and would constantly come to me for cuddles and attention, so our home will be much quieter now. If I could keep every baby I bred, I wouldn't hesitate, but that is not practical, nor is it fair to the babies. Yet again though, with the boys, we have managed to secure a home for them with someone who will love and cherish them as much as we do here. I did try to take some "Special Day" photos of the boys, but that did not pan out at all because neither of them were in the mood to sit and look pretty for the camera so I've uploaded the best of a bad bunch.

Racquel and Del Boy!!!! Yes, today is Racquel's "Special Day" as she is leaving to go and have a wonderful life with Jill, a fellow Aussie, and Sybil who is Jill's wonderful fur kid. But I tell you, Jill was darn lucky she didn't get Del Boy thrown in for good measure. He obviously is aware Poker is leaving today, so he has become an extra big pain in the bum. No matter what I have tried to do today, laminating pedigree certificates, scrubbing skirting boards, cleaning out litter trays, the little bugger had to help me. If I went in one direction, he was right at my heels, when I went into the kitchen (which I have been doing a lot of due to the daily cleaning, both he and Racquel ran in with me, ran behind the washing machine and wouldn't come out. So Del Boy now thinks his name is "Will you stop it!" and Racquel thinks her name is "Oh for goodness sake!" And to top it all off, Cointreau's screaming is relentless. Now that I have gotten that off my chest (well what little chest I have), I can get on with the event at hand. It was, as always, wonderful to see Jill. She is such a fantastic person and we get on very well, with Jill, what you see is what you get, she is an amazing woman, and yes I know I complain a lot about Racquel due to her naughty she is, I still did not want to let her go home with Jill. Who on earth am I going to get frustrated with now? Well apart from Del Boy that is. I know that Racquel, who has now become Eliza (such a pretty name don't you think?), is going to have an amazing life and we are so fortunate that Jill came along and offered our beautiful girl a home. Sadly though, I don't think that Sybil will agree for a while and it's probably going to be a battle of wills for quite a time between Sybil and Racquel but hopefully Sybil will smack her one when Racquel gets out of hand which I know she definitely will. And before I forget, thanks heaps Jill for the DVD's, the photo album, and the water thingy, to say nothing of the rather splendid looking bottle of Tuaca which I will look forward to trying later :)

There really is not much of an entry today and not photos I'm afraid because apart from the normal daily cleaning, I've spent the majority of the day preparing all the paperwork for our babies that are leaving tomorrow, not an easy job with Cointreau screaming in my ear the entire time as she is in full call again. This is now the start of the "manic" period, so entries will no doubt be quite short, or very late, over the next week as our babies all leave us.

Del Boy and Trigger both felt that it was time to help mum with the paperwork and honestly, they made the job so much more difficult, although you can't help but laugh at them. Just picture it.............the printer is sending bits of paper flying out of it at a rapid rate, all over my desk, and the quicker it came out, the quicker Trigger and Del Boy were at pouncing on it and trying to chew the corners, while I'm hastily trying to gather all the papers up before they are totally ruined and have to be re-printed. It wasn't too bad on the whole though when I only had to reprint 6 pages thanks to the guys help so it could have been much worse I guess :) When I finally finished and put everything back in the cupboard, the boys were quite upset because suddenly they didn't know what to do with themselves. Racquel is going to be leaving us tomorrow around lunch time and I do hope that Jill and Sybil are totally prepared for this whirlwind of trouble that will be invading their lives.

Racquel totally refused to have her photo taken today because she would not come out of the radiator bed where she was sound asleep. Even when Tia Lusso came along and plonked herself on the bed, no doubt squashing Racquel, she still didn't move. Trigger and Rodney weren't much different in the respect that as you can be the photos, they were just to sleepy to even bother making the effort to look up at the camera. Fair enough the Trotters have had a hectic morning, creating a massive mess throughout the upstairs part of the home, and also they have been extremely busy trampling in wet mud from the cat run, all through the house, leaving lovely little paw prints all over the windowsill, floor and my work surface. But at least they have been having fun and that is the main thing. Del Boy, in typical Red fashion, was more than happy to show off for the camera. Being a Red, he is gorgeous and oh boy does he know it :)