Two kitten questions

I think Daisy, my stray garden cat, is due any day now. I noticed her nipples are turning pink on the tips. Should I expect kittens within the week? We don't know how far along she is and the vet thought at least 2 weeks or more left to go when we took her to see him - and that was 2 weeks ago. She is still eating well and has gotten quite playful and frisky/nippy the past few days.

My other question is regarding lighting for the kittens. The little house they will be in for the winter has no windows. It is all enclosed, totally dry, and well insulated. I have run an outdoor extension cord out to power their outdoor heating pad and have rigged up a lamp that can accomodate an infrared heat bulb or a regular light bulb safely. I know kittens don't open their eyes for a few weeks, but should I turn a lightbulb on for a set number of hours each day to provide light for the mama or would she likely prefer it remain dark for the kittens? She has access to the outside through a cat door, but the kittens would be in the dark except when I open the door to put in food and water.

I'm going to move this to caring for strays and ferals for you. Someone else may have had this same problem.

Thanks for moving me to the correct board. Still no kittens but I think she's getting close. I went ahead and put a 100 watt infrared bulb in the little house (I'm afraid to go any larger for safety reasons) and it keeps temps about 20 degrees above the outside temp so far. It has been 50 degrees F first thing in the morning and goes up to between 70F and 75F during the afternoon if the sun is shining on the house. I figure having the additional heating pad enclosed in a rubbermaid nest box should keep things warm enough for kittens even if it gets really cold outside. I just didn't know if I should provide more of a white light bulb once the kittens open their eyes and start moving around because I doubt they will leave the shed on their own until they are much older unless I take them out - plus it will be cold outside.

I might be inclined to give them a little light but I have no official advice. Do remember though that cats can see in much lower light than we can.