Day 12 the kittens are growing

It has been pretty cosy here with the kittens next to me in the office as I work. They all have their eyes open now and are getting so fat. You can see the additional pics we have been taking in the Kitten set if you click on this link - click slideshow at the top.

Gaylord the black and white boy was the first to show us his eyes so he must have been first born. Next came Margaret the calico kitty and then Geraldine the tortoiseshell. Of course they are both girls because calico and tortoiseshell cats are always female. Based on our genetics calculations, their daddy would have been black or black and white.

Every now and then I can hear little sucking sounds or squeaks and Mischa talking to her babies but they are pretty quiet and spend most of the time sleeping, drinking or getting washed by mum. Every now and then one will head out of the box onto the sheepskin on the bed, crawl around, cry a bit for mum and head back in. We are starting to think they might fall off the bed but so far this isn't a problem because they don't move around a lot. Of course we pick them up and cuddle them a lot so they don't hiss at us when we go near the box as kittens do if a strange smell gets under their nose.

They did not like it when one of the dogs got too close to the box - little hisses then. As if that is going to scare anything off. Angel really wants to carry them around in her big, briard mouth I can tell but the room is out of bounds for the dogs. So we have to remember to put the gate up to keep them out.

I am amazed at how shiny and clean the kittens are and how loved they are by Mischa. She is a fabulous mother and very attentive. It is good to see her getting back to her playful self as well. When taking a break from the kittens she leaps around on the furniture and stalks us or lies around as if to say "boy I'm exhausted". She doesn't go very far though when she ventures outside and is quick to come back in. I would hate to think she might want to take a trip and leave us to it - bottle feeding.

I am really loving the new wooden pellet litter system. There is no odour only a lovely wood smell and the pellets disintegrate as they get wet. So far one lot in the tray is lasting ages - I got several 10 kg bags from mitre 10 mega for about $6 NZD. So real cheap as well. Maybe they are all peeing in the pot plants or behind the stereo. No doubt we will soon find out as the house heats up. Pong!

Mischa has kittens

Mischa our first time mother had a three kitten litter in the early hours of Monday morning 22 September 2008.

The waters broke at 1130 pm and I left her to it. By 3.30 am I heard mewling when I got up to visit the porcelain and she had three large and very wet kittens crawling all over her and suckling. She had moved out of the special nesting box we set up for her and birthed all over the spare bed.....through to the mattress. She was content and stayed there til morning. By 7 am the next morning the kittens were dry and fluffed up and Mischa was no longer wet either. She had sure done a great clean up job. So now we have started taking photos. Here is the first of the set - Day one and Day two.



Mischa is so proud of herself and stretches out every chance she gets to show off her kittens suckling. They are now in the nesting box, on top of the spare bed with a clean blanket and an extra sheepskin at the door of the box. It was great today for her to loll about - it was such a really warm day. And the kittens have been crawling in and out to be near her as well. They are so content and hardly make a sound.

She is such a good mother! A day in the life of the kittens..........suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...
sleep...sleep...sleep...sleep...sleep...
sleep...sleep...sleep...sleep.....sleep...sleep...sleep....sleep...sleep...
sleep....sleep...sleep...sleep
...crawl...crawl....crawl....crawl......crawl...crawl....crawl....crawl...
mew....mew....mew...mew..suck...suck...
suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...suck...sleep...sleep...sleep...
sleep...sleep...
sleep...sleep...sleep...sleep.....sleep...sleep...sleep....sleep...sleep...
sleep....sleep...sleep...sleep
...crawl...crawl....crawl....crawl......crawl...crawl....crawl....crawl...
mew....mew....mew...mew

Coffee break for Oxfam

Last week I organised an Oxfam coffee break for some colleagues at Otago Polytechnic after reading about the fund-raising and awareness-raising activity which was advertised in the New Internationalist.

The event was also promoted on TV3.

We had an interesting discussion over coffee after watching the Oxfam video. People talked about how the most profit is made at the branding and coffee bean processing stages so this got us into a discussion around the capitalist structure of our society - corporations, business models etc. We were very impressed to see how fairtrade pricing helps people with setting up "normal" life facilities like pumps for clean water, education etc.

One thing that came up was whether it was ethical to grow cash crops like coffee instead of food. Though I can see why they need cash to get facilities to improve their standard of living. I wonder how people in the countries you support manage to feed themselves adequately when coffee crops take up valuable growing land? It would be good to discuss this further.

The coffee was great and I tested out a new cake recipe - apricot and walnut sticky cake - only 3 tbsp of flour. We raised a good amount of money for a small group and had a fun time.

Womad 2008

Womad 2008 was a feast of music and dance at the Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth, my hometown in Taranaki. A weekend lying around and soaking up the sun listening to amazing musicians such as Toumani Diabate from Mali. I have never heard anything as beautiful as the Kora played by this man, a 71st generation player of astounding music. Here is the video I captured at his workshop; not great quality to look at but beautiful to listen to if you give it a chance.



And if you need some more excitement to look at, here are some of the photos I shot of the Bowl of Brooklands stage and the colourful flags which surrounded us. It was great to be there with friends and my lovely sis; it is the people who make it. The beauty of Womad is in the amazing choice of music from so many countries, and the feeling of being part of something so much bigger than ourselves. To stand or sit or dance in wonder as the musicians pelt out their unique sounds makes you a part of everything. No wonder people follow Womad around the world. Maybe one day we will do this....by sea could take a while...steamboat or canoe even longer.

I hope you enjoy the interview with Jim about the human rights issues that were brought home to us when watching the Guoto monks cooking demonstration and talk; he also mentions the irony of having Shell sponsor Womad. As Jim says, " I wonder why there were no bands from Nigeria at Womad!?" Here is what Owens Wiwa for the New Internationalist says about Shell in Nigeria...for starters. And if you want to find out more, do a search for Shell at the New Internationalist website.

hope for the future?

In response to Father Joe's essay about what he would do if he was 12 1/2 again instead of 87 1/2
- learn accounting, computing, get a pHD, and set up a small business growing and planting fruit trees.

The combination of accounting and planting trees particularly fruit trees is very worthwhile for survival. But if society heads in a more sustainable direction we might end up with a barter system rather than $ so nothing for the accountants to count.

I would dearly love to see more of our parks filled with fruit trees for all to enjoy and eat the fruits. In Spain they had orange trees everywhere and people were able to gather the fruits - considerately of course.

I also think there is a need for all good citizens to have an understanding of science so we can contribute knowledgeably about the peak oil and climate change debate, as well as make informed decisions about our health and well being - which products to buy and which to avoid; how to avoid polluting our environment and live holistically.

Our society has forgotten that we live in an interconnected web where each action influences all other actions The forest fire in Indonesia not only pollutes the immediate environment but also influences the weather in the rest of the world. We all live under the same stratosphere but people seem to think they have their own personal bubble in the environment which they can pollute without any effect on other creatures. David Suzuki writes about how water molecules travel throughout the globe.

The water molecule someone pees out in the Northern hemisphere can end up in our rainwater here in Dunedin....somewhat worn out I guess but still the same molecule. His website is at: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

Have you read much about the principles of Gaia, Joe, by James Lovelock? He has written about the idea of earth as an holistic entitiy.

See: http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/what_is_Gaia.html .
His website is at: http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/ There are lots of links to his writing there.

Also don't forget about psychology which we will all need so we can understand the mentality of the human race, and the psychologists who will be needed to help people accept the stuff that is happening. :)

And also some awareness of social justice and human cultures so we can treat each other humanly when the crunch comes.

My band wagon at the moment is sustainability and this is not only about the environment but also in every area of society. The organisation where I work, is including sustainability in all areas of the educational curriculum. For example, when students learn about computing, they also have to consider whether computers are made ethically, and disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

We have each been given a "recycled" plastic tray for our used paper so it can be recycled. A small step but an important one. Next a worm farm for the staff kitchens. Also they are running expos about sustainable products (What's Best?) (see http://www.otagopolytechnic.ac.nz/), and talking about setting up a pool of bicycles for getting around campus and the city. A group of us at the polytechnic are starting workshops around building a Cob oven and permaculture. At least we will eat well, slow food yum.

There are also local sustainability action groups setting up - organising for peak oil. Yes we take it very seriously down here in kiwi land. The farmers are still spraying and dosing and polluting but there are regulations around polluting streams. And unfortunately organics is still a very small industry but growing.

Misha - kitten extraordinaire

Misha ventures out in the snow

Our adopted grand-kitten is adorable. In the picture she is about 9 months old and discovering snow for the very first time. She has so much character and demands so much attention. I am constantly amazed at how she defends herself from the attentions of the dogs - who harrass her mercilessly. She has a mighty cuff with those feisty paws of hers. She loves to snuggle under the covers which she gets to do as a treat in the mornings. She is a great hottie when reading in bed at night when she prefers to lie on top of the bed. When her "mother" comes to visit, they cuddle all night to make up for lost time. We hope that she wont have her first and only batch of kittens too young....there was a ginger tom hanging around so we may have kittens for xmas. Irresponsible but fun.

my birthday

I had a wonderful Bronwyn-day on my birthday. Lots of phone calls from friends and lovely family; this kept me chatting til late morning. Then I spent some time admiring the beautiful flowers which arrived on my pre-birth day from him and her and her & him in Oakura. I also spent some time meditating on the last 55 years, thinking back to my very first memories s a child and some of the milestones. I believe my earliest memory dates back to the day of my sister's birth, when our Dad brought my brother and I a pack of Rolos each; we were staying with Nana and Grandad while Mum was in "the home". Rolos have always been my favourite sweet.

In the afternoon, I had lunch at Custom House with two of my favourite people even though they were both suffering from bad colds. Something strange about the smell of the moki in batter though; I'm pretty sure it is a strong fish but not that strong - no ill effects so the frying must have killed the bugs. Unfortunately for me or fortunately for the others, my smell wasn't impaired.

Then out for sushi & a movie with J - an emotional wrenching tale about a kidnap victim - Daniel Pearl; A Mighty Heart (Wikipedia, 2007). The film was based on Marianne Pearl's memoirs. Angeline Jolie's acting was stunning and she looked a lot like Marianne Pearl; she was especially amazing in the scene when she screams out her loss and grief.

It was so good to take the day off completely and not even look at my computer. I must do more of that even on unbirthdays.