A big welcome to Fennec

It is with one part embarrassment, one part shame, one part dismay, to ten parts glee, that I tell you we have adopted another animolecule. I'm afraid the spring kitten fever got us. I can also blame it all on The Husband, who pulled one of those "let's just go look" stunts.

He's from our local Humane Society. We'll be keeping him in isolation for about a week (or as long as we can stand), to make sure he isn't harboring a URI, which so many shelter kittens get. I can't wait to see what kind of reception he'll get from our other kitties. Well, actually, two of them are a given: Cleo (our wild black girl cat) will hiss at him and never let him get closer than a foot or two, and Miss Lemon of course will claim him and treat him like her own offspring.

But how will Rumi, Lynx, and Gadjo react? It will be interesting. Stay tuned.

When we went to the shelter, I told The Husband that the only way I'd consider adopting another would be if we found one that was truly a lovebug. There were a lot of kittens at the shelter, and I saw this one on a woman's lap in the meet room. The little guy had fallen asleep on her lap. As kittens tend to just be wiggly blurs, I found it very endearing and envied the woman. 

Later, while we were meeting with other kittens, this one got put back into the enclosure with all of them (and us). I picked up this little guy and he started purring and just wouldn't stop. He just wanted to snuggle and be held, and give mini head-butts, and purr. I've never met a more loving kitten at that age (he's about 2 months). 

But the woman who had met him hadn't made up her mind yet, and she had first dibs. I told The Husband I'd leave it up to fate: if the other woman decided not to take this kitten after all, then he'd come home with us. If she did decide to take him, then we wouldn't bring home any other kitten.

So, unless his personality radically changes, we've got our lovebug.

 In honor of his tiny face, huge ears, and coloring, we have named him Fennec, after the foxes (which, sadly, like much wildlife, are illegally sold as pets--please don't support this or any other illegal wildlife trade).

She promised me ice cream

The snow and extreme cold continue. (As I write this, it's 3 degrees F, with a wind chill of -14. I have to leave for work in a few minutes.) I was desperate to do something in bright colors, since around here we're only seeing in monochrome. I had a lot of fun doing this in a completely in-the-moment, deliberately childlike way.

I knew that the foxes and deer in our neighborhood have been getting bolder and bolder... But today I was genuinely shocked to look out the window and see a fox, in broad daylight, taking his sweet time to sniff and stroll around my yard and all the neighbors'. They eat cats around here... (Our Jellyroll never did come back.) I didn't have my camera, but my neighbor/artist/friend Sam has a photo of a couple of them on her roof here.

The deer, too, beautiful though they are, have become more than a nuisance in our neighborhood, eating cherry trees, roses, and garden tomatoes with equal relish. Woe betide the human who takes a casual walk down the sidewalk in fawn season...there's a matriarch who doesn't hesitate to charge you, even with leashed barking dogs at your side. I used to think it was kind of funny...until it happened to me. That's when I realized those things are big. And those shiny black hooves look pretty sharp too.

Must...stay....warm. Must....stay...warm...

$115.00 - She promised me ice cream (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com