From the Archives: Six Weeks Old, September 10, 2007

September 9, 2023September 9, 2023 Bernadette

Two littles having a nap after play in the bathroom. They are just about six weeks old and it was hard to believe how fast they grew and developed.

When I went looking for photos of them that I hadn’t used yet for this week’s “from the archives” photos I found these on just about exactly the same date, just these three photos, and I didn’t even remember them, but how cute—and, hey, isn’t that Mewsette and Jelly Bean? That kitten on the bottom certainly looks like Mewsette’s expression and in another photo it’s her nose, a little shorter and more rounded than all the others’. And Bean, on top, had a distinct shape to his face from very early on, a round muzzle but deep divots before flaring out into wide cheekbones unlike the others’ smoother cheeks, already wider set ears with brushes of white hairs, and his eyes were distinctly horizontal and leaf-shaped, pointed at the corners even then, where all his siblings’ were round. Here’s a closeup so you can see Jelly Bean’s face a little more clearly.

How purrfect! Of course, I’ve been thinking of them, especially as things settle down here and I get back into a routine (challenging as that has been). Last night I decided I’d post the photos this morning.

This morning I opened the photos and did my best to adjust the motion blur ( that old Olympus was pretty worn out by this time so it didn’t capture the kittens all that well) and in the third photo I saw the dabs of paint color on their ears: the kitten on the bottom had yellow, which was Mr. Sunshine’s color, and the top kitten had green, which was Giuseppe’s color; Mewsette’s was red and Bean had enough white hairs in his ears that I used that.

I could easily mistake Mr. Sunshine for Mewsette at that age, but Giuseppe’s face was entirely different from Jelly Bean’s, then and now. Giuseppe has always had more of an Oriental breed influence, especially on his longer and narrower face.

Well, maybe I just needed to see the two of them as kittens last night, and so I did. And maybe since we lost Jelly Bean I have mistaken Giuseppe for him more than once (more on that in another post). And maybe they decided to come for a visit this weekend and this was how they chose to do it. No matter how it happened, I still feel their presence. Below is a full photo of the mess they made before their nap.

At the bottom edge of the photo you can see the edge of a cardboard box, and that’s probably where the other two kittens are sleeping, and considering that if the two in the photo are probably Mr. Sunshine and Giuseppe, then it would be Mewsette and Jelly Bean napping in the box. They are there, even if unseen.

Tomorrow is Pet Memorial Sunday with Chartiers Custom Pet Cremation and for the past few days I’ve been making 20 memorial gifts for Deb to give to attendees who have submitted a photo of their pet and a 50-word tribute. Also, September is a magic month, I always feel the presence of more than my physical reality as the light and temperatures change and bring to me memories of Kublai in his last days and the time of my gentle introduction into their visits. One thing I will always remember is the joy of those four kittens and how they loved me from the start as I loved them.

Below, more kittens from a week before this photo, and a very young Mimi!

Photos from the archives in previous years

August 31, 2007, the Little Four

It's a free for all! — It’s a free for all!

Twelve years ago today this is what the Curious Quartet looked like, just about one month old, and they’ve totally trashed their playroom once again. I’ve been intending to share photos of them from their first months every few days and totally failed in that, but I can still share the cuteness of a day with black kittens and their mom now and then.

You’re not going to show that one where they’re nursing while I eat, are you?

Well, Mimi, I felt really bad for you not ever being able to get a bite to eat without kittens nursing from you.

That’s all well and good, but I look horrible. And that one where I look like a beached whale and I’m showing every nipple on my belly?

Mimi, you are one cat who no one could ever describe as a beached whale. You’re just having a rest while your kittens admire you.

Do you have to?

In the interests of total disclosure, yes.

I’m so embarrassed.

Mimi, everyone knows that’s not what you look like now. Everyone will be glad you’re not having babies anymore! And you are beautiful!

The Curious Quartet in their bed with their signature colors.

Mimi takes a break and airs out her belly.

Photos From the Archives and Vintage Photos

Photos pulled “From the Archives” were taken by one or another digital camera of mine between 2002 and, well, yesterday, but usually they are older than that, and I had never had the chance to feature them. Vintage Photos are from my film archives back to 1983 when I purchased my Pentax K-1000 camera. They’re a fun way to “introduce” other members of my feline family who came and went before I began blogging, and to illustrate my feline family in general from days gone by.

Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

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Feline Photos from Portraits of Animals!

Bean laughs because everyone is laying on him!

They have to do everything in groups of three, or four…or five. A friend gave me a new bed for them, and this is the result, four of them in the bed immediately, even if they don’t all fit. Jelly Bean is laughing because everyone is lying on top of him. How can I tell them apart? Well, look at those expressions! Read more and purchase.

Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.