Once upon a time, there was a kitty, and, like most kitties, this kitty had a birthday. While this kitty said very little about her birthday, when her back was turned, many of the other cats gossiped about it. "Whatever shall we get Miss Kitty for her birthday?" they said.

But, as it turned out, Mr. Kitty had a plan. "Just you wait," he said. "I've got an idea." So Mr. Kitty went out on the web and searched high and low. Only after his search was complete did he enlighten any of the other kitties of his plan.He came back, proud and victorious, and announced, "Miss Kitty shall get a spinning wheel for her birthday!" The other cats oohed and mewed in amazement, for they had all heard the stories Miss Kitty had told about her spinning, and how she longed to get a spinning wheel someday. They had all said at one time or another how nice it would be if Miss Kitty could someday manage to actually get a spinning wheel of her own, but it had never occurred to them to actually look for one.

After obtaining the spinning wheel, Mr. Kitty happened to call a certain Ms. Domesticat, who said, "I know just the place!" After gossiping with some of the other local cats, Ms. Domesticat and another local kitty tiptoed into the nearest fiber shop, where they purchased lots of soft fiber (some dyed, some undyed) for Miss Kitty to spin into lovely balls of yarn.

After all, everyone knows how much kitties like yarn.

So Ms. Domesticat and her accomplice hid the bags in her trunk, and went over to Miss Kitty's house that night to celebrate her birthday. Mr. Kitty made Ms. Kitty hide upstairs while the gifts were brought out, but placed the spinning wheel where she would not see it.

Miss Kitty was made to close her eyes while Mr. Kitty put a bracelet on her wrist. When she opened her eyes, she oohed and mewed over the bracelet while all the other cats stood around her, smiling and swishing their tails.

Mr. Kitty eventually suggested to Miss Kitty that she turn around to see the rest of her present...

...and Miss Kitty pounced upon the spinning wheel - her spinning wheel - and began to purr as loudly and quickly as she could.

Of course, afterward, there had to be much merriment, and the kitties had dinner and played cards and talked and laughed, but every time one of the cats (Geof, Todd, or Sarah) mentioned the spinning wheel to Miss Kitty, she would purr and purr and purr.

Moral of the story: give a kitty a ball of yarn, and she'll play with it for a day. Give a kitty a spinning wheel and she'll have balls of yarn to play with for the rest of her days.