Introducing...

Josephine Amora M-J
'Josie'

The contest is over and I'd like to thank all of you who participated....we had quite a few submissions that made the consideration list, though I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the total turnout--I thought for sure that free prizes mailed out would draw in the hordes! Alas, the world is not as greedy as I :)

Josephine is a nod to her birth country and empress-like qualities and general disdain of rules and authority. Amora--well, because she is another lover in the family and has pickle-like qualities (those of you that know our affinity for a certain brand of cornichons here will get this dual purpose use)! Her nickname also should get a smile out of those of you from the 70's/80's cartoon watching era (see the embedded video clip for further entertainment!).

And now to our little Josephine. She has grown tremendously in the last two weeks. Her head now fits her big ears and eyes...and as for her appetite...ooo la la is all I can say...talk about feeding a growth spurt! Big sister Freya has decided it is her personal responsibility in life to clean up Josie's bowl each and every time she completes her meal (did I mention she patiently stands by and waits for Josie to be done?--ok, it might be right over her shoulder staring down, eyes unblinkingly willing her to hurry the hell up and leave food, but...), thereby leaving us to reduce her nightly meal because of all the snacks!

Dad-J is visiting and informs us that Josephine is a people cat (really? all the cuddling that goes on left us clueless ;) )...she likes to be with all of us--especially cuddling in Dad-J's bed when we're out, plays energetically with Freya (the video clips of this are priceless) and seems to be learning from her dog-sister as well, officially being the first cat to be seen digging a hole in search of a mole. Freya has decided she likes to chew on the peacock feathers that we collected for Josie--and now a joint play session is made up of Freya chewing on the thick end while Josie pounces the moving feather end. I'm sure Delfia, up in his birdy heaven, is thinking...'I'll just keep my tail feathers here thank you very much'...but my spiritual side believes he had a little wing in our new arrival :)

Josie quickly learned that the sheepskin on the sofa was THE place to be for naps, much to Freya's disgust, as that has always been her chosen location....but you'll be happy to know the two have learned to share--and though her full volume purring still freaks Freya out a bit, she is now allowed to cuddle up to Freya's rumpus...closer proximity will come with time :)

She entertains us to no end and even a seasoned cat veteran like Dad-J is amused and surprised by some of her antics, and we can't wait to see how quickly Mom-J falls for the J. Amora charm! The three month terror phase is quickly approaching, hints of it are already appearing, and we are happy that the sneak attacks on our ankles will be done in Fall weather when we are most apt to be wearing protective pants and socks...phew! She has already taken her first road trip to the big city, and settled happily into the studio for the week, though was definitely part of the collective joy at returning to the house greenery at week's end.

Freya's dog crate is now a happily accepted kitty bedroom at night and she properly uses her included litter box each and every night--can you train kids to do this? ha ha.

In the meantime she is learning the ropes via intense scrutiny of all that Freya does, eats, sniffs and sleeps. Expresses her gourmet needs when she hears clanking in the kitchen, and pretty much is worming her way into our hearts with every passing moment!

And so again we are a family of 4, L,T, F & J