Guess where I found these beads...

A few days ago when we couldn't work due to the rains, I finally forced myself to clean up a bit, chasing dust rats under the bed, washing the floors, that kind of things. Often that means finding stuff under the bed that the kitties have stolen from me as they're such fun toys. Half-filled tubes of seed beads, ribbons and chains are their favourite jewellery materials. The tubes rattle and roll around. And they're pretty easy for a cat to lift and throw in the air. Perfect toys. So I wasn't that upset when I discovered a small tube of smokey amethyst 15/0s under the bed. But I was a tad upset finding the 11/0s pictured above.

They weren't just hidden in a dark corner. I found that bead tube in the litterbox. Partially soaked in cat pee and in places covered in cat poo... Very nice... (Good news are it seems the tight lid have protected the beads well.)

I know cats like seed bead tubes, especially when not full so they make a noise when rolling or being poked, but normally that's just a problem when I bead, having the tubes in my lap or in the bed. But our current kittens are so brazen they more than once have stolen things from my build-up of bead bags etc on my beadside table. Saying no only works for the moment with these cute kitties. And Jisse is the worst: 8 or 9 times out of 10, if someone's trying to run off with some chain or play with a bead found on the table, he's the culprit.

And it's not the only thing they've taken when I've had my back turned: I'm still missing a rhinestone chain that one of the kittens most likely have stolen from me too. Don't mourn the chain as much as the relatively expensive tin thread I've braided into the chain. It's vanished from the face of earth it seems -- and I know Jisse and Jinja couldn't keep their eyes and paws from it when I was working on it. Thought it was hidden under all the other bags of beads by the bed.

My own fault for leaving things so easily accessible for cats, but I want some things close by. And before we had a handful of kittens it usually worked. These hyperactive thieves are so different from many of our cats.

PS! I once made a popular cat toy for a then-kitten who loved my bead tubes by pouring some cheap leftover beads and other little bits and bobs into an empty bead tube and popping the lid on and sealing it with tape. They did enjoy playing with it. Until someone (human) stepped on it and broke it. And, yes, I did come up with the idea after I -- not the cat -- played with him with my filled seed bead tubes that I was using for a project I was working on while he was sleeping in the bed next to me -- talk about learning cats bad habits! (But he still never stole beads from me little the current little rascals.)