T.V. KITTIES ANYONE......

We've had a lovely Christmas as a family and hope the same for everyone, everywhere. We've had time off from our respective jobs so the kids have thoroughly enjoyed having us home and to themselves every day. Don't be fooled though, just because our workplaces call it "vacation", doesn't mean that there's necessairily the same thing abounding here on the homefront.

Rocky, Silly, and yes even our Flossy girl do start to chirp and perform their battery of wake up rituals by 5:01am if they don't see hide nor hair of Mommy & Daddy rising from their slumber. Actually, make that just Mommy since Daddy is not one to be woken and I'm identified as the "feeder" around here.

We've also had some new additions to the house in terms of furniture and one of those pieces was a new entertainment unit for our livingroom. Silly decided in his usual nosey fashion to thoroughly check it out and it wasn't long before Flossy (who really does fawn over our Sylvester), was mimicking his behavour..........which we're not sure was to attract him or to annoy, either way it was truly amusing to see!

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS SURPRISE!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love hearing from former adopters? Well the latest email I received just a couple of days ago is no exception! This one is from the absolutely lovely sister duo that adopted our Farley.........

Hi LisaMarie,

Farley, Marion and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Farley remains very content in his now forever home. He still looks like a pretty big armful even though he has lost some weight. We’ll just keep on feeding him reasonable amounts of his weight-control food.

In a couple of the pictures you can see the edge his trackball which he loves to lie on and one of his cat donuts which he also loves.



This family is every foster parent's dream of adopters - they loved Farley on sight and have welcomed him into their lives with open arms and enough love to fill a football stadium! We're so grateful to them and to the countless others just like them who love completely unconditionally.

RED UPDATE

I got a lovely email from Red's new Mom today. I don't know if I mentioned previously, but they have renamed him Stanely. They just adore him and he has settled in so well to his forever home that it brings me so much happiness each time they send a new picture of him looking so spoiled and loved.

Example: this shot, of Red/Stanely with his own little teddy bear which I've been told he carries to his bed with him each night. I'm so thankful once again as we all hunker down for the inevitable really cold weather that will come, that this sweet boy is no longer going to be battling the elements - Merry Christmas indeed!

MIRACLES ABOUND

For those of you who aren't aware, last Summer hubby and I helped to rescue two adorable little black kittens who were apart of a litter born to a feral Mom "Cleopatra" in our neighbourhood.

After fostering them for a few months, they were then moved onto another foster home where we enjoyed the wonderful updates provided to us by their new "Mommy". Sadly we learned this past October that Calvin had died very suddenly at 6 months of age. Just the other day however, I received the following email from the remaining brother's foster Mom that read as follows:

Dear Lisa Marie,

I am happy to tell you that Clarence went to his "forever home"
today, adopted by a wonderful young couple, both bright, thoughtful
and gentle people with a long history of cat care. They had two
cats, one of whom died recently, so they wanted a new companion for
the remaining cat, whose name is Roosevelt.

After Calvin's untimely death in late October, Clarence "blossomed"
and indeed seemed to morph into a mirror image of Calvin: he is now
a very confident, affectionate, playful little boy and, of course,
slender, sleek and handsome. I'm sure he will thrive in his new home.

This was undoubtedly one of the BEST Christmas gifts we could have been given. Life will always have it's triumphs and tragedies, and we're saddened that Calvin's life was short; but both boys were loved and nurtured and brought to safety when it mattered the most. Good luck Clarence..........we will love you always.

CAPTURING BEAUTY

I'm going to let these latest shots of Flossy tell you what a beautiful girl she is blossoming into.........enjoy.

JOYS OF THE SEASON

It's a beautiful Saturday and as I've been busy preparing for Christmas, I was thinking about how blessed we are. As the year draws to a close, I give special thanks for all the kitties we've been able to help save this past 12 months, it's been a busy time foster wise and not without it's stressful moments; but there are so many rewards that come with this work - too many to mention or count. My only hope is that Steve and I continue to be blessed with health so that we're able to continue helping those that cannot help themselves.

Flossy's shyness and fears continue to be overcome just a little bit more with each passing day. We're still battling issues with her tummy but she seems so much more relaxed and yes, dare I say it, happy. I don't think we've ever had a foster whose played with or gotten as much enjoyment out of every toy in our home, as much as Flossy does! Whether it be the stuffed mice, fabric bowties, balls with bells inside or the ties on one of my seat cushions, she has SO MUCH fun with all of them and it's so heartwarming to watch.

Here are some new shots of our little baby girl, taken just today as I busied myself around the house with housework and Christmas baking. We give thanks for this Christmas season, the special meaning it holds for us, and for Flossy's rescue......

IT'S TIME

I submitted the write up and photo's to our rescue's website last night - so that Flossy can be formerly added to the adoption list.

She is still quite nervous and skittish in many ways but that is something that will just take time and it may be that due to the horrors she suffered through while being homeless may never completely erase themselves. She may always be a little kitty who is sensitive and that's just fine - her forever home will have to be one that understands her struggles and has the patience to allow her to come to them in her own time. Otherwise, she's gained weight, her coat is so plush now that I smile as I pet her, (remembering how it looked when she first arrived) and she's playful with the boys. She does appear to have abit of a sensitive tummy where food is concerned so we're going to experiment with a hypo-allergenic food in the hopes that that helps, but we'll sort that out as well.

I will be so protective of her as the calls come - but then again I am with every kitty that we foster; Flossy is just the one that needs our protection to ensure her forever home will love her for the cat she is.