Kitty Sighting

Ever since the kitties disappeared, though I've been sad, I've continued to put food in their bowls, hoping to draw them back out. And, somebody's been eating their food. I think it's Bonne Maman. I have at least seen her near the bowls. Whether she shares with her young is another story. My husband (maybe we should call him Big Lambchop - or perhaps Muttonchop) had also seen her near the winery. So, being the ever curious human that I am, I went on a kitty safari. And, being that I was upwind of the critters, they didn't even smell me coming. This slight advantage gave me just enough time to spot a couple of them scurrying back to their hiding place, among a badly organized pile of pretty much everything imaginable. Armed with the location of their new hideout, I placed a bit of salmon kitty paté nearby to coax them, ever-so-gently out again. I didn't get to stick around long enough to see them come out for it, but a few hours after I put it there, it's licked clean. Good sign, but what's next?

I've read several online articles about feral kitties and how to domesticate them. I'm not really looking to turn them into housecats, because we've got enough mess around here without cat hair piled on top - not to mention my allergy problems. Besides, I think they might enjoy roaming the vast outdoors around our house and marking it all as their personal property (kitties love that sort of opportunity, right?). I would, however, love to have them hanging around the currently-nonexistent-but-soon-to-be-built patio of our new house while I knit in my also-currently-nonexistent-but-hopefully-to-be-acquired rocking chair in the afternoon sun while the seabreeze blows all around me. Sounds nice, doesn't it. That's all I'm asking for here.

So, after reading said feral cat articles, I know that the kittens should be separated from their mother at around 6 weeks in order to make them as domesticatible (is that a word, and if so, how do you spell it?) as possible. Mommy is a bit fearful of my kind (humans), and she's likely to teach this to her sweet little younguns, which is only natural but not necessarily what we're looking for here. So, I'm just not sure how to go about doing this. What to do? What to do? Do we take our chances now and trap mom and then catch the babies later? Anybody have any experience in this matter at all? I could sure use some help here.

So, that's what I think about most these days. Last night, I even dreamed the kitties let me hold them, and I thanked their mommy for giving them to me. Yeah, so we have a new obsession around here.

But, this does not mean I've given up on the whole knitting thing. I'm still faithfully plugging away on my bamboo shirt. The body is all finished and sewn up, except for the border I want to add on after the fact. I'm about halfway done with the first sleeve. Then, of course, I'll have to do the other. I'll try to post pictures of that soon.