Feline Friday: Count the Kittens

Can you tell how many kittens are in the kitten quilt on the floor?

Count the Kittens!

 If you can count 11, you are right!  The current crop is from 5 litters.  The eldest are just over five weeks old, so i'm trying to get them to start drinking out of a bowl.  They already nibble at the dry food.

The youngest are about 3 weeks old, and so are just allowed to roam the kitchen in the last few days.  They were in the cage until three days ago.

So far this kitten season, i have probably gone through about 20lbs. of dry kitten formula mix.  That's just the kittens i've raised, as we do have a few others who will take one litter at a time, or only litters on the cusp of weaning.  They aren't crazy like me.

At this time, i've already informed Miss W that vacation is coming up the first week of June, so any new kittens i take will have to have somewhere else to go by then, as will all of these.  These shouldn't be a problem, and should all be weaned by then and up for adoption.

Then i get to come home from vacation and start over!

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Today is

Armed Forces/Amateur Radio Crossband Test Day -- US (ham operators and the US military team up to test ham operators ability and expertise in contacting appropriate military radio stations in an emergency)

Blueberry Hill Open Dart Tournament -- St. Louis, MO, US (America's oldest and largest pub dart tournament; through Sunday)

Child Care Provider Appreciation Day -- US (on the Friday before Mother's Day, to recognize the important role of child care providers in society today)

Clean up Your Room Day -- one of those holidays that no one knows how it got started, but it's a good idea, especially if your house is decorated by teens in "Recently Ransacked" style!

Constitution Day -- Federated States of Micronesia

Electra Goat BBQ Cook Off & Craft Show -- Electra, TX, US (with a salsa dance contest, Cow Patty Drop, live bands, games, a Jackpot Steak & Beans Competition, there is something here for everyone; through Sunday)

Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks A Voice -- they are really amazing creatures

Golden Spike Day -- finishing the first US Trancontinental Railroad in 1869

Josey's World Champion Junior 4-D Barrel Race -- Josey's Ranch, Marshall, TX, US (finest youth barrel racing in the world; through Sunday)

Lilac Festival -- Rochester, NY, US (a beautiful ten days of the biggest and best lilac festival anywhere)

Military Spouse Appreciation Day -- US (Friday before Mother's Day)

Mother's Day -- Belize; El Salvador; Guatemala; Mexico

National Shrimp Day

St. Cathal's Day (Patron of blind people, drought relief, epileptics, paralyzed people; Taranto, Italy; against blindness, drought, epilepsy, hernias, paralysis, plagues, storms)

St. Father Damien of Moloka'i's Day (Patron of lepers, outcasts, those with HIV/AIDS; Hawaii)

St. Job the Patriarch's Day (Patron against depression and ulcers)

Trust Your Intuition Day -- practice, and you'll get better at it

World Lupus Day  -- www.worldlupusday.org



Birthdays Today:

Kenan Thompson, 1978
Amanda Borden, 1977
Paul "Bono" Hewson, 1960
Phil and Steve Mahre, 1957
Donovan, 1946
Judith Jamison, 1943
Gary Owens, 1936
Pat Summerall, 1930
Nancy Walker, 1922
David O. Selznick, 1902
Fred Astaire, 1899
Max Steiner, 1888
Emperor Fushimi of Japan, 1265
Emperor Claudius, 213


Today in History:

The Roman armies under Titus open a full scale assault on Jerusalem, 70
Vienna's church orders all Jews to wear a distinctive garb, 1267
Scottish nobles recognize authority of English king Edward I, 1291
Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves on a voyage to the New World, 1497
Christopher Columbus "discovers" the Cayman Islands, 1503
Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland, 1534
Scottish Protestants under John Knox uprise against queen-mother Mary, 1559
England forcefully annexes Jamaice from Spain, 1655
Benjamin Franklin first tests the lightning rod, 1752
Louis XVI becomes King of France, 1774
The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America, 1801
New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels, 1837
In India, the first war of Independence begins, 1857
The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike, 1869
Romania  declares itself independent from Turkey, 1877
The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883, 1893
The first Mother's Day is observed, 1908
J. Edgar Hoover is appointed Director of the FBI, 1924
First successful launch of a V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground, 1946
Bill Haley & His Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts, 1954
The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth, 1960
The Federated States of Micronesia  becomes self-governing, 1979
François Mitterrand becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French 5th republic, 1981
Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president, 1994
Deadliest day on the mountain: a rogue storm on Everest claims 8 lives, including experienced climbers, 1996
The Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands that is one of the world's largest moving structures, is opened by Queen Beatrix, 1997
Solicitor General Elena Kagan is the youngest Justice and third woman nominated for the Supreme Court of the United States, 2010
Microsoft announces plans to purchase Skype, 2011