i know right, you're melting into a puddle of swoon? well you're not alone, I've been melting for a week and 3 days. on april 16th around 11:15pm the little stray cat Damian & i rescued from the cruel winterly outdoors started to go into labour. by 12:30am 2 little kittens were born (the little lady above was the first) and by 5:30am when our alarm went off (cruel hour, I know) 3 more had joined the litter. i didn't get much sleep that night, about 2 hours maybe. I kept waking up, worrying, hoping everything was going ok. everything was, everything was perfect in fact!
it must have been near the end of january when i first noticed a little head peeking out from underneath Damian's workshop. it was absolutely freezing out, minus 25 celsius some nights. i started putting little bowls of food out for the beastie and when we got home from work i would check on it. the bowl was licked clean. for a couple weeks i tried to gain the trust of the kitty but she would always run back under the workshop. i would peek out the window and see her eating snow to get water (heartbreaking). one saturday i bundled up and sat out there waiting for her to come to the bowl of food. she inched near it, saw me, but did not run. she let me sit there while she munched away, every so often sneaking a peek at me from the corner of her eye. i moved over to our porch and she slowly made her way over to me. i reached out so she could sniff my hand, she hesitantly stretched her little neck out and dabbed my fingertip with her cold nose. after the first scritch to her head she was a ball of malnurished purring. she rubbed up against my legs, ran between my feet, and jumped up for more petting.
it was a few days later when she was comfortable enough to come inside. our cats, Toulouse & Poe, weren't exactly fond of this new kitty but i think even she realized it was too cold for such a tiny body. she would sleep inside at night but go back outside during the day while we were at work. it was during this time that she went on a few dates with some local tom cats, got pink eye (which she spread to Toulouse & Poe), and appeared to be little bigger in the stomach region. at first we tried to convince ourselves that she was just eating too much because she wasn't used to such an abundance of food. our denial turned into acceptance after a little it of research online.
now, now Belle (seen above with her whimsical kill - and still preggers) has 5 gorgeous and adorable reminders of her one night stand. we'll be doing DNA tests on the neighbourhood cats to track this deadbeat dad down *wink*. she's such a good little mom, always keeping her eye on her babies, always an ear perked in the direction of their bed when she gets up for a stretch. i have to say that getting up in the morning to a box full of kittens on our bedroom floor certainly put s a smile on my weary face.
as of saturday there are a few eyes starting to open and some attempts at walking. our task now is to find good homes for these sweeties (though it will be impossibly hard for us to give them up). i wish i could do background checks on people, you know? i don't want them going to just any home, they have to go to a home that will spoil them rotten.
so we are officially crazy cat people now, 8 cats total in our house...yikes! despite the difficult task of finding good homes we are so happy to have rescued Belle and given her a safe place for her & her babes. if we hadn't taken her in those babies may not have survived, in fact she herself may not have survived. she was skinny and sick when we brought her in but now she's filled out, has bright green wide eyes, and a shiny coat of tortoise shell fur.
now i think there's a bunny living in her old house under the workshop. looks like we'll have to stock up on carrots.
another new print in my shop. i get the sense my subconscious is focusing on a certain topic. running away seems so dramatic but FLYING away, now that has a more ethereal romantic quality. don't you think? 
