Peace & Quiet

March 28, 2009

Discovery of the Shoulder

Chick discovers the advantage of some locations

More 2 Explore

March 25, 2009

Drop Art

24 March, 2009. A wild chase, and cats and painting land on the floor, the painting on top. The kitties flee in different directions.

Shower Curtain Suspense

24 March, 2009

Meet The Dog

Chucky wants to jump on the bed and discovers Britta (an old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) is already there. He is, well, appalled.

Jump

March 20, 2009

Doggie-like

March 19. 2009. I throw them away, Chick brings back the paper balls. Chucky looks on - he's not involved in this.

The Diving Game

Chucky's discovered a new game: Climb Up, Dive Down.

Getting Used To

March 18, 2009. Today the kitties decided that their new home - even with me in it - is okay. When I came home tonight with guest (auntie Katja) they appeared from under the kitchen cupboards to say hello. Well, Chick came to say hello, Chucky wanted to eat first. Then they ran around the house and discovered the climbing pole that I had made for them the weekend before. From floor to ceiling in three seconds.

The first picture shows one of Chucky's first attempts - when he didn't realize he can only climb on the platform from the other side.

Then Chucky sat in my lap and tried to sleep. Chick sabotaged this by continually jumping on him. Only when auntie Katja took her in her arms, and held her, gently but firmly, in an iron grip, she calmed down. The second picture was taken when she had completely relaxed.

Running Wild

March 17, 2009  About 6 am. Chick and Chucky are ready for the day. No soft meowing in the hallway this time, but hardcore racing all over the house. They are on the bed, under the bed, under the blankets, hanging from the sheets. Chick bites into my big toe. Chucky tries to climb into the mosquito net. Nope, you can't do that, either. 
When Chucky suffers from a little energy dip, Chick will help him get over it. And the other way around. Their energy is boundless.
Last night Dia came to visit. Before she had entered the premises, Chick and Chucky had disappeared under the kitchen cupboards and get so quiet for the next hour that we started to wonder where they were. But Dia had hardly left the house and out they came, the big heroes. 

Exploring

March 16, 2009 Early morning - I hear soft meowing in the hallway: the kitties are exploring! When they hear me get out of bed, they run for cover under the kitchen cupboards. I seduce them into reappearing with food. Chucky loves to eat, where one goes, the other follows. They eat, visit their cat toilet, spraying the grit hygienically all over the place, climb on chairs, try to climb a towel hanging from a chair, try and fail to jump on the kitchen counter. It's too high for them.

Occasionally, they climb over me - I'm lying on the kitchen floor, within easy reach. They climb on top of me, and let me stroke their bellies - turning round and round like corkscrews from sheer pleasure.

And then suddenly, they've had enough. Chick and Chucky disappear under the kitchen cupboards once again, not showing their faces again till it's 2 pm..

Overwhelmed

I assumed that the kittens would be waltzing merrily all over my keyboard, half a day after their arrival. I was wrong. They are still pretty overwhelmed. After they realized that this place was way too open for inspection (from me), they moved to a box under the table, determined to stay there.
Their characters are very different. Chucky gets scared when he hears me fold a plastic bag, Chick is clearly the braver one.

In Amsterdam

March 14, the kittens have arrived.
Their favorite spot for now is under the kitchen cabinets. From there they stare at me, and from there they go on short trips, exploring the house. I'm less threatening to them if I lie down, so I regularly spend my time lying like a doormat on the kitchen floor. I managed to catch Chuck, who at first just wanted to bolt, but after a minute he was purring and letting me stroke him behind his little ears. Then he ran back to hide under the kitchen cabinets.
There they are, lurking.

Staatsieportret

Staatsieportretten op 8 maart: de laatste foto's van Chick (boven) en Chucky in St Michielsgestel. Zaterdag verhuizen zij naar Amsterdam.
Het maken van de foto's was nog een hele klus, meldt de fokker. 'Ze zijn óf te wakker en actief zodat ze niet stil willen zitten. Of ze zijn eigenlijk te slaperig om in de lens te kijken. Met wat moeite en het nemen van héél véél foto's zijn we toch weer geslaagd.'
De statige uitstraling wordt effectief ondermijnd door dat rellerige pootje links onder.

Bijna Verhuizen

2 maart - Chick & Chucky in hun elfde week en al bijna klaar voor de verhuizing naar Amsterdam.

Todlers

March 2, 2009. Marlies Op 2 maart has made more pics of the kittens (I made these two into one pic). The kittens are by now into heavy partying, she writes. The whole hous is now their playground and they love tearing wallpaper off the walls. So the peacefulness of this picture is misleading. They only have respect for the toy waterpistol. On the left is Chick, on the right her brother Chucky.

Baby Pics

Feb 7, 2009, Marlies Korevaar of cattery Nimble Nymph made this picture of the then 8 week-old kittens. They weigh about 1 kg each, which is heavier than they look. Brannoc is wearing the yellow collar, Briony a green one.
They will not keep these names, though. I rename Briony to Chick. Brannoc will henceforth be known as Chucky.