Two weeks on....

a much happier post from me. Can't quite believe it's been two weeks since my last post actually.

So what's happened in the last two weeks. Well for starters as I am typing this I have a little purry fluff ball called Erica perched on my bump, trying to pounce on the keyboard :-D

The day after we lost Eric a friend posted on Facebook that she needed a home for a little black and white kitty. I had a word with hubbie, not sure whether it was too soon etc and was blown away by his enthusiastic response. I had thought that we may get another kitten in the future, but not this quickly. However it did seem meant to be and hubbie chose the name Erica in honour of Eric. Cue more tears all round, but also a fair amount of excitement. The kids were bouncing in fact and kept asking daily when Erica would join us.

She arrived on bank holiday monday, a tiny fluff ball of  six weeks old cuteness. I was a bit worried when my friend said one of her litter mates had died that morning. I know he had been poorly and on antibiotics, so we took her to the vets the next day to be on the safe side.

She had a weepy eye and was sneezing occasionally, so he advised a course of antibiotics to be on the safe side as this could well be the start of an infection. He also weighed Miss Tiny and she weighed in at just under half a kilo, told you she was tiny. So small that her dose of antibiotics was just three drops twice a day, bless her.

Tiny she may be, but she certainly has spunk. I had to giggle at the vets when he gave her a worming tablet, or I should say attempted to give it to her.... "They take this no problems," he said. Famous last words, three attempts and a scratched hand later, a slightly pink vet finally managed it. It was rather amusing, I have to say!

Looking back on it now, I think she must have been sickening, because after 24 hours of her antibiotics she was a changed kitty, much more active and alert and into mischief. She quickly established herself as top dog so to speak. Nothing funnier than seeing two grown dogs whimper and cower before a hissing bundle of kitten. Sookie, Eric's sister is absolutely terrified of her. She refused to set foot in the living room, since we got Erica, though lately she has ventured in again, always keeping a wary eye on that killer kitten. ;-)

When Erica first arrived she couldn't quite jump on things, so she would do her spider kitty impression of jump, sink her claws in and climb. (Just as well our settee is not new!) Nothing funnier to watch then our fifteen year old son's face when she did this to his leg. He was wearing shorts at the time and I did have to admire his restraint of just standing there and going "Yooouucchhh, claws!" rather then throwing her off.

A week on she has learnt to jump on the settee and has turned into Houdini. We have her confined to the living room and kitchen and she has become an expert at making a dash through people's legs the minute they open the door and then running off with one or the other of the kids in hot pursuit. The shouts of shut the door and watch the cat and where is Erica now are a daily occurrance. I must say the kids have been brilliant watch dogs, even Tj is on cat alert as we call it.

After initially being wary of the whirlwind that is Tj, he has become one of her favourite people and they can be found curled up asleep on a regular basis.

As I mentioned earlier my bump is also a firm favourite.

I have to say, getting Erica has been the best thing we could have done. Her antics have us in stitches every day and whilst Eric will never be forgotten, getting to know this new little bundle of fun has been a great healing  experience for all of us, especially the kids.

Tj summed it all up really.

"Eric is gone and I was sad, but Erica makes me laugh."

So much for me thinking it passed over his head. He clearly thought about it all and processed it in his own way.

So it's all good news really and this morning even had Sookie and Erica nose to nose. Admittedly it had the look of a High Noon Showdown about it, but I'm sure as Erica gets bigger, the two of them will at least tolerate each other, if not become friends.

The arrival of Erica also brought the return of my muse. Having not been able to write a thing for far too long, inspiration has struck  and my paranormal WIP now stands at just under 18K. This was supposed to be short, but the story has taken on a life of its own and whilst I don't think it will make it to a novel, it will certainly be a novella.

I can't tell you what a relief it is to be writing again....