Scaling new heights

Last week, I was surprised to see the black & white kitten, who I've started calling Rascal since he's usually the first to get into things or places, had gotten himself up on the top shelf of the walk in closet. Mustache kitten followed within a day or so.

It wasn't until today, though, that I saw how they got up there.

All but the yellow kitten have napped on top of the wardrobe thing hanging on the rod to the right of the first picture. They would merely climb to the top and make themselves comfortable.

Rascal, bold one that he is, took that a step further. He climbs to the top of the hanging wardrobe, then, like a rock climber below a ledge jutting out of the mountain, grabs onto the cushion stored above, swings out and pulls himself up. It was kind of remarkable, really.

To get down, Rascal just jumps from the top shelf to the top of the kennel with a big THUD — not nice in the middle of the night. I might just have to start closing the closet door when I go to bed.

Mustache kitten, on the other hand, gets down by doing the reverse of getting up — getting a hold on the cushion, swinging her legs til she gets footing on the wardrobe and then climbing down. More like sliding down the time I saw her do it, though.

I let them outside this morning — or rather, they let themselves outside this morning. I guess I didn't close the bedroom door securely after I fed them, because when I got back from a walk up the street with Buster, all the kittens and Keaton were cavorting around the tree in the back yard.

It was a nice morning, so I thought what the heck and let them stay out for probably a couple of hours. Keaton kept an eye on them, and Buster "helped." He kind of got tired of herding kittens after awhile though, and would just go lie down in the yard close enough to watch but not be part of the playtime.

The surprising thing about the morning is how unmellow the yellow kitten was. He loved being outside, and when I decided to put them back in the bedroom so I could take a nap, he slipped out of the room four times and got back outside two or three of those times. He kind of yowled the first time I put him inside, too. 

As for me, I'm doing a little better. Our walk this morning was two and a half blocks out and back, and this afternoon I got tired of lying around, so I made some lemonade concentrate and simple syrup for my tea. It kind of wore me out, but that's something, I guess. I keep having to remind myself it will take time to get back to feeling like my old self again.