More from the sun bath

We can tell Lily is most relaxed when she stretches her long legs in front of her as she basks in the rays from our living room windows. It hasn't been easy to capture a good shot of her in this position since she heads for shadier spots when we get too close with the camera, but here are a few. (Maybe she figured I was trying out her technique by wriggling on my stomach inch by inch to get near enough to put her in focus?)

The top view, before I got parallel to the floor:


As you can see, Lily's heat-seeking senses seem to be concentrated in her front paws, which she takes turns sunning. First, the right ...



And then the left ...

Lily says hi

I managed to get a paw shot while she was taking a sun bath.

Back to the shelter

But only temporarily.

We'll be out of town for a few weeks, so Lily will board at the SHS until we return. We're hoping she'll get lots of potential adopter attention while we're gone and, with luck, find her very own home with ever-available laps.

With Lily, we'll be taking her little fortress that we'd set up earlier in the year, when she was still intimidated by the sheer size of her kitty suite. Needless to say, she's discovered the nap-worthiness of other nooks and crannies around the house, so it's time to offer this security hideaway to another pet in need.

Before it goes, though, here are some shots from Lily's first weeks with her own personal sundeck. I'd say she definitely likes haute cuisine, no?





P.S. We have a few posts saved up for our absence, so stay tuned! There will be Lily pictures aplenty even while all of us are away.

This is not what I envisioned ...

... when Lily offered to "help" with some file cleanup chez Kittitas.



But box lids in the sun are pretty irresistible.

Mine

Of course, there are days when Meow Meow gets to the couch first. Lily seems to think it's too much effort to force her off, so she'll saunter away, meowing her discontent rather mournfully.

One day, after Lily had abandoned the couch for a while, I couldn't find her in her usual spots -- behind the end table in the living room, next to the scratching post, in her own kitty suite. Where was she? I wondered.

In a new kitty bed she'd claimed for her own.



Meow Meow rarely ventures into the library, so I have a feeling this spot is safe from usurpers.

Some manners, please

In the months that Lily's made herself at home with us, Meow Meow's been quite tolerant of her. No attempts to prevent her from going where she pleases, no territorial stances (unless cornered), no aggression in general -- which we've been quite pleased about.

What Meow Meow can't bear, though, is being left out of a good snuggle on the couch. If Lily is in my lap, she'll jump up on the back of the sofa and perch there, tapping my shoulder for some attention too. She knows Lily won't share the seat cushions with her -- but once Lily falls asleep, she'll hop down and join us. Most of the time, this strategy works well.




Except when, in her enthusiasm for a belly rub, Meow Meow flicks her tail into Lily's face.


I don't have a picture of what happened about 15 seconds after I took this shot, but let's just say Lily won't be letting Meow Meow forget proper tail etiquette anytime soon ...