The Kittens appropriate Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo in Latin America, Spanish for "Fifth of May", is an annual celebration held on May 5. The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. The victory of the smaller Mexican force against a larger French force was a boost to morale for the Mexicans. A year after the battle, a larger French force defeated Zaragoza at the Second Battle of Puebla, and Mexico City soon fell to the invaders. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has taken on a significance beyond that in Mexico. More popularly celebrated in the United States than Mexico, the date has become associated with the celebration of Mexican-American culture. These celebrations began in California, where they have been observed annually since 1863. The day gained nationwide popularity in the 1980s thanks especially to advertising campaigns by beer and wine companies. Today, Cinco de Mayo generates beer sales on par with the Super Bowl.

In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle continues to be mostly ceremonial, such as through military parades or battle reenactments. The city of Puebla marks the event with an arts festival, a festival of local cuisine, and re-enactments of the battle.

Cinco de Mayo is sometimes mistaken for Mexico's Independence Day—the most important national holiday in Mexico—which is celebrated on September 16, commemorating the Cry of Dolores, which initiated the war of Mexican independence from Spain.[1]

And now it is mostly an excuse to eat tacos..

May the Fourth be with you #Maythe4th

Marble keeps an eye out for Rebels (to join up?)

Sunsweet isn't quite sure what side he is taking

Agate wants to go get power converters

Slate is going to topple the regieme 

Midnight heard the dark side has treats.. 

Happy Fourth - Patriotic Kittens

I had a red white and blue star thing from a few years ago but it is in a box of props and I could not find it anywhere this morning so the flag would have to do. I have to say we didn't do too badly for our first official photo session with props

Cinco de Mayo - Estilo gatito, y el día de nomenclatura (kitten style and naming day)

Yes, that is one very long title, and yes, I think I am clever.  Probably because it is late and I am tired. Last year I found a tiny piñata at Target and I thought it would make an awesome photo prop. It might have made a better one if I wasn't dealing with kittens behind the couch.

Yes, hanging the piñata made Art3mis hiss. No, she was not amused by my shenanigans, as you can plainly see. The kittens were happy to see me, though, they came out once they realized I was there. I had kittens investigating behind me and around me. I even had one climb up on my leg all on her own.

I have decided to have naming day as well. I was sorely tempted to give them Prince names, but I think I will save that theme for another litter. If I hadn't already named Art3mis I would have. Because I really enjoyed the Ready Player One book, I am going to stick with the theme for names.

First up is our little intrepid explorer.  She is fearless. She is the first one to explore, first one up on Happy Bear and the first one to climb up on me. I am naming her Aech, pronounced "Aitch" (how you pronounce the letter H), the online alias of a young woman in the book who is African-American, female, and lesbian.  I absolutely adore this kitten's attitude..

The pair of house panthers has been named "Samantha" and "Evelyn" which is the 'real life' name of Art3mis. Samantha is going to the fluffier of the two and Evelyn to the one that has the white patch like her mother. Samantha is absolutely killer in that she is long haired and feels quite a bit like a little black cloud in your hands. I had to take her upstairs to wash off a poop ball on her behind and she didn't fight me at all, just laid in my hand like a little rag doll. Evelyn and Samantha always seem to be hanging out together, which made the name choice kinda easy.

Everybody's favorite kitten is going to have the name of the hero in the book Parzival. Parzival has an incredibly soft coat like his sister Samantha.. they are a pair of little clouds. He is a bit bolder than some of the other kitties, but not nearly as bold as Aech.

My other 'bonded' kittens are the two remaining boys, Shoto and Diato.  These two are also often found together, or looking for the other one if his brother has wandered off. They aren't hard for me to tell apart in person but these photos.. can you tell the kittens did not want to sit still. I am choosing to call the shyer of the two kittens Shoto, he is also the bigger one with the 'frosting' on his behind (his photo is actually the second of the two). It is not really frosting, but his tabby stripes just seem to fade, very much like someone had run out of ink when printing them.  Diato is going to be the smaller of the two. He is very petite and I keep thinking of him as the runt of the litter, but he feels like he weighs about the same as the others when I hold him. It will be interesting to see how he grows up.  Sadly my camera battery died before I could get Shoto's photo, which is why his was taken with my phone, which is far less forgiving for kittens on the move.

I do say, I totally see an 80s themed photo shoot in their future... but, what to put in it.


as for Art3mis, that cat.. last night after I ticked her off with my shenanigans, I sat down and called to her and she came closer to me.  I patted her for a bit and then picked her up again and put her on my leg.  She actually laid down and took her weight off her feet. I patted her and thanked her and told her she was free to go anytime she wanted.  I continued to pat her and call her a good girl. After a good solid minute or two, she decided she had to get up, but she got up and turned around and walked toward me and then gave me a full body rub as if to say "thank you".
And yes, she hissed at me again a few minutes later..

We are now eating five cans of food per day as well as a cup, cup and a half, of dry food. The kittens are using the kitten litter box (a shallow cardboard box with litter) so well they filled it up in half a day so I gave them a second one.  Hopefully, they are out and about soon so they can start using real litter boxes

National Pet Week

The first week of May has been designated to be National Pet Week. It seems like as good a time as any to adopt a pet, or if you are already full, so spent a little time learning something new about your pet

Or you could spend a few more minutes playing with your pet, you know they'll love that.

And if you haven't taken your pet to the vet in a while, you might want to consider taking some time and scheduling an appointment for them just to make sure nothing is brewing.

National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day #AdoptAShelterPetDay

Today is Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, an attempt to bring awareness that there are a lot of pets in shelters that are waiting for homes.

Here are some of the pets that were in the shelter when I stopped by recently.

The kittens at week eight - and we have a holiday to celebrate

Holiday?

Is it Christmas?

Do I get to wear a fancy dress? (Nessie)

Do I get to be a flower? (Zilla)

No darlins, it isn't any of those holidays.

HALLOWEEN!! I GET TO BE THE MONKEY!! (The Kraken)

I'm the mean vicious spider! (Sully) 

I guess that makes me the bee (Zookie)

Trick or treat! give me something good.. buzz buzz

No no kitties, see the decorations behind you, it is Memorial Day

oooh shiney.. let's kill it!

Guys!!

well do we get a hamburger then?

*sigh* Yes, yes you do.. now go play while I tell our readers in the USA that I hope they have a nice Memorial day, and they take a moment to remember the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces.