I don’t say this often, but…

…thank god for the loft.

There are negative design characteristics I didn’t consider seriously enough when I raked the Lair’s roof so steeply and put in a sleeping loft. I can live with them, but there have definitely been times I wished I’d made the footprint bigger and planned for a conventional bedroom.

But I probably wouldn’t have put a door on it, and then I wouldn’t be able to sequester a kitten who’s driving everybody nuts. At one point yesterday afternoon, between rain squalls, she managed to drive everybody but me right out of the cabin. And of the three of them, only LB consented to come back inside when the rain started again. Along about seven in the evening I took the kitten upstairs so everybody could get some sleep.

I’m sure this is a temporary stage – I really, really hope this is a temporary stage – but I must be careful not to mismanage it. The boys and Click need to be exposed to the kitten so everybody will get used to one another. It’s the only way things are ever going to get back to normal. But lord, it’s a temptation to leave her up there.

Wouldn’t help anyway. This tiny creature has no fear of heights at all, the cat ladder is still in place, and it’s only a matter of time before she discovers that she’s perfectly capable of coming down on her own.

It’s so funny – I worried that she’d be afraid of them. Instead they’re all terrified of her. The dogs recognize her as a cat, or at least as a creature they’re not to chase and eat. Other than that they don’t seem to have a clue what to do with her and she makes them very nervous. Click hated her on sight and has not changed her mind a single particle. Hiss, growl, run outdoors.

I’m sure they’ll get over it. I really hope they’ll get over it.