Harry Dresden Turns Two!

I can't believe it, but today Harry Dresden turns two! (He is the only one of the new "kittens" I have the actual birth date for.) He is by far the quietest of the three young ones, but he is also the one who comes and snuggles with me in bed at night--not during nap time, though, when he sleeps at the bottom of the bed and the other two snuggle.

He was a rescue being fostered by someone for the Super Heroes in Ripped Jeans organization, the one I'm fostering kittens for right now. I went to visit him when I knew Magic and Mystic were close to the end, and I was looking for new cats to bring in after that happened. (I realize that some people need to wait longer, and I get that. In this case, I was going to be down to just Angus, who had never been an only cat, and my heart was so broken I knew I'd need new kitties right away.)

 The first thing he did was crawl into my coat. Then he hung around for a while as I chatted to his foster mom. There were a couple of other cats in the room, but they didn't pay any attention to me. As I was explaining to his foster, Kristin, that I had a couple of other kittens to look at the next day and while I was leaning toward taking him I couldn't be sure until then, he came over and fell asleep on  my lap.

Kristin looked at me and laughed. I laughed too, since I know that cats choose you. (And the next day, Koshka and Ember did just that.) I told her I couldn't pick him up until Magic and Mystic were gone, since they deserved all my attention right then, and she understood.

Not many days later, I went and picked him up. You can probably tell I'd been crying look like crap, but Harry Dresden saved me from being even more miserable. (I had to wait about 3 weeks to get the other two, because Ember hadn't been fixed yet.)

He's a damned good cat.

About 4 months old

So I thought I'd do a birthday celebration giveaway in his honor, for all the cat lovers among my readers and friends.

Check it out. A signed copy of The Little Book of Cat Magic, a cat candle holder (with candle, because that's the way I roll), a cute stuffed black cat, and a black cat bookmark.

As usual, no purchase is necessary, it is open internationally, and all you have to do to enter is use the Rafflecopter form below.

Happy birthday, Harry Dresden!

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Magic and Mystic Turn 15!

If you are a regular here, you have probably heard quite a lot about Magic the Cat (Queen of the Universe) and her brother, the giant gray kitty Mystic. To me, they will always be my "kittens," since I got them, along with their mom, from the shelter when they were only about ten weeks old.

So tiny and adorable! But the size of Mystic's feet should have warned me...

Who could have resisted those faces?

 And yet, somehow, today they are turning fifteen. I don't know how it happened. (After all, I'm not getting any older, right?) We lost their mom last March, so I confess that it is a little scary seeing them getting older. But mostly they're pretty healthy, aside from some arthritis in her back that makes it hard for Magic to jump up on the couch and the desk anymore. Here are the new stairs I bought to help her out, along with an ottoman by the couch. (She picked up on the ottoman right away...the stairs are taking a little longer.)

Magic enjoying the sun.

 I confess, as much as I love all my cats, Magic and I have always had a special connection. Until a few years ago, this was one of her favorite positions. Especially if I was cooking. She would leap straight up from the floor to my shoulders. Needless to say, this worked a lot better in the winter when I was wearing a lot of layers... (She also co-wrote a number of my Llewellyn books.)

When they were younger, the siblings were also quite close. (You can see mom Minerva in the background. I'm pretty sure she was saying, "You two get along now.") As they got older, that was no longer true, in part because Mystic liked to throw his considerable weight around.

Although as you can see, he is usually pretty laid back.

Don't bother me...I'm napping.

 This picture was taken last week, on a cold but sunny day. You can see they've carefully spaced themselves out with Angus in between.

Truth be told, it doesn't matter if they are fifteen or five, they will always be my babies.

So I'm going to celebrate their birthday the same way I celebrate everything else--with a giveaway! Happy birthday, babies. Mama loves you more than the moon and the stars and chocolate.

Mystic, checking out the goodies

My yearly calendar, featuring book covers and cats, plus a Magic the Cat notebook and mousepad, a cute card from one of the shop artists that I think looks like Mystic, and a little black cat.

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