New Kitten! (Again)

In August—incidentally, on our wedding anniversary—we lost our beloved 1-year-old cat Theo. Worse, we have no idea what happened to him. Theo was smart, adventurous, social around people, beautiful, and just plain awesome. He was hard to lose.

Theo as a kitten. So beautiful we actually mistook him for a girl at first.

Theo at 1 year old. Those little pink feet were the best.

Greg's buddy. Who says cats can't be man's best friend too?

As hard as it was to let go, recently we decided to start over with another kitten. Meet our new little Khan!

Khan over Thanksgiving break, maybe a month or 2 old.

Greg has a new buddy.

We named him after 2 fictional characters: the first was Shere Khan, the tiger from The Jungle Book, and the second—of course!—was the Star Trek villain Khan Noonien Singh. So basically we named him after 2 villains, but he's the sweetest and cuddliest lap cat I've ever met.

He literally rubs his face on your face and gives you kisses. It's a little annoying at 3 am, but otherwise cute. And ironic...the name, I mean. Theo was definitely not a lap cat.

He adjusted to the house within an hour and claimed all of Theo's old toys as his. Since Theo would rather have played with real live birds than toys, this was a welcome change. Khan will be an inside cat. No birds for Khan. No Khan for the coyotes or anything either. Not again. 

As per my mother's idea, I plan to put a bunch of plants out on the screened in porch to give Khan something interesting to hide in and chew on. My mother has a green thumb, but I don't...at least, not yet. I'm learning. I don't have any pictures for you yet, but stay tuned for my gardening adventures. For edibles, so far I have herbs, Thai chili peppers and green onions, and I'm seeking after lemongrass, ginger, and Thai basil. I couldn't resist planting a hydrangea, because I love hydrangeas (but they love the shade), and if I get good enough at gardening, I might even plant a rose bush. If there's any flower I love more than hydrangeas, it's roses.

I'm also trying to save my orange tree from certain death. I've neglected it far too long. (Oh, if you're wondering what Khan is going to chew on, it's not the hydrangeas or the Thai chili peppers. The potted palm fronds are his.)

Here's to a longer, happier life for Khan...and my newly inspired garden.