Almost 2 weeks after I was convinced Ernie was in the early stages of labor, she FINALLY gave birth to a mindblowing litter of EIGHT.
...GAH!!!
They're all charcoal-black tabbies or black cats except for that one little odd one out, Earl Grey. (Or Lady Grey, if it's a girl, we can't tell yet) ^_^
And yes, in spite of all our efforts and the near-dozen nest boxes and enclosed cat-houses we built for her, she did finally decide that the only acceptable place to give birth was right outside the back door, in a lowered recess in front of an A/C vent on a bed of dry leaves. She's objected STRONGLY to being relocated, so we've lined the spot with clean wool and teeshirts and built a protected shelter around her that she can enter and leave but is hidden and safe from any other animals. She and the kittens will be moved indoors or kept in the enclosed patio space back there, whichever causes the least stress to mama and babies. Ernie is an extremely willful cat and although she is a tamed feral cat, she will not tolerate being kept indoors for very long and our indoor cats will not tolerate having her around, even the smell of her stresses them.
So although she has planted herself firmly in an outdoor nest, she is being monitored almost 24/7, because there is ALWAYS someone awake and using the computer or TV in the room she's nested outside of. She and the babies are very, very safe in their cleverly air-conditioned nest, and we're making very sure they're all comfortable, clean, and well-fed and hydrated. Mama and babies are all doing very, very well, especially after my sister built a little food dish that could be fastened so mama-Ernie could reach it without leaving her nest. She was VERY happy to have that, since she's such a dedicated mother she's hesitant to leave her babies for very long even to come out and eat.