New kid on the block

 Since losing dear Ambrose 14 months ago, I have had no desire to bring in a new cat. 

However, the sun was setting over the farm as always, on Thursday. Just the end of another perfect winter's day.

Or so I thought.

At 5.30, my neighbor, who is head of the primary school in town, drove up the farm road towards the gate. Just below the houses, she stopped as there were three kittens in the road. ** She got out of her car; two of the cats ran into the grassy paddock. The third one came up to her and jumped into her arms as she was bending down to pet it. 

With their large pack of 20 dogs, all she could do was to stop at my garden gate, phone me and ask me to come and take the kitty from her. 

When I got to the car, she was hugging it tightly. Nine loves cats but she cannot have one in her house. I said I would keep the kitty overnight and give it to my friend, Coletten on Friday. Nine drove back down the drive where she had asked her husband to see if he could catch the other two cats. 

I brought the rescue into my cottage and within half an hour, Nine knocked on my door. It was dark and the other cats had climbed under a farm trailer, so they had to abandon the search. She spent quite a while cuddling the rescued cat, already quite at home on my bed and then wished me good night. 

Of COURSE !

I DID NOT TAKE THE CAT TO COLETTE

The new kitty

72 hours later - it's firmly ensconced in my household and is here to stay.

Asleep on my shoulder

Favorite place? ON MY PILLOWS!

Lotsa toys to play with

It's a very confident little cat

I'm not sure of its gender, so it has no name yet. Nevertheless, it has settled in and taken over. 

To introduce the kitten to Skabby, I held it at his face and told him it was a baby kitty. And not to be rough. Skabby, the gentle giant, gave it a sniff and lick and accepted it as part of our family. Good boy Skabby!

The three resident felines? Uh-oh. Mama and Chappie stormed outside in a huff and have been watching proceedings from under a shrub in the garden.

Missy? Well Missy, muttering words like imposter, not acceptable, unbelievable, wrapped a small bag of kibbles and her favorite Shawn the Sheep toy, in her cuddly blanket, tied it to end of the a stick and with it over her shoulder, stalked off into thickets at the bottom of the garden. At last count, she was seen camping out on top of the cowshed roof. ##

Bloggers note(1): ** Thandi tells me that the local folk often dump unwanted cats on the side of the road. At least, these perpetrators had the forethought to dump the young cats near human habitation. 

Blogger note(2): ## While the three older cats are NOT impressed with the new kitten, they do come indoors at night. Whereas before all three slept on my bed, now Mama and Chappie find other warm spots in the house to sleep. Missy still sleeps on the end of my bed but growls (yes, growls) incessantly. 

So that is where we are at in the Hedges menagerie. 

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY