A long overdue post

Well...so I sort of got lazy and couldn't find the right time to write, but here I am jumping back on but from a different bedroom. Yes that's right! I have a new room, and why might that be? well almost a month ago I moved out of home and into a flat in Hamilton. I flew the nest!
I am now in a 3 bedroom icebox with three awesome flat mates. My bedroom is the smallest in the house and somehow I managed to fit most of my stuff in. Only problem is that there isn't a heck of a lot of room left in my room, just enough to walk out the door or sit at my desk. Its crammed but cozy. My next dilemma is the fact that the house has no insulation...NONE. Mixed with the hard wood floors and the wooden joinery and the crack in one of my windows, my room is like a fridge. There has been progress made since I moved in..A heat pump was installed last week and Insulation is being installed in July. Hope it make the flat warmer cause I am not a cold lover.
Currently I am sitting on my bed with the heater on trying to warm the room up, however the dog just pushed my door open and has now made a nest on the rug by my bed. Knuckle is a little sweetie, he belongs to the couple in the flat, I think hes my new bestie.

What else has happened since I stopped posting....

• I have more regular hours at work now as a kitchen hand/second chef. I work about 10-15 hours and week sometimes more. I'm loving my job at the moment, Its fun and exciting, even on the crazy busy days we are still able to crack jokes in the kitchen. I have formed a really close bond with the head chef, she is the most caring chef I have ever met. The was she teaches me is totally different to my old job. She encourages me to ask questions and doesn't make a big deal about mistakes I make, her view is that if I don't make mistakes and don't ask questions then I won't learn and improve. How often is it that someone says they love their job? there are certainly things about place that wish would change, but when I am in the rush of the job, all those problems just disappear.

• I have JUST finished my semester at Wintec and now have almost three weeks holidays. This semester had been the best semester so far since I began studying in feb last year. I have managed the have all A grades with the exception of one B+. Last week I got an assignment back which was originally was a group assignment but I got to work alone since I was doing the level 5 version and everyone else was doing level 4. The highest grade given to the level four students was 81% and the average score was 58% well i blew them all out of the water and got 93.25%!!! and I did it all by myself! This just proves to myself that I am capable of a lot more than I give myself credit for. I was concerned that it would be too much work for me but I managed to get it done. I didn't have to ask anyone what they thought, or meet up for group meetings, I could do it from my bed if I really wanted to. I had the freedom to do what I liked within the assignment guidelines of course. I have 3 A++'s, 1 A+, 1 A, 2 A-'s,2 A's and a B+ (I think thats all of them) I am extremely proud of myself and can't wait to continue next semester. Also need to wait to see my exam results. Feeling quite confident with most of the exams I did :) Next semester I am doing -Project Management, Human Resources Management, and E-Marketing . All level six papers so it will be interesting. 

• So now I have almost three weeks to relax and do what I have put aside cause I had study to do . So I think I need to make a list of what I might like to do. 
• Read- I want to get lost in a book and just read for as long as I want, theres a nice sun spot on the couch that looks like a perfect place to read. Top of my reading list is 'My Russian Story'  Written by young New Zealander Alex Gilbert. His story details how he found his Russian Birth Parents and travelled to Russia to meet them. Maybe I'll write a review on the book. I also want to read a good romance book,something that reminds me that true love really does exist.
• Exercise- I want to get fit, daily walking, maybe some running, even tempted to join a gym. I miss going swimming but Hamilton pools are so much more expensive if I only plan to swim for 20 mins and they don't have a spa!
• Friends- I need to have friends time, I want to get some mates around to watch movies, eat junk food and probably drink. I have found a good bunch of friends and I intend to make those friendships stronger. I also have to take one of my friends out clubbing once she turns 18, she wants me to take her out all the time, I told her my bank balance won't allow for that haha
• Blogging- I want to try and write ATLEAST one blog per week,maybe even two- could be a blog with goals and plans for the week and one to summarise how that all went.
• Lastly, I am toying with the idea of trying out YouTube, I have a YouTube account and have a long list of youtubers that I watch all the time, They do a mixture of challenges, Q&A's and Vlogging. I tried to make a video earlier in the year but couldn't edit the video and it was going to take forever to upload to YouTube so I gave up. This time I really want to try it out, I think it would be quite cool to do vlogging and Q&A videos, especially now that I have the time. 

Welll, I think that concludes my blog ,hopefully there will be another one later in the week, now its time for me to watch a movie before going to sleep.

Tortie x

A wee update on the kittens and a collection of photos

Overdue update on the kittens.They are loving the place, running around playing with the dog and scratching all the furniture. I have discovered that the grey kitten likes to drink out of cups, I have caught her drinking my coffee AND my hot chocolate. Little rat-bag, she seems to enjoy it and always has a brown patch on her chin.  The black and white kitten is much more cuddly and dependent or the grey kitty whereas the grey kitty will happily sit in the lounge without me or play by herself, she still loves a snuggle though. I had them in my bed last night while I watched TV and almost fell asleep before putting them in their room.

The kittens enjoying a visit outside in the sun

smokey and blackie having a nap

Blackie

Smokey

The kittens have settled in very well. Yesterday I took them to the SPCA to get de-sexed. 

I had tec all day so it worked out well. I picked the kittens up at 5.20pm after waiting half an hour for the van to come back from the vet. The kittens were very quiet and sleepy on the way home. Blackie would get

grumpy if smokey came near her cause she was sensitive with her stitches. Finally got the kittens home, gave them some biscuits and boy were they hungry. They scoffed down their biscuits. It was hilarious to watch because they couldnt keep their back legs up long so they were basicly lying down instead of sitting to eat. Whenever they walked they would sway to the side or their back end would just flop to the ground. After being home for about an hour they were back to normal, Full bellies and ready to play. They didnt seem to worried about their stitches as they chased and tackled each other around the lounge. 

Our dog Ruppert has taken a particular interest in Smokey, I think he thinks they are friends. Its quite cute.

I am finally on holiday from Wintec, I now have two weeks off yaaaay. I'm working easter weekend (yaaay for time and a half) and the same the following weekend. Can't wait to see how much I earn over easter. Since minimum wage has gone up I am now on $14.25 and hour. This is 25c more than I was getting before the change. I will have been working at my job for a year next month so Im looking forward to a review and possible pay rise.

During my holidays I have two assignments to work on...SNOORRREE. Im hoping to schedule Me-time and fun time. I want to go to the Zoo, havent been in years.

I can imagine my holidays will go pretty fast and soon I will be back and tec getting ready for exams. 

I just finished an essay about how much time we waste studying for exams. Its interesting because when I started the essay my statement was that exams were a waste of time but during the writing process I decided that Its the way students are studying or not studying thats the waste of time. Ironically I wrote a point about Cramming and the side effects of late night study, Yeah I was rushing to finish the essay before the due time of 4pm today. I dropped it off at about 3.30 today which is a little to close for my liking. Trying to manage my time better but I had two tests to study for this week and a report that I had to finish last week so the essay sort of got pushed to the side. 

This weekend is hopefully going to be  'Study free' I just want to have a break from studying before I plunge into in next week. Im working 11 til 4 tomorrow an the same sunday. If we don't have many people coming in for lunch then it will be a pretty cruisy day, otherwise I could be exhausted like last weekend. Last weekend we did 75 meals. It was my first day back of being proper kitchen and it was pretty full on. I loved it but I was so tired by the end of the day. Once the kitchen closed I still had to help the chef make pies. clean up my bench then finish the dishes and clean up that area. 

I was so relieved to come home, I think I just blobbed out when I got home. 

I've been going through my photos on my laptop and I found some photos that Ive taken that I want to share.
I love taking photos and wish I could do it as a career. I may do it as a side job but Its a tough market to get into and Ive been advised of just how difficult financially it is. I want to save up and get a proper camera one day. Although I am impressed with these photos and they were taken on my Lumix digital camera. No fancy settings or adjustments, no after photo editing. Photography is my passion and My favourite things to photograph is animals and nature. I think it would be a really cool career to travel around taking photos. I am currently waiting for 14.8GB of photos to transfer over to my back up USB. I really need to buy a new USB for any new photos I take since this one is now full. Anyway . Have a look at the photos, let me know what you think and which one is your favourite.

Tortie x

Hamilton Gardents

In my Backyard

Ruppert at the beach

New Kittens!!

Yesterday I said goodbye to these little cuties. I was so sad that I cried. I told myself that I wouldn't cry and I didn't until mum said 'awww I almost don't want them to go' Good one mum.... I started tearing up. Sniff sniff "Neither do I "
I wanted to keep Bun-Bun mostly cause I felt like I bonded with him the most and he was so cuddly. I was meant to leave home at 9am so that I could get the kittens to the SPCA then have time to get to Tec before class. Well... that didn't happen. Mum told me that if I really wanted to keep Bun-Bun then she would leave the decision up to me and that I knew the right decision/ I should take them back. It took 20 minutes for me to finally pick up the cage and walk to my car. Tears in my eyes as I started the car and reversed out the drive. I had to avoid eye contact with the kittens otherwise I would start crying again. It took me almost the whole way to Hamilton before I told myself to stop it and that I was doing the right thing taking the kittens back, I couldnt afford three kittens and its not safe at our place, too many road incidents... but thats a sensitive topic for another post later on.
I has composed myself by the time I got to the SPCA but I kept my sunglasses on as a safety net. Luckily the attendant was waiting for me so she took the cage and I told her I would be back later to pick up more. And that was it, I didn't say anything to the kittens, I had said my goodbyes in the car. Now to someone who is not a cat lover, this may sound really silly, crying over three kittens that weren't mine to keep. But when you spend so much time with them and put all your energy into keeping them happy and healthy, saying goodbye is hard. I absolutely love cats, they are my favourite animal just slightly ahead of sheep. So it may seem utterly absurd that I would get so attached to three small animals, but thats me, CRAZY.CAT.LADY.  and I'm proud of it.
So now for the introductions again.......
Meet kitty #1

This little cutie doesnt have a name yet but she is ADORABLE. I haven't been able to get a full facing photo yet but she is really fluffy and has a gorgeous silvery tone to her.
So far I have found that she like to whack me in the eye. I'm not even joking, I will be looking at something and then next thing she hits me in the eye with her paw, I think maybe she sees me blink and thinks she can catch my lashes hahaha.
She is a real sweety though, loves cuddles and follows me around or calls out to me when she can't find me.

Meet kitty #2 or  black kitty.
Also does not have an official name, but I'm sure they will both get names soon enough.
This kitty is a real smoocher. She also calls out to me all the time, sometimes she is right beside me and she starts mewing at me. She has finally fallen asleep so I can actually type this post as she was constantly walking on my keyboard and making a mess.
I don't think black kitty likes our dog very much, she hides around the corner from the dog and mews and me cause she doesn't want to walk past the dog. Hes a big softie though, just wants to play.


I didn't get told what these kittens 'story' is but Mum and I think that they are unwanted pets. That they have been raised in a house and are now no longer wanted.
Reasons for this is :

• They were very comfortable in the cage in the car
• they are super friendly and love cuddles
• They were eager to get out of their bedroom and explore the house. 
• They scratch the furniture all the time and have no boundaries.

So thats our theory haha.

I caught kitty #2 drinking my coffee this morning. Just stuck her head in my mug and had a wee drink. She seemed to like it too, I will have to keep an eye on my drinks to make sure she doesnt do THAT again. Don't think coffee will go well in her little tummy haha.

I have these kittens for two weeks. They just need to be up to weight so that they can be desexed. 

Hopefully I don't get as attached this time, kind of hard when they are all in my face and being so CUTE!.

Here Kitty #2 is exercising her brain by playing 'cat fishing' on my tablet. Its part of the Kitty curriculum... hehehe. I love the games made for cats by Friskies. I think they're brilliant, kittens seems to really love it and it keeps them occupied for atleast 10 minutes haha.
I'm so glad I have a screen protector on my tablet, otherwise there would be scratch marks ALL over my screen. I think one day I'll need to replace the protector cause it is starting to look scratched up, but its cheaper to buy a protector than replace the screen.

So thats it for the introduction to the new foster kittens. I am hoping to post daily or every couple of days updates, Tomorrow I am trying my home made muesli so I am excited to see how it goes.

Tortie

Kittens, Kitten,Kittens!

February 22nd 2014 I got a phone call from the Waikato SPCA responding to my foster parent application form that I had emailed the night before. They were ringing to ask if I was able to pick up 3 stray kittens that had just come in. I managed to finish work early that day and headed into Hamilton to pick up my fluff balls.
I was super excited to pick them and had no idea what to expect. When I arrive I met with the lady running the foster programme, she took me to where the kittens were and took me through the process. The kittens were wormed, de-flead and microchipped all in about 5 minutes, poor little kittens. They were then loaded into my cat cage and I was equipped with catfood, cat litter and newspaper. The trip home was a quiet one as the kittens were frightened and unsure what to think. It took them a little while to settle in and let me hold them but within the first week I one of the kittens was a lot more friendlier. I wasn't planning on naming the kittens but I accidentally named one cookie so I figured I better name the rest. Cookie- Black and white kitten,Girl. Mouse- grey and while tabby, boy. And Bun-bun- tabby,boy. Okay so maybe Bun-Bun isn't really a boy name, or a kitten name but mum named him cause she thought his fur was like a bunny. I think he looks like a tiger. Because they came from the same litter they tended to sit and snuggle together. All was going well until week 2 and then came the Catflu.... Mouse had very watery eyes, the sniffles and looked very unhappy. Luckily I was taking all three into the SPCA for a foster check a few days later. By foster check time two kittens now had this 'cold' . I dropped the kittens off at the SPCA while I went to class and returned to pick them up a few hours later. I was given three unsettled kittens and 2 syringes of catflu treatment. 10 days worth of antibiotics for Mouse and Bun-Bun. Cookie escaped it THIS TIME. What a mission it was using this tiny syringe. 0.1ml everymorning. Who would have thought it would be so difficult and frustrating. I also had to keep their eyes and nose wiped clean.Finally I got the hang of it and was onto the last syringe when cookie started sneezing. And the cycle started again. wipe the eyes and nose, steam the bathroom up to de-congest and give plenty of TLC. I then took all three into the vets only to find that cookie had catflu as well. At least this time I was educated about the cat flu and reassured I couldn't catch it. Mouse got to skip antibiotics and he was much better. So I started the morning routine again of antibiotics for Bun-Bun and Cookie. Now all three kittens are fit and healthy, de-sexed and ready for adoption, I'm taking them back to the SPCA this week so they can find their forever home.
So even though I have had to look after three sick kittens, I still managed to fall madly in love with them, spend hours snuggling with them as well as keeping their litter box clean and water bowl and food bowl full.

Favourite Moments

Cookie

Meet Cookie, The girl of the group. Smoochy, cuddly and very sweet. The funniest thing I have found with Cookie is that she gets jealous very easily. If I pay more attention to a different kitten, she will push her way past and demand attention. She has been my cuddle buddy when I am sad and has licked away my tears. Even as I am typing this she is by my side playing with the keyboard. She is an adorable kitten and the person who adopts her is one VERY lucky person.

Cookie had a traumatic experience today....somehow she got the hand strap on my camera AROUND her neck and then got scared and was running around the house trying to get it off whilst my camera was banging against everything. I tried to catch her but I couldnt, luckily the camera flung off her neck. poor wee thing, she hid under my bed for a while .It was so funny after it had happened and shes perfectly fine now and so is the camera from what I can see.

Bun-Bun

Meet Bun-Bun, my little tiger. He was the one that would sit by himself, didn't want to be held and cuddled. But after one afternoon of being tucked into my hoodie, he climbed into the fur hood and fell fast asleep. ever since he has been the most lovable, cuddly kitten. (He's secretly my favourite) He always wants cuddles and is the first to greet me in the morning with a cuddle and a kiss.

He has a belly to him and likes to sit at the food bowl eating all the food.

Bun-Bun also had a bad experience today except this time it was with my laptop. I was working on my laptop on the couch and he was snuggled up with me, he then moved the lie beside the laptop, he then started mewing frantically and when I moved the laptop he had his claw stuck in the USB port of my laptop. I carefully grabbed his foot and toe and plucked it out, nail still in tact and all is well :) The funny things these kittens do hahaha.

I will probably miss Bun-Bun the most and I wish I could keep him.

Mouse

And lastly, Meet Mouse. He has only just come out of his shell this past week. Before then he did not like to be picked up, would run away if I walked near him and would only sit on my lap if the others were there purring. I think that was because he felt poorly from the flu and possibly he missed his mummy. Now he is a bundle of joy. he runs around the house with the others, has brotherly fights with Bun-Bun and now he even snuggles with me. He has also developed his voice so I often hear his walking around looking more me or the others making cat noises. 

Now I realise this post is very long and my next ones won't be so long as I will post regular updates about any other foster kittens. Saying goodbye to these kittens will be very hard but I know I have given them a great start to life and saved them from being strays or injured. As hard as it is the take them back I will have the opportunity to help some more unwanted kittens and transform them into loveable kittens as well. 

I highly recommend fostering from the SPCA, especially now as it is kitten season and they are overloaded with young or sick kittens. The SPCA provide all the equipment, all you need to provide is a safe room and plenty of love.

Now to finish off this very long blog post. 

Thanks to anyone who has read this and feel free to comment and let me know what you think or share any cat stories you have.

Tortie xo

(Tortie is a nickname from when I was little cause my sister couldnt pronounce my name so I guess she just altered it haha)