Cannot live without a furry beast around the house!

People who know us well, know that our beloved Qammi and brilliant Autumn died last year. It was a sad sad year for animals in the Russell/Lowe/Swartzbaugh house. We have had an animal in the house or barn since 1987 when I snuck the first little kitty into the house under the nose of my new husband. I knew he would not go for a dog, although that came 2 years later. At one point we had 3 cats, a dog and a horse.

Since December, every time I drive up the street, I expect a brown nose to be poking out from under the shade, to greet me. This week we are taking care of two rambunctious dogs and I realized that I MUST HAVE AN ANIMAL around the house.

Concurrent with this, Bee returns from Turkey on May 2nd and we were thinking of a welcome home gift for her. When we had squirrels in the winter, one solution on Murg's facebook entry was to have a cat. Bee asked recently on Skype "Now, that the squirrels are gone are you still considering a cat?"

So all of these forces of nature are coming together and on May 3rd we will be making a trip to the pound to choose a kitty. I don't want this kitty to scratch my furniture, so Bee's solution is to buy a scratching post, take it to the pound and see which feline is attracted to it.

This is her cat BTW, and as soon as she has an apartment where she can keep the cat either legally or illegally (2 bunnies lived illegally in her dorm room last year at Hampshire and then lived at our house last summer. I would rather have a cat than bunnies!), then it leaves 22 Hayes Lane for greener pastures, or apartments as the case may be.