I finished some more 12-inch fleece Hug Me Slugs as well. This yellow one already has a new home. I’m sending him and some others out tomorrow. I hope the lines at the Post Office will be reasonable. From what I’ve heard, Monday is when people run in to start mailing all the things they braved Black Friday to purchase as gifts.

I’ve been avoiding the stores myself this weekend, but still need to make a run for some food. I’m not crazy about the idea of diving into the crowds.

Both the tulip-print Hug Me Bunnies, and these two pink Hug Me Slugs are up in my Etsy toy shop for now.

I did get to the fabric stores this week though, and picked up some pretty new prints I intend to use for more bunnies. I have a couple of sock kittens to dress as well, but I am using solid colors and some decorative machine stitching on their clothes.

We just posted a new original, one-of-a-kind tabby cat art doll named Meredith over on our Ruffing’s site. She is another very pretty doll by Max Bailey.

The kitten sisters had their big spay day on Monday, and they got their microchips and their booster shots. They needed to rest for a couple of days. They are back to their usual selves now, and staying out loose in the house after bedtime. They have been surprisingly well behaved and quiet at night.

They still do plenty of tearing around, in between napping. They’ve been getting along well with the other cats here. Bertie asked for this bath.

They are trying out the various cozy spots for naps. There has been a lot of competition for this one particular perch, which is Josie’s favorite. Phoebe keeps stealing it and will not budge.

I thought I had it all right, but I switched one dress with another. I thought the one dress looked especially pretty on the doll I accidentally dressed in it, and so we went with the dress exchange.

I then ironed our backdrop, which is quilting cotton, a blend of pink, blue, and yellow.

We set up foam core, on a box, on a table, to get the dolls the right height compared to the camera and tripod.

We take our photos outside on our porch, to get natural light. We always have to wait for the direct sunlight to pass over the house, so we don’t get harsh shadows. I’m trying out my new micro lens for these. The photos look good so far, but it will take me a while to get them all edited and posted on our Ruffing’s blog.

The kittens have been loose in the house during the day. We round them up at night, for bedtime in the laundry room. In the morning, they are raring to go, and start meowing to let us know it is time for them to come play.

Josephine has been very happy to have the girls to play with her. They are closer to her own age than her other friends.

Phoebe doesn’t want any people touching her, but she is the more adventurous of the two kittens. I find her watching me, and hanging out around me too, even though she will still hiss or scoot if I try to pet her. I can tell she likes me, in spite of that. She just wants to set her own rules about people.

Phoebe was the first to try out the cat gym. Josephine is showing her around. Bertie joined them later, but Bertie likes to relax in the bedrooms more, trying out the fuzzy blankets.

They are both settling in very well. They’ll have their spay day soon, and get their microchips, which is good, because they probably will start refusing to go to bed in the laundry room. Already, bedtime keeps getting bumped up until later because they want to keep playing and running around.

It’s true…it’s an official holiday, recognized by Chase’s Calendar of Events, the compendium of American holidays like Labor Day. You can read my article on the slug holiday here. Thanks very much, Nicole, for the invitation.

I sent out the last one of my coral-peach Hug Me Slugs yesterday. I am now out of that color, but I do have a light peach that is similar.

I finally took the plunge and started the visible part of our Ruffing’s blog migration. I still have many pages to add, and many more links to redirect from the old pages and posts. I’m sure that will take months. Eloise, Max Bailey’s new, original, one-of-a-kind ginger tabby cat art doll is the first doll to grace the front page of our new blog.

We kept meaning to photograph Eloise last week, but real-life kittens kept happening into our lives! This is Miranda Panda, named after a panda doll of ours. I had accompanied Marie on two TNR trips the weekend of May 21st, one to a lady’s home in the country, which you can see and read about in this album, and one to a fast food restaurant, which you can find more about in this album on Facebook. (I took lots of photos.)

I went back later, on May 23rd, to the lady’s house, to pick up some traps, and came back with Miranda Panda. Miranda had somehow gotten into a dog pen with a pit bull and was lucky to have been rescued on time. The woman had never seen Miranda before, but it is likely she is one of the kittens from one of the litters of kittens on her property.

I got Miranda to our house and Marie came right over. Miranda drank so much water. She was very dehydrated and very skinny. Marie got an appointment with the vet, and miraculously, Miranda was unscathed by the pit bull. She was very malnourished, but Dana and Brian took her into their care, and Miranda is now going to be in Alley Cats and Angels’ adoption program, once she is a little older and spayed.

Then, on May 27th, I went back to check on the water at the fast food restaurant, and found another kitten, hanging out by the bowls! He seemed to want me to catch him, but kept running around and up and down the mulberry tree that was there. It was on a very steep hill, full of pricker bushes and garbage. I went back home, and asked Marie if she could take another kitten. She said she could take one more. I grabbed the Fancy Feast and a carrier and headed back to the fast food restaurant.

The kitten was still in the mulberry tree, on a branch overhanging the ledge. I lowered myself, holding onto another branch, and propped the open can of Fancy Feast on the mulberry branch, as close as I could to the kitten. He ate out of it, and I moved it closer to me, so I could let go of the branch I was hanging onto and grab him. Instead of grabbing the mulberry branch, the kitten grabbed the can of Fancy Feast, by the edge, in his mouth! He didn’t want to let it go. It was probably the most wonderful thing he’d ever eaten.

I dropped the can, trying to hold onto him and get back up the hill, but I had more Fancy Feast for him in the carrier.

I got him home, and flea combed him and fed him some more. He was loaded with fleas, but absolutely loved getting combed and cleaned up. He also had a cut that was healing over his eye, and a burn that had separated his lower front gums from his lower lip. He will get a stitch for that later, once it heals enough.

Tia wanted to name him something food related, and so I suggested Monterey Jack, since cheese is in abundance in his former location, and since he is a bit of a lumberjack, with great tree-scaling skills. He’s being called Jack, for short.

The next morning, May 28th, Jack was still very happy and bouncy and hungry, but it became apparent that he had a prolapsed rectum. Marie and I got him to the vet, who put him back in order, but then the day after that, Jack was having more problems. He needed to go to the emergency vet on the 29th. The stitch the first vet had taken was too tight. The emergency vet removed it and observed him to make sure he was okay. Then Marie took him home with her to take care of him and get him the medication he needed.

Mom and I went to visit Jack yesterday, and he is healing. He is just the happiest little guy, with such a positive personality. He has purred through everything with a great loud purr. You just have to admire him. Once he is healed up and old enough, if all continues to go well, he will be in the Alley Cats and Angels adoption program too. I am so thankful for this group of wonderful volunteers! They have had to close intake because they now have over 70 kittens, not counting the adult cats they have. They’ve had a lot of emergency medical cases this year and they really need donations and foster homes. Please consider donating if you can. They have been taking in animals who were in dangerous situations, right off the street in many cases, and need help to continue to do so. They do amazing work for such a small group. If you are local to the Triangle NC area, please consider fostering or adopting from them as well.