Kittens!

I started my new job today, and I will be excited to write a post about it when I have a little more experience in the new setting, but for the moment, suffice it to say that I'm confident I will love it there, for however long I get to work there. All is well.

In other exciting news, for the nine days before starting my new job, I got to kitten and house sit, which was a fabulous way to enjoy myself and feel productive during that time. Plus, KITTENS!

The house, which belongs to our landlord, is in the middle of a beautiful national park. It is a lovely cottage with amazing views, great hikes, a crystal clear stream, etc. None of those things will be featured in this post, because none of them compare to kittens! (Take comfort, though, they will all make an appearance in my next post).

This is Mama Syrup with her five kittens, who thoughtfully organized themselves into a picture-perfect pattern. They were 2.5 weeks old at this point, and just barely had their eyes open.

This is all but one of the older litter of six kittens who were almost five weeks old when I arrived. Clearly, my legs are the best playground ever.

This is all eleven kittens beautifully napping together in their basket, once the older ones were big enough to be moving around more and they came out of the closet into the kitten around.

This is J's favourite kitten - a beautiful tortoiseshell who is very adventurous and an impressive climber (and the only one who made it up into this potted plant).

This is my favourite kitten, and she is the most adorable and perfect in every way.

J's favourite kitten was too high energy to cuddle with me during the three days I spent there before he joined me. Then, as soon as he showed up, not only did she zen out and cuddle with him, she actually reached out and held his hand (finger) and stared lovingly up at him for ages! They must be soulmates.

My perfect kitten fell asleep on my chest, which is officially the most endearing thing a tiny, adorable creature can do.

J's favourite kitten is also a perfect "mini-me" of her mom, which is awesome!

But look how my favourite can melt your heart by nibbling your finger!

Also, she cuddled up to the two younger kittens who look just like her, which was amazing!

Kirsten came to visit for a few days, which was great fun. She fell in love with the orange tabbies (or gingers, as they call them here). So each colouring was someone's special favourite, which is nice.

This beautiful orange tabby made me think of the human babies and small children I've taken care of, in that he would fall asleep in any and every position, as he ran out of energy in the middle of playing.

This is the only decent picture I got of one of the younger litter, and he looks a bit sad, but still adorable. 

Cuteness overload, right? You can see why these gorgeous babies took total priority over every other attraction the house and location had. And why I spent hours every day playing with them. And why it was VERY hard to say goodbye to them. Our landlord said that we were welcome to adopt one if we wanted, and it was hard not to be tempted, but we are resolutely petless at the moment, and don't need to be changing that based on cuteness.

Before I went, J was very firm and forbid me to fall in love with a kitten and bring it home. Then, 20 minutes after he arrived to spend the weekend, I found myself having to forcefully talk him out of taking home the tortoiseshell right then and there. I knew he'd be the weak link!

In conclusion, we have not adopted a kitten, and although I miss them greatly and had so much fun with them, I am glad of this.