This little spitfire is "Maggie", Minnie's new little sister. Maggie is a personable and spring-loaded tortoiseshell cat just like our dear, departed Molly, whom we never really intended to replace. But when Maggie's mother, "Star", and grandmother (!) "Daisy" started hanging around our house just a few weeks after Molly's passing, we thought the coincidence a little much. Daisy became pregnant, but we passed on the kittens, figuring it was too soon. Then Star became pregnant (the act for which I witnessed on our back patio, with "daddy" possibly being a randy orange stray I named "Pruneface", given his slight facial disfigurement that made me think of "Top Cat" by way of "Dick Tracy"). On August 23rd, upon returning from my belated b-day dinner at nearby Lee's, Lidia and I joined in on a search for Star's missplaced kittens and we found them only two doors over. One was a tortie--a vocal one!--and we decided we'd adopt her. "Maggie" joined us on Thanksgiving Day, and has been keeping all of us busy ever since. She's fast following Molly's footsteps as my "muse"--she's been pawing the screen the whole time I've been writing this.
