There Are No Words To Define This Love

The kittens are now 3 weeks old and starting to be playful. They are all able to walk around but still often lose their balance -which is so adorable! The bond between Théo and Chewie is really quite special (in the picture above). Chewie pretty much trusts Théo entirely. Boy and kitten frequently gaze into each other's eyes in a state of pure love.

In the picture above, you can see Zelda and Rogue cuddling. They all have such beautiful blue eyes. The colour will change at about 7 weeks of age.

There really isn't much more to say about these beauties. They are simply perfect and wondrous. We feel extremely grateful and lucky to be able to experience this miracle of creation. Enjoy the pictures and the short video I have attached below.

See you next week for their 1-month old birthday celebration!

With Love,

Lise

www.lisevilleneuve.com

Luxury Condo For Kittens. Free Rent!

This week, the kids and I had fun building a luxury condo for the kittens and their mama out of a recycled cardboard box. Buddha, Archie, Zelda, Rogue and Chewie (Chewbacca) are now two weeks old and cuter than ever! Their eyes are all fully open, they are starting to walk (wobble) around, and they should be able to start hearing any day now.

Their auntie, Precious, has had a BIG change of heart and attitude towards the little ones. She'll never admit it, but it sure looks like she enjoys being around the kittens. You can see for yourself in the picture below. That's auntie Precious casually sniffing Buddha.

My son Théo and Chewie have a special bond already. It's as though the first thing Chewie saw when he opened his little eyes was Théo, and now he thinks he's his mother! Chewie just stares into Théo's eyes and stretches up his little head towards him. Below are three pictures of Chewie.

Emma had fun furnishing the kittten condo with some old toys, and now she's talking about sewing little pillows, blankets and even outfits for everyone!

Mitsy continues to be a wonderfully loving mama. We have to be careful when we play back videos with sounds of the kittens meowing, as this sometimes stresses her out. She starts looking around the room for lost or distressed kittens!

Above are the little black and white brothers, Buddha on the top and Rogue on the bottom. They are like yin and yang : Buddha is totally zen and Rogue is a curious little explorer. They are all just so sweet!

It's not too late to adopt one of these cuties! If you can offer a forever home to one of these kittens in February 2018 (and you are close to Edmonton), you can email me at consciouslivingsolutions@gmail.com

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com

Calling All Soul Brothers and Sisters

We Don't Live in the Same World...

Each one of us perceives the world in accordance with our current level of consciousness. Some of us see and experience pain, misery and injustice, while others see beauty, harmony, perfection and Divine order everywhere. Some experience frustration, jealousy and pride on a daily basis, while others live in a constant state of peace and joy. How can this be? These huge variations are not so much a result of our individual wordly circumstances, but more the natural consequence of our spiritual evolution over lifetimes.

Does That Sound Like Nonsense?

The previous paragraph you just read will not even make sense to at least 80% of the population. If it makes sense to you, you probably understand that once we are willing to change the way we look at ourselves, our entire Universe changes.

Divine Surrender

This is unbearable for the ego to hear, but WHO we think we are -our persona, our body, our mind- is nothing but a very convincing illusion. There is no "I", no "me", no "mine." What then, is there left to "do" here? Life actually unfolds spontaneously and miraculously on its own once we surrender our personal desires to the Divine Will. We continue to serve, to enjoy life, but it is no longer our personal agenda that is being fulfilled. Once we realise that we were never really in control in the first place, it becomes easier to just release the resistance and go with the flow. Then life becomes intoxicating and sweet. But it's not "my" life, it's just life. Everything suddenly becomes so simple, so clear.

Calling All Soul Brothers and Sisters

There really isn't much else to say. I have no desire to convince anyone, however, I always enjoy meeting others who are also experiencing this process of Divine surrender. If that's you, I would love to hear about your journey in the comments below (or via email). How would you describe a typical day in "your" life? What has changed? How is it challenging in today's world?

You can email me at: consciouslivingsolutions@gmail.com

With Love,

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com

Willing to Risk a Broken Heart

Today the kittens are 8 days old! These fluffy little balls of joy have been our main source of entertainment this week. Kittens are born deaf and blind, and by day 8, they start to slowly open their eyes. A few days later, hearing starts to develop. You can see in the picture below that one of them has indeed started to open her eyes. Yes, if I'm not mistaken, that's our only little female in the litter of 5. She beat her 4 brothers in the eyesight race, as her eyes started to open around day 6. They have all grown and their fur is softer and fluffier than ever.

This morning, as I was taking these pictures, I heard this little clicking sound. It was coming from a little orange male who was drinking milk. I realized that sound was actually purring! How adorable! I hadn't heard it from a baby until now.

You might be wondering how our other cat, Precious -a very territorial Bengal has been coping with sharing the house with not just one, but 6 other cats? In the picture above, Mitsy is looking directly at Precious. The first day, Precious was furious. She's always been a bit of a princess. We didn't let her see the kittens, so she didn't really know what was going on, except that to her, the house probably smelled like cat hell.

The second day, we slowly introduced her to the babies, and that actually seemed to calm her down. She was still angry at Mitsy, but didn't seem too threatened by the kittens. By day three, we let Precious get up close and personal with a kitten. She sniffed it and looked very relaxed. Now she's back to her usual self. We now know that Precious has no intentions of harming the babies, and Mitsy is very protective of them anyway should she try anything naughty.

Mitsy still needs to work on her carrying skills with her babies. Every now and then, she tries to pick one up -with difficulty. She tries to grab them by the tail, the behind, the head! Once, she got it right. She managed to transport one (by the neck) all the way to the basement.

As for our human babies, Emma and Théo, they know that no matter how cute the kittens are, we will only be keeping them until February 2018. Of course, it will be impossible not to get attached to them, but we all understand the "risks". That's life. We can't prevent ourselves from loving deeply even if that means we might have to face the pain of a broken heart somewhere down the road.

We have given them temporary names. The black and white ones (males) are Rogue (the alpha of the bunch) and Buddha (because he really is a zen little fella). The little orange female is Zelda, and the two orange males are Archie (daughter picked that one!) and Chewbacca (chewie for short).

It looks like we have found potential families for almost all these guys, but until things are 100% confirmed by the foster families, I am still considering other foster parents at this point. If you would like to provide a forever-home for a kitten in February 2018 and are close to Edmonton, please speak up now or forever hold your peace! :)

With Love,

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com

The Babes Are Born!

Words are insufficient to describe the magic, the beauty, the sweetness and the Love that we have been experiencing since 7:30 pm last night (October 27, 2017), when Mitsy gave birth to her first kitten -a little black and white beauty.

 Shortly before going into labour, Mitsy became more vocal than usual. Her purring suddenly became unusually loud. I called her downstairs to the birthing room we had prepared for her -a bathroom with a walk-in shower that we padded with towels. Mitsy would only stay in there if I jumped in with her, so I gladly took on the role of improvised cat doula.

She looked at me with big, worried eyes, and then an intense contraction made her howl with pain. I did my best to reassure her, pet her, and when I cheerfully said "push, Mitsy!" the first kitten coincidentally popped out. She instantly knew what to do. She licked it all of, severed the umbilical cord and had herself a nice little placenta snack. The kitten was instantly on a nipple mission.

About 45 minutes later, Mitsy gave me a look that said "oh my gosh, another one is coming, please hold my kitten". So I did while she howled, pushed and watched number two come out at 8:15 pm. Another little black and white tuxedo kitten! Incredible. Mitsy was purring like crazy, and she truly looked so proud and happy.

 Around 9 pm, I got the look again "keep my babes warm, I gotta push like hell." I was so surprised and pleased to see a little ginger cat come out. To be honest, I was expecting much more yuckiness from these births, but it wasn't bad at all. Mitsy cleaned up everything as she went.

By 10:30 pm the new little family of 4 was looking very relaxed and sleepy, so I thought that was it. First-time mothers usually have smaller litters. I moved everyone out of the shower area and into a warm basket. Mitsy was looking at me with her usual loving eyes, then her expression suddenly changed to "oh my gosh, here comes number 4!" Another ginger sweetie was born at 10:40 pm!

What an amazing show! I felt so lucky to be able to witness this miracle of life. And then, right at 11 pm, number 5 came out -another ginger babe! I'm very grateful that everthing went smoothly, all the kittens are perfectly healthy, and Mitsy is one proud and happy mama. Today, the kittens are not even 24 hours old, and they are full of life and vitality! There is already some serious sibling rivalry going on for nipple access! What a gift this experience is. Théo and Emma are in complete awe -and that's pretty much all they say...awwwwww!

Stay tuned for weekly updates on the kittens. If you're close to Edmonton, they will be available for adoption in February 2018. We have 3 gingers and 2 black and white ones.

With Love,

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com

We Are Expecting!!!!

Meet Mitsy: the most affectionate, loving and zen cat I've ever known. But please don't tell that to our other cat Precious -a sassy Bengal with a teenage attitude.

We found Mitsy meowing in an alley in April 2016. She was one hungry and skinny little orphaned kitten. We thought it would be impossible to adopt her with Precious being so territorial, but we gave it a shot, and to our surprise, both cats are still alive and well today. Mitsy adores Precious despite the fact that she still regularly gets smacked on the head by her older "sister". And as for Precious, she kinda of likes Mitsy now, but she's just too proud to admit it.

These pictures were taken when we first found Mitsy. Even when she was just a kitten, she radiated unconditional love and gratitude through those sweet eyes. You can almost see it in the picture of Théo holding her. Cats can be pretty independent - needing you one minute and wishing you would scram the next- but Mitsy just seems to emanate this deep love ALL the time. Even when she gets bullied by Precious! She truly is a remarkably inspiring little zen cat.

Scratch that. BIG cat. She's HUGE now. We are sooooo excited to say that Mitsy is now a Queen! That means she's expecting kittens. She is about 59 days pregnant, so the babes should be born within a week! We took our Queen for a prenatal checkup at the vet yesterday and everything looks good and healthy. We have her birthing area ready.

I have never experienced the birth of kittens before, and I just can't wait! The kids are super excited too. We've taken this opportunity to learn more about cats, pregnancy and the birthing process. Théo now has a new favourite word : placenta.

This is a picture of Mitsy taken just today. She is ready to pop. When I put my hand on her abdomen, I can actually feel the occasional kick.

Why am I writing about this in my blog? Because birth is such an incredibly beautiful and miraculous event. Because I want to share the joy and the wonder of kittens with you. Because when we laugh, we love, we care and we share, we raise our individual vibration and this affects everyone around us in a positive way. So yes, there will be regular kitten updates coming up on this blog! If you are close to Edmonton, you can even adopt one. The fluffy bundles of joy will be ready to find forever homes by next spring.

Having the opportunity to care for other living beings has an extremely positive effect on our health. Reseach indicates that the mere owning of a pet decreases the levels of depression and hypertension of it's owners. Do you own a pet? What makes him / her so special and unique? What do you love about him / her? Don't hesitate to share in the comments below.

With Love,

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com

What's On Your Wish List?

A teacher asked his students: "Class, if I asked you to write a wish list of what you would like to experience in your life when you grow up, what would you put on this list?"

Fiona raised her hand and said:

"A fit body, good health, a job that makes me feel like I'm making a difference in the world, and lots of internet subscribers."

Very good, said the teacher, laughing. What about you, Michael?

"Relationships that make me feel loved and wanted, a quick and knowledgeable mind, and plenty of nice things that give me comfort and security, like a hot-tub!"

Excellent! Jordan, go ahead, Im listening.

"I want to feel like I'm in control of my life, I want lots of money, I want each day to be fun and entertaining, and I want to be happy most of the time, instead of being always depressed like my mom."

"I appreciate your honesty, Jordan," said the teacher.

"Now class, can you please tell me who is this "I" you speak of?"

Confused, the students looked at each other without knowing how to answer this strange question. The teacher added:

"What if this "I" that wants all these things on your wish list is not at all who -or what- you really are?

Daniel replied "but who else could "I" be than myself?

With a twinkle in his eyes, the teacher continued:

"What if you were the complete opposite of what you thought you were...

-Empty space instead of content...
-Silence, instead of noise...
-Nobody, instead of somebody...

The teacher went on to ask "if you eventually discovered that what you really are IS indeed this space, this silence, do you think the things on your wish list would be able to give you lasting fulfillment?"

"Probably not", said Tammy.

"What then, could bring you lasting peace?"

The class was completely silent, then Lucas spoke up.

"Simply to remember that I'm actually the opposite of what I think I am?"

"Excellent" said the teacher to Lucas. "And knowing this, what would be on your new wish list?"

Lucas closed his eyes for a moment, then replied "there would be no wish list, because I am already whole and complete, simply as I am."

The teacher nodded and smiled. "To remember who, or what you truly are is the end of suffering. End of class."

With Love,

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com