Today, please enjoy grown-up photos of some of the kittens featured in the first of the posts on the theme of surnames or family names.

First is Souci, daughter of Flora and grand-daughter of The Cat, whose coat echoed both her mother and her grandmother’s colours. Souci had a sweet disposition and was not as wary of humans as was her mother. She was close to The Cat, often napping close by.

Next is Clover, Cracker’s son, who became best friends with Souci and was a handsome grey-and-white cat. Both Souci and Clover liked to spend time on the terrace.

Tumbleweed was always easy to spot because of his stump for a tail; something must have happened to him as a kitten in the fields as he was first spotted with a damaged tail which then withered and dropped off. He had a comical character and was the joker of the garden.

Littermates Pippin and Calypso were younger sisters to Souci, daughters of Flora and grand-daughters of The Cat. They were very different in character; Pippin was happy in and around the garden, not spending much time in the fields. She was bonded to her mother and would be the natural next in line to become matriarch after Flora.

Calypso was the adventurer of the family, roaming the fields and patrolling the walls of the garden. She was happy around the humans but also quick to disappear off if something caught her eye.

And to round off, She-ba’s daughters Lychee and Mini. Like Pippin and Calypso, they were different in character; Mini was the adventurer – she had spent more time in the fields with her mother as a kitten and, although she realised the garden had its benefits like regular food and shelter, her heart was in the fields.

Mini’s sister Lychee had been brought to the garden as a very sickly kitten by her mother and, unlike Mini, was content to spend most of her time in the garden.

The header photo shows Mini and Pippin adventuring in the garden. The kittens may all have started off as puddles of fur in the garden under the close eye of their mothers, but they soon blossomed into their own individual characters, forming their own alliances and lifelong friendships.