Things have been warming up nicely here, now that the cold snap has passed. Yesterday, we exceeded our predicted high and reached -13C/9F, though the wind chill was -23C/-9F. Today, we’ve already reached -13C/9F and are expected to warm up to -10C/14F

Seeing what’s been going on with severe weather in the US and Canada right now, I am extremely thankful to be in a bubble of milder temperatures. It’s heartbreaking to hear that so many have died, while ten’s of thousands are without power. The amount of snow some places are getting is mind boggling. My husband grew up in New Brunswick. He is much more familiar with those levels of snow than what we typically get here in the less humid prairies!

Depending on what the winds are like today, I’m hoping to get back outside and start clearing the paths that have drifted over, and opening up more of them. I plan to “cheat” and break out little Spewie. I’ll put up with dragging around extremely long extension cords for the amount that needs to be cleared. I want to get it done before we get more snow, later in the week. If all goes well, I’ll head out for a small shopping trip. Mostly for cat food – the one thing we haven’t been able to stock up on. We simply need too much of it. We did get a lot for December, but with the cold we’ve had, the outside cats have been needing extra food, so we’ve gone through it faster. We’re not out, but I’d like to get more before we start getting too low. I’d really prefer not to go anywhere near a store until after New Year’s, but it is what it is!

Meanwhile, we’ve been focusing on socializing the littles.

These two have been easy.

That’s my arm Bobby and Walnut are sleeping on.

Yes, the bitty has a name, now! My daughters had shared a picture with some of their friends, and one of them commented that he looked like a bobcat that fell into some bleach. So now he is Bobby – short for Itty Bitty Bobby!

One of my daughters had bee supervising the cats while I was doing other things; Marlee was in a mood and doing a lot of snarling at them! She started watching The Victorian Farm, Christmas Special on my computer, so when I came back, I moved the monitor so I could lay down on my bed to watch it with her.

I fell asleep, and woke up to find Walnut on my arm. Then I moved, and her head rolled aside, which is when I found myself staring into the giant eyes of Bobby!

Since I was trapped, anyways, I stayed for a nap. 😁 I was able to get this photo before I managed to slither my arm out from under them to get up.

I’m happy to say that Butterscotch is increasing tolerant of the littles.

For Butterscotch and Bobby to be so close together, without Butterscotch hissing and leaving, is huge on its own, but for them to even be touching paws? Major progress, there! Not only that, but I’ve even seen Butterscotch come up to Bobby to sniff him, and even groom him a bit! I don’t blame Butterscotch for not wanting to be around kittens, now that we know her last few litters must have been incredibly painful for her. I’m so glad we were able to get her fixed! I doubt she’d still be alive right now, if we hadn’t, she was so damaged inside. That she is now willing to tolerate the littles means she is healing in other ways, too.

Nosencrantz has started to get used to them, too, but Marlee… well, she just doesn’t seem to like the other cats in general, and especially doesn’t like the kittens. She’ll start growling as soon as she sees them, even if they are nowhere near her. The kittens aren’t at all intimidated by her, and generally ignore the hissing, until they get close enough that she swats at them.

As for Bobby’s sibling, whom I’m now calling Sprite (short for Soot Sprite), there has been some progress. He (or she) still leaves if a human approaches, but in a calmer way, rather than in a panic. He’s even gone under my desk and office chair while I’m there. Wheel checks before moving my chair is a necessity, as both Sprite and Bobby like to hang out there! My daughters and I took turns playing with them with a cat toy on a string. Walnut and Bobby were right into it, and Sprite even joined them for a bit. One of my daughters was even able to pet Sprite when he paused beside her, though he did run off once he realized he was being touched by a human. Still, progress is progress!

Bobby, unfortunately, has been getting really stuffy. Both he and Walnut are sneezing. I’ve started to add lysine into their wet cat food – something we have not been doing with the inside cats. The 300gr tubs come with tiny little scoops buried in them – I at first thought they didn’t have any, they are buried so deep! – and one scoop is the equivalent of a pressed caplet. I mix one of those into a can of wet cat food. We split it up among all the bowls, so that means all the cats in the room will be getting some, but it’s the only way we can be sure the kittens will get some. Hopefully, we’ll see some improvement before the Cat Lady comes to get the littles.

I am hoping to hear about our financing application soon. Today would be awesome, but we shall see. If we are approved, that means we should be able to trade in the van and have the replacement vehicle before New Years – and I’ll be able to meet the cat lady with the littles (and Tissue) part way, rather than have her driving all the way to our place.

Oh, my goodness!!!! I am so excited! I just noticed that Sprite and Bobby were cuddled together in baby jail. Not only did I (hopefully) get pictures, but I was able to pet Sprite!!!! He didn’t run away!

Squeeeee!!!!!!!

Yeah. I know. I’m a suck for the kitties.

😄😄😄😄

The Re-Farmer