Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween!  One of our favorite days of the year!  There are no kittens here to help celebrate the day, but I've got a collection of links and photos from Halloween celebrations of previous years.  There's even a link to a video from wee Bean's very first Halloween.  

Please enjoy the trip down this holiday memory lane.     




Bean Halloween Greetings



Charlene Boooooooterbean
Halloween Bean Perched on the Porch



Gone Batty
With the Lively Bunch.


I promise I will never make you wear a costume again Bean.
I swear.

The devil made me do it.

There's a ghost in this post.
With the Drapers



Itty Bitty Vampires

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlene Butterbean
Little Miss Bean and her first Halloween.


Albert Allen Poe
He perched, and sat, and nothing more...




The BOOviers
Sweet little pumpkins...

Happy Hallow-Bean and Candy Corny
Anxiously await the trick-or-treaters...

Spider wranglin'...
With Albert and Davy

Hello Down There!

And hello up there.

 

The Last Small Goodbye

 I got an email with "Help, need more kitties in my life!" in the subject line.    It was from Joe, and he and his fiance,  Margaretta,  were in search of pair of spirited kittens who like interacting with people.

Spirited kittens who like interacting with people?

Sounds like our Smalls.

So, Joe and Margaretta came over to meet Violet and Liam, the available pair.  The meeting went great,     our guests were both struck by the beauty and sweetness of the kittens, and it was decided that Violet and Liam were to be theirs.     We were thrilled with this decision - Joe and Magaretta are very nice folks.

The day after Liam and Violet were adopted, I got an email from Joe.  It sounds like things are going really great and the Smalls settled in quickly.   They let the kittens sleep with them on the first night, but found that they were SO affectionate, they couldn't get a good night's sleep.   That came as no surprise.  They are VERY affectionate, especially Violet.

Our kittens sound happy, and that makes me very happy.    We founds some incredible families for all these Smalls.  If you met them, I know you would approve!

So, what's next?  I am in the THICK of it right now with my work, and I'm not ready to to take in another batch yet.  The first couple of weeks with a new litter can be very demanding, and I need to wait until things settle down a bit before take more kitties in.   In the mean time, I've got a few more photos of the Smalls to share, and some alumni updates too, so I'll keep blogging until I'm ready to take in the next batch.

Please stay tuned!

So Long, Solomon Small

Abby and Nick were the lucky folks who adopted Sol Small.  They were looking for a second kitty to love and a playmate for their seven year-old cat.    Apollo is his name, and he's a very handsome lynx point.

Abby told me a lot about their life in her introductory email, and they sounded like really wonderful people.  I knew they could offer a great home to one of our kittens, so we made an appointment for a meet-and-greet.

When they came for their meeting, Abby brought a jar of homemade jam.

 If you want to score points with Laurie and Craig, giving them a delicious jar of homemade jam is a  very good way to do it.

Of course the Smalls are always sweet and cuddly, but the day of Abby and Nick's visit, they turned it up a notch, and put on quite a show.

Louie, Violet and Liam climbed into their laps to cuddle.  Sol perched on their shoulders.  All the Smalls purred, purred, and purred.   The Smalls would take breaks from their snuggling to frolic, then return to laps and shoulders to charm their suitors some more.

It was a very close race between Sol and Liam, but after much deliberation, Sol was their pick.


Abby has already emailed with a little update:

Sol took no time settling in and giving out lots of love to both Nick and I. I left him napping on the couch when I went to bed the first night but woke up in the middle of the night with him curled up on my shoulder. He has been an absolute sweetheart! 

 The first day with our older cat, Apollo, was a bit difficult, but Sol kept his distance and Apollo mostly stayed in one place and growled. By the end of the second day Apollo was sitting closer and keeping a tight eye on the kitten, and by day three they were both chasing each other around playing.

 Last night everyone slept on the bed together without incident, and this morning Sol stuck is face right in Apollo's food dish while he was eating and Apollo just let him do it (Apollo is a bit nuts about food so I was expecting a swat). In other words, they are already getting on very well, better than I had hoped for at this stage!

Isn't that wonderful?  I'm so happy for dear Sol.

: )

Thanks so much for adopting our boy, Abby and Nick.   It sounds like you're quite happy with your pick, and I think Sol feels the very same way!





Oh, and thanks again for the jam!!

Shrimply the Best!

I got the loveliest note from Jessica , who expressed a strong interest in our dear little Louie.  She was looking for a second to kitty to love, and a playmate for her handsome orange boy, Bruce.

Until recently, Bruce had a buddy named Purry Kitty to keep him company.  Kitty moved out with their roommate, and Bruce was left bored.   Jessica hoped Shrimp Louie might be a good kitten to join their family, so she came over to meet him.

The second Jessica arrived, Louie crawled right into her lap for a nap.

Sold.

While Louie napped, we had a chance to chat, and I got to get to know Louie's new mother a little bit.  She's sweet, kind and calm and I know she is going to love and adore this special little fellow.

She's shrimply the best.*

I know everyone expressed hopes of our Small family getting adopted in pairs.  Well, that didn't happen.  We sent one pair out the door, but two flew solo from our nest.    This is fine.   Everyone has really great home, and that's what matters most.

We raise very well-socialized kittens who adjust quickly to their new surroundings and merge nicely into homes with other cats.  Charlene helps teach them boundaries and manners, so they make very good siblings for blended cat families.  

So, please don't ever feel sad for IBKs who leave without a sibling in tow.   If there's any loneliness at all, it will be very, very temporary.  I never feel one moment of sadness for them.  I only feel happy for their wonderful life ahead.

And gratefulness for this incredible stream of fabulous families that find their way to us.




*GROAN!  I know.  Super corny, yes, but I've been saving that one for awhile, and this being Louie's last post, I had no choice but to use it now.  My apologies.

Smallville - Population Zero

It's true, all the Smalls have left our nest.    Today, I'll share the last of the pictures of the whole group together, and tomorrow we'll start sharing their adoption tales.

Violet's Sweet Marbled Feet

Someone requested a closer look at Violet's paws.  Well, here you go!

Check out her sweet marbled feet.

 

Get. That. Bird.