This past weekend I went to a really cool place (The author, Jon Katz and his wife, artist Maria Wulf, hosted an open house at their Bedlam Farm in the beautiful Cambridge New York) and I got to meet and hug and laugh-till-I-cried with some really wonderful humans and it was awesome.

And then I drove home with a cat.

Nope, not kidding.

And it gets wHierder.

Because Jon Katz and Maria Wulf don’t farm cats, so people who visit normally don’t leave there with a cat.

But I was hanging out with a flock of people, about ten sheep (also technically a flock), a working border collie-slash-sheepdog and Jon Katz, who was playing the role of a shepHerd (a human one, not a dog one), when a kitten walked straight out of the bushes and up to us and made it very clear that she was looking for a new tribe. Our sheep-dog-human mix (the Shedogman tribe for those about to Google) looked good to her.

There is no arguing with a determined kitten.

So after a lot of ‘oo-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ and snuggling and thinking and considering, it turned out that the kitten was coming home with me.

Because Half-Kid Jack had talked to me weeks ago about planning a Christmas surprise for Mac, and could I help, and the surprise would be a cat.

So I called Jack and told him about the kitten who needed a new tribe, and he screamed like a little girl…

Okay, he ‘squealed’ like a little girl…

And he said that it was okay if this new addition arrived before Christmas (plus, the stores have had Christmas decorations since August so it’s practically Christmas anyway). And he would not tell her the kitten was coming because it was still going to be a surprise.

So yesterday I was driving home with a kitten and Jack met me in the garage and carried the kitten inside and then this is what Mac looked like when she saw it for the first time:

And then there was a lot of excitement and then the new family posed for their first photo with Miss-Ali-The-Kitty

I know. Cute right?

Okay, let’s move on because this isn’t even my point.

Just in case, we put the ShepHerds in their crates when I drove up because Marshal Dillon Dingle’s brain isn’t totally mature and he might have confused the kitten for a Dorito.

But Fred did meet the kitten and it went pretty much as we expected because Fred loves all moving things except shadows which is sometimes a problem.

The “Wait, you are not a dog” phase with Fred:

 

The “I will move close to investigate you” phase:

 

The “Oh, you love me? Well then I love you!” phase:

 

More loving stuff:

And then… the important bit:

So as you can see, Miss-Ali-the-Kitten was the perfect lady (well, at least till the end part) and Fred the perfect gentleman. And then he washed her from head to tail and she purred the whole time.

Excellent.

And Mac and Jack wondered if Marshal Dillon Dingle really would have eaten Miss Ali.

And then they all went home to Connect-i-cut and all was well with the world.

But the title of this blog post is “New Additions”…

AdditionS…

And Miss-Ali-the-Kitten was certainly Mac’s and Jack’s new addition, and it was fun having her here and all but she is just a kitten…

Check out what showed up this morning for my and the Nearly-Perfect Husband’s 24th anniversary!

Oh ya!

A GIANT WELDED METAL HANG-ABLE SPRING-Y LEG ZOMBIE PIG!

Another view:

I can’t even believe it! She’s perfect! And also, how did he manage to acquire her – because everyone would have wanted this dazzling beauty and my Nearly Perfect Husband of 24 years procured her just for me!

But I was a little worried because she is staying here and what if Marshal-Dillon Dingle also confused her with processed food items?

Right?

Disaster.

So we introduced them slowly.

I mean, I needed to really trust him.

I hoped that the meeting and greeting would follow Fred’s steps with Miss-Ali-the-Kitten…

So…

The “Wait. You are not a dog!” phase:

The “I will move close to investigate you” phase:

The “Oh, you love me? Well then I love you!” phase:

And finally…..

The important bit:

I don’t even know why I worried.

Hang-able Spring-y Legged Zombie Pig…

Welcome to the tribe.

Thanks for readin’.

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