Kittens for YOUR Christmas Tree!

I've been squeeing with delight over these cuties, and I am SO excited to share them with you today.

Months and months ago, my fabulous illustrator/printmaker friend, Chandler O'Leary, shared the idea of creating limited edition set of IBKC ornaments.  I fell in love with her songbird ornaments last year (please check them out, they're adorable) and the idea of our kitties presented in a similar format, thrilled me to no end.    

As you know, we've had a few kittens in our care over the years, so narrowing it down to just six for this set of ornaments was no easy task.  In the end, we felt a variety of kitten colorings and poses was the route to go. 

In the set, we have a reclining Ms Butterbean in her favorite chair, Pearla Dearborn and her button nose, a prim and proper Victoria Anne McGillicudy,  Baxter Lamm in a ball, dear Clovis Ashby with his little pink tongue  and a modest, wide-eyed Aloysius Petrie.    

Chandler generously calls this a collaboration, but she's the star in this show.  She created the beautiful illustrations based on my photographs, carved the blocks,  printed and hand-painted every single image.  I just did a little cutting and gluing.   

She wrote up a detailed post about the ornaments and every step in the labor-intensive process which you can read all about it HERE on her blog.     

If you would like a litter of limited edition kittens for your tree, or for holiday gift-giving, please visit Chandler's Etsy shop. A portion of the profits will be donated to the Emergency Pet Food Bank at our Humane Society. 

While visiting her shop, please check out her other lovely offerings, like those fabulous songbirds! 

I am so in love with the end results, they truly are gorgeous, and I hope you feel the same.   Each is a work of art, and worth every penny.  I've got my set hanging on the tree, and they look fabulous.   Thank you, Chandler, for sharing your awesome talent with the IBKC.  

PS In unrelated news, I'm going to temporarily turn on "comment moderation".  I've been getting too many spammy comments, which is driving me bonkers, and I need to try to discourage that for a spell.  Once things settle down,  I'll switch it back.  

Charlene and Friends

Charlene really loved the time she spent with Cheryl and Victoria McGillicuddy.   They all became very good friends during their stay with us.   In fact, they were quite close.

This little clip really illustrates the time (and the fun) they had together.




 I just love watching Bean watch them.

Goodbye Girls

I knew there was a special family out there for Victoria and Cheryl. We just had to wait for them to find their way to us.

 Well, finally they came!

Through a series of links, Elaine and Ed found their way to the Humane Society website where they saw Victoria and Cheryl.  From there, they came to the IBKC, read all about the girls, and knew they would be the perfect kittens for them.

I knew the second I read Elaine's email that she and her husband Ed would be the perfect parents for these two. She just said all the right things and sounded so very, very nice. We spoke on the phone the next morning and had a good, long conversation and yep, she was very, very nice.

Ed and Elaine are the kind of people who love their kittens like they are their own children and THOSE are the kind of people we always like to adopt to.

So even though it took a while for them to get here, they were worth the wait.  

I've had lots of email exchanges with Ed and Elaine and it sounds like the girls are doing really great.   They're having fun exploring their new home together and are enjoying the giant cat tower placed in front of the window overlooking the lake.  It's a great view and an excellent place to watch the wildlife.  They are getting to know their new parents and already are giving them lots of love and many purrs.


I know I've said this before, and I'll say it again, but I am so grateful for the wonderful people that find their way to us and adopt our kittens.  Knowing our babes are going to homes like this where they'll be given all the love these special little beings deserve, is what makes it bearable to part with them.  

We are so, so lucky.

And so are these kittens.

And so are Ed and Elaine.

Thank you, Universe!

Tea Time!!

This year's Tea with The Bean was an international affair. Our guests Stevie and Kara came all the way from Vancouver and Toronto, Canada to spend the afternoon with us!

They had a great story to share about being questioned by customs while coming over the border. Imagine having to explain that you were coming to the US just for the day to have lunch with a cat you met on the internet.  I'm sure the customs agent had a good chuckle over that one!

Cheryl and Victoria were sitting in the front window and Charlene was napping on one of the pink chairs when Stevie and Kara arrived.    After introductions were made, we played with the kittens and Charlene for a while before sitting down for lunch.

Here's Kara saying hello to Bean.

 

Each place setting had a name card with one of the Batsell's photograph.  Our guests received a pack of kitty cards and sparkle balls too.  The package was trimmed with a Kitty Wigs pin.





Our centerpiece was a vaseful of sparkle balls and paper flowers.  The tiny telephones from our fundraising set were placed on the table too.



Our lunch was completely vegan.  We had an edamame salad with roasted corn and tomatoes,  a citrus spinach salad with figs, roasted asparagus, fruit salad with a lemon and ginger dressing and mint iced tea.





We lunched and chatted and cuddled the kittens some more before heading over to the shelter for our tour.





The Humane Society van was parked outside, so Stevie (left) and Kara (right) posed for a picture in front of it.  There's our Charlene in the middle, larger than life!



Marguerite, Director of Development, met us inside for our tour.   We started with the cattery, then moved on to vet treatment, Butterbean Quarantine,  and then the foster room.  You'll never guess who was there.

"Kisses" the kitten!!!



Kisses was all ready for adoption so her mom Katherine, who runs the foster room, brought her into the shelter that day with hopes of finding her a perfect home.  Later that day she found that perfect home!

We met a few staff members, volunteers, and even some dogs.    It was fun and informative and the HS really rolled out the red carpet for our guests.

Afterwards, we headed back home to find Ed, Cheryl and Victoria's Pa, waiting on our porch!   We weren't expecting him until later that afternoon for their adoption, but traffic was kind, and his journey was a little shorter than he anticipated, so he arrived early.

Stevie and Kara entertained the kittens and Charlene while we completed the paper work.

 

 Once we were done, we loaded up the girls, said our good-byes and helped Ed out to his truck.
   

It actually worked out well having Ed arrive early because it gave Stevie and Kara a little more "behind the scenes" than we originally planned - they got to witness the adoption!  

Off the kittens went and we headed back inside and had dessert - a super delicious chocolate cake made by my friend Sarah (you know her as Sarah in T-Town in the comment section).

Next, Bean opened the gifts.  Inside were lots of awesome cat toys and a feather wand too.  Of course, the tissue, ribbon and bag were just as exciting as what was inside !

We chatted a little longer and then said goodbye to our wonderful guests.   It was a really great day!

Thank you so much Stevie and Kara for coming to see us!   We appreciate your generous winning bid and were so impressed you traveled so far to spend an afternoon with us!

I hope next time you're in our neighborhood, you will stop by again!

Now, I know you're all itching to hear about the wonderful people that adopted the girls,  but I think I'm going to have to write that up in a second entry.  It's a long tale worthy of it's own post on the blog.    So please stay tuned for that!

What a Day, What a Day!

Yesterday we hosted our "Tea with The Bean" AND we said goodbye to dear little Cheryl and Victoria.  It was a quite a day, and we're all pretty exhausted.  

I've got lots of photos to share, and a very long story to tell, but I'm stepping out of town for a couple of days so I'm sorry, it's going to have to wait.

I'll be back Wednesday with the full report.

For now, here's a couple picture of our dear little girls, the day before they left our nest.  

Where are They?

 I'm sorry. But I don't know what's taking your family so long to get here. They're out there somewhere.



And I'm sure they're extra special, just like you.   Maybe they don't know they need you yet.  But they're out there.   I promise.  

Or maybe they feel the timing isn't quite right.  But it is.  You're ready.

So you special people, please let us know you're on your way.

 

Until you get here, we're happy to keep this precious pair company.

But hurry, please. They're excited to meet you and get started on their new life.

Wednesday Morning in the Window

Less Napping, More Reading.

Summer is nearly over, and you've barely put a dent in your reading list, Victoria. Less napping, more reading.

Runs with Kittens

Charlene, Cheryl, and Victoria are having a tremendous amount of fun together.  They wrestle and romp and chase each other all over the house. They'll take turns, and with each lap, there's a new chaser.  

If Charlene catches the kittens, she'll usually roll and lick them.

If Bean gets caught, she'll give in without much struggle and let them pin her down.  They like to hug her head and do a little gnawing if she'll allow.

It's difficult to catch on camera because most of this behavior happens in the evening when the light is low and it's harder to photograph.  I did manage to capture a little romp on video the other day.

Here's a little peek at how they like to play....

Two Cute Little Calicos Need a Home

Victoria Anne and Cheryl are still on the hunt for their forever home.  They've been spayed,  vaccinated, and micro-chipped too.  Their suitcases are packed, and they are all ready to go.

We're hoping to send them off together, they are quite close and we're a firm believer that kittens need company.

Victoria is a sweet, sweet girl.  She's the quieter of the pair, but is by no means shy.  She loves chasing ping-pong balls, watching television, and curling up on our laps.    She's a beauty with striking amber eyes and a pink nose.

Cheryl is a chatty girl and is very good at expressing her needs with her squeaky little cry.  She's goofy, animated and snuggly too.   She loves playing with sparkle balls and wrestling with her toys inside boxes and clothes baskets.  The quirky markings on her nose and chin make her absolutely adorable.

Both girls are loving, trusting, social and affectionate and will be a lovely additions to someone's life.

Are you that someone?  

Are you in the market for a special pair of kitties?  Are you in the Seattle-Tacoma area?

If you are, please shoot an email to kittywrangler(at)gmail(dot)com and tell us a little bit about yourself and the kind of life you could offer a pair of kittens.

Or, if you're not in the market, but know someone who is, please send them our way!

Thanks!

Beanie GETS a Bath

Yesterday, for the very first time, I witnessed Charlene on the receiving end of a bath.







I guess little Victoria thought Charlene was in need of a cleaning so she just jumped on the window ledge with her, and started giving Bean a bath.

I'm kind of surprised Bean allowed it.  But she did, and when Miss V was done, Charlene returned the favor.



And after the bath was over, it was time for some snuggling and gnawing.

Victoria Anne Knows how to Accessorize

What a perfect color she's selected to perch upon.

 



 It matches her eyes exactly!

All is Well

The girls did just great with their surgeries yesterday.  They were happy to come home, and after a little dinner and bouncing about, they crashed. All is well.