Kittens' 1st Christmas, much like baby's 1st Christmas, except they climb the tree - all 5 of them... plus Mum... #LostinaBook

 Kittens' 1st Christmas

 

By December 1^st the kittens were nine weeks old, and there weren't many places they couldn't get... They were using the kitchen table legs as mini trees, to gain access to the table top, and they had no respect for whether it was a mealtime or not, in fact that was probably considered a bonus...

I was busy doing on-line Christmas shopping, and as the packages started to arrive, there were containment issues. The Christmas before when Mitzi was tiny, she'd been much too scared to go near the door, running for cover when anyone came, but her kittens were a different story. Where possible I closed them in a different room before I went to the door, but there was always the odd one who went to the door with me. On one occasion a delivery man was catching Captain, who was making a bid for freedom as I signed for a package...

And so, into this backdrop of chaos we brought our Christmas tree... now with hindsight we probably shouldn't have had a Christmas tree that year, but not much gets between me and a Christmas tree, I even factored in the Christmas tree when we were planning our kitchen/dining room extension, planning where kitchen appliances, cupboards, and the annual Christmas tree would go... so missing a year was never an option.

I was beginning to think that five kittens were really no more trouble than one kitten, apart from the obvious extra cat litter to be cleaned out. But, where one kitten and even two kittens can be quite funny in a Christmas tree - with five kittens, the poor tree was well and truly outnumber... it stood innocently enough with no toys on for the first night, and we had planned to just hang a few decorations on that year, but then Kim and I got carried away, and soon the tree was festooned with exciting objects and dangly things. We were having a Christmas party that night, and at the party the kittens provided the main entertainment and ah factor. They were far too busy with all the extra people to try much with the Christmas tree. But the next day was a different matter...

Genie was the ring leader at climbing the tree, then they all followed - even Mitzi got in on the act. I must admit to not quite seeing the funny side of it at the time, as kittens climbed and decorations fell, and any shouting or telling off was met by innocent eyes with no understanding of why I was lifting them down from this new and exciting toy. It was a losing battle, and I decided I couldn't spend the whole of Christmas trying to train kittens not to climb a tree that they probably thought had been supplied for their sole entertainment. The decorations were coming down one way or another, and better for me to do it than the kittens, and so by the end of the day only the lights and the fairy on the top remained.

With all the breakables removed I decided that the only way to avert a nervous breakdown over the Christmas tree, was to just accept that the kittens were going to climb it, and what was the worst that could happen? The tree turned out to be far more stable than expected, and could cope with several kittens climbing on it at once, there was a bit of a sketchy moment when Kryten and Bumble had a scrap half way up the tree, while Genie had decided that she was going to be the fairy on the top of the tree and was heading for the top...

(This excerpt is from Outnumbered by Cats, which covers from when Mitzi came to us, up until her kittens 1st birthday)

         

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#catbook #truecatstory

Cat book - true story - 1st edition 1st print run, each one numbered and signed

Outnumbered by Cats: Yes that's me, cats are great stress relief - when they're not causing the stress that is..

This book gives the unique opportunity to disappear into a world full of cats and kittens, without actually filling your own house, or depriving yourself of sleep...

 

So throw away the rule book and see how one new mum coped with her kittens in a mixture of instinct and learning on the job, and how she shared this unique experience with the humans around her, in a way that was unexpected and wonderful. Not everyone has been 'asked' by their cat to join a search party in the middle of the night for 2 missing kittens...

Share the heartache of one little kitten who was different from the rest, and destined to challenge and inspire us in ways we couldn't have imagined...

Special:

A chance to buy one of just 100 books printed in the 1st edition, 1st print run, all of which are numbered and signed.

...and did I mention lots of colour kitten photos?

So I have the books, I have the website, I just need to get the word out.

 

Outnumbered by Cats

#LostinaBook

Books, book signings and sheep...?

Here's a little excerpt from my home page, where you'll find a little bit of cyberspace which is dedicated to books - good old fashioned print on paper books that you can hold and read with no worries about batteries running out... but you will need a light to read by as it gets dark...

  

There's also a bit of a sheep theme running around this month, as woolly escapees from my bestseller But I'm Not Sleepy vie for attention among the books...

For a limited time I am offering my sheep knitting pattern absolutely free... 

Free knitting pattern now you can knit your own sheep, or knit a flock and then you can really count sheep...

 

My little bookshop in cyberspace is always open. It's a book signing that's always there waiting for you. There's even some first editions and a special short print run...

So have a rummage in the bookshop - there's my new true cat story: Outnumbered by Cats for adults. There are picture books to share and read aloud, and the Doodle series to read aloud or to encourage early readers to discover the joy of reading alone.  

Priceless: being told that a copy of The Monster Under The Bed has been read until it's shabby - it's been a loved book, just like a favourite teddy.  

For the rest of my ramblings pop along to my website. 

Book quote of the day and book orders

'Pictures started to go flying off the sideboard as it became part of a circuit...'
from Outnumbered by Cats

So how are things going - well I have an order for 5 books, so I'll be getting those packed and posted - and Kryten will get his box at last...

Outnumbered by Cats

Outnumbered  by Cats

The true story - complete with photos

After another couple of sales this week, Kryten will soon be getting his box!!

Just 2 more books in this box and then the box becomes a cat toy, to jump in , hide in, and ultimately shred...

Just one more week at launch price of £7.99 - so grab yourself something special - a book from a small print run of just 100 books - each one hand numbered and signed.

Outnumbered by Cats is a true story - share with me the joys and dramas of living with a house full of kittens...  and put faces to their antics with 82 colour photos.

Monday ramblings and book marketing

Monday ramblings:

Well that was a busy, if a little maddening morning, sorting out the mess I made of my blog header on Friday night, when I would have been better employed leaving the computer well alone and reading a book instead...

My marketing team are busy taking a siesta in various sunny and shady places about the house depending on their current preference - the darker their coats, the sooner they seek shade.

So that leaves me tackling the hardest part of writing a book - namely: shouting about it and getting it out to a greater audience.

    So why should you buy my new book?

• Colour photos - if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the word count in this book is immense - with 82 colour photos of cats and kittens, from all the time when they were getting into mischief and I reached for the camera instead of lifting them down...
• Small first print run - this is a print run of just 100 books, and all the books will be hand numbered and signed
• True story - it's all there, maybe a little too much at times...
• Launch price of £7.99 till the end of May.

The Blurb:

I'd like to get a female kitten and let her have one litter," I said to my stunned family when they raised the kitten topic. Not surprisingly a suitable kitten was quickly found...  and Mitzi arrived in time for Christmas, bringing her own brand of fun and chaos, and demanding friendship from our 5 year old cat Cleo.

By summer Mitzi was quite confused, she came into season and started calling shamelessly. But when a hapless tomcat answered her call, she was far from impressed; causing more than one cat flap drama, and a hole in the door where a flap used to be. 

Eventually nature took it its course and Mitzi had kittens. The first few weeks were blissfully peaceful, watching as Mitzi took care of their every need. We had a week of heartache when one of the kittens was poorly, and then not developing properly, and was destined to challenge and inspire us in ways we could not yet imagine. 

Then they grew big enough to escape their box, and the bedlam began... 

The story that emerged from the kitten diaries, written as kittens climbed on me and chewed the edges of my note books...