Let us go then, you and I...

In times of darkness, a light is always shining somewhere. Here is a small sampling of the people and things that lit up my life and gave me strength during the past few weeks.

My greatest source of comfort, the man who is always there for me when I need to talk, to cry, to vent, or just to be held quietly. (One of these days I'll manage to get a photo with a smile and open eyes at the same time, but at least I managed to capture his beautiful smile for once!)

My wonderful daughters, who brighten all my days (and Winston)

Only the patriarch of my backyard clan was out today, but soon the hens (usually two or three) and chicks will make their appearance. Last year, there were at least two different broods - one day I counted thirteen pheasants of various sizes! I even got to watch the older male teaching a young offspring some fighting skills. Very cool.

We got our new baby on Sunday - isn't she adorable!! (Winston begs to differ...)

She hasn't yet been named - at least not a name that we can all agree on. I am determined she must be named Paddles (or would consider Padfoot if the H. Potter reference will sway MN.) Her front paws look like paddles, they are so huge with extra toes (which she also has on her back paws.) MN has other ideas, such as Mariel. Ginger's on my side, so we'll keep working on MN (who has final say since this is, in fact, her kitten.)

I set up a little habitat for her in the huge cardboard box that previously held our new dryer (see, sometimes it pays to be lazy and not have gotten things put out on garbage/recycle day!) Flannel sheets, food & water, mini-litter box, blankies, toys...what more could a kitten want? To have free range of the house, that's what! Oh my goodness, she can cry a cry to wake the dead when she isn't ready to go to bed. We are all getting a bit sleep deprived after a couple nights. The first night MN tried to have Paddles in her room, but MN was too worried she'd get into something (you know, those bits of whatever that are all around every kids room) so eventually we put Paddles down in her own "room" and she did actually settle down. Until it got light at 5am anyway...

Winston is slowly getting used to the idea that this intruder is here to stay. He only hissed once today - only half heartedly at that - and he didn't even rush over to defend his food when Paddles climbed into his bowl - wow! So he's coming along.

It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it might for Winston to warm up to "She-who-must-not-be-called-Paddles" (the name battle remains unresolved!)

Paddles climbed up on the sofa with Winston, shoved her way in and nosed around his tummy looking for milk. Obviously no success there. But Winston did start cleaning her and then let her cuddle with him for a while.

And the winner of the name game is...

Paddles? No...

Mariel? No...

Kitten's new name is...Polly.

Where did that name come from, you ask?? Ginger came out with it last night. She was looking at her Narnia series, specifically The Magician's Nephew, with the characters Digory and Polly. Miss Ninja agreed, so finally our baby has a name. And it fits with her polydactyl paws, so it gets thumbs up from me too. (Although I still think Paddles is her inner "Deep and inscrutable singular Name"...thanks Annie, for reminding me of that poem, which I hadn't read in years!)

I got home yesterday, dropped my bags on the floor for a minute, turned around and discovered that they had been taken over by Polly...

"You can't move me, I'm too cute":

"Seriously, I'm wa-aaay too cute to disturb, aren't I?":

I think I'll just close my eyes for a minute:

More evidence of Winston's patience...he curled up on the sofa to take a nap (yes, he does that a lot) and Polly followed along and curled up on his tail for her own nap.

Yikes, it's hard to snap a decent photo of a scattering kitten! I thought I'd post a couple photos since she's grown so much since the last batch, but...holy moly, she's a whirling dervish this afternoon. Here's what I managed to capture.

I wonder what's in the living room...

Ooo, a pillow to chew on...

Let's see what things look like from this angle...

Well, not much goin' on up top, let's see what's down below...

See my pretty paws...

Later dude, I'm outta here...

Annie asked "How is Polly doing? I bet your home is just as filled with kitten exuberance as mine!" Indeed it is, Annie - and exuberance is the perfect word for this age!

Polly is in that scattery, race-full-tilt sideways over the furniture stage. Such fun! (Although less fun to watch my poor furniture get shredded...) I love listening to her galloping around the house like a herd of elephants - I always marvel at how incredibly loud little kittens can be when running around. She's really exploring her world these days too...the other evening I heard a scratching noise so came to investigate. She'd climbed all the way up the screen door and was hanging at the top, swiping at the flying critters hovering around because the light was on. And then there was this morning...I was at the counter tearing up some cooked chicken breasts to make into wraps for lunch. Polly climbed onto the arm of the rocking chair and teetered there, eyes as big as saucers, sniffing at this delicious scent...then she steadied herself, prepared to jump on the counter, and...then I yelled NO!! in my deepest "I mean business" voice and she settled back on her haunches...this little cycle repeated several times before I finished making my wraps. I know that I have to discipline her, but...mostly I just want to burst out laughing at these times...she's so adorable in her badness! Mostly my disciplining involves yelling NO, clapping my hands, and shutting her in the bathroom alone for a few minutes.

Winston continues to be so patient. Yesterday Polly jumped on his head and he just sat there, looking at me with a "see what I have to put up with..." look in his eyes! Even when Polly pushes her way into his food bowl, he just backs up and sits there. So I have to keep watch and chase her away back to her own food bowl...all the while thinking: 'for heavens sake Winston, can't you stand your ground against someone a quarter your size??!' Unfortunately Win's been on a special diet since his urine crystal problems last year, so I can't just let Polly dig in...you'd think Iams kitten food would be good enough for her, but apparently it's not as good as Hill's prescription food...