Thursday, November 24, 2016

The Duchess of Yowl has a sinking spell

Duchess of Yowl (early this morning): Thumbs! THUMBS!

Me (rousted from sound sleep): Wha? WHAT?

DoY: HELP!

Me (stumbling about, looking for glasses, or cat, or both) Where are you?

DoY: HERE!

A cacophony of sound erupts from the television.

Me (befuddled): Your grace, are you in the television?

DoY (muffled):  Clearly not. Svelte as I am, even I do not fit inside a flat screen tv.

Me (now also looking for remote, and/or glasses, and/or cat): Let me turn on the light.
Oh good, it's 3am. Just the right time for a little cat hide and seek.

DoY: Get me OUT of here!

Me (spotting movement on couch): ok, are you under the cushions?  (removes cushions)
No you are not. Wait, (pulls afghan from behind back cushions, and unrolling cat)  there you are!

DoY: Finally! I was set upon by the evil afghan when I was walking along the back of the couch. It tried to eat me!

Me: Clearly the afghan is in league with the vacuum cleaner.

DoY: Evil beasts, I don't know why they are allowed to live here.

Me: Entertainment value.

DoY: I should be all the entertainment you require.

Me: You're a double act.

DoY: Speaking of acting, shouldn't you be performing your  role of tuna can opener?

Me: Of course your grace. Here you go.

DoY (through tuna scented whiskers): Thankfully, some decent service in this place.

Me: Happy Thanksgiving your grace.






23 comments:

Cheryl said...

My cat Mouse would like to inform Her Grace that Mouse is clearly the superior apex predator. Not only does she never get tangled in her blankets, but yesterday she ate an alligator.

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Happy Thanksgiving, your Majesty and your wondrous Duchess as well.

This blog and the community that surrounds it are something I am so grateful for. Thank you.

CynthiaMc said...

Tinkerbell, our chihuahua, does not understand why I'm cooking and baking when she wants me to hold her while we watch the Macy's parade. Fortunately, Daughter is here to appease and cuddle.

I promised to watch the dog show with them.

Pumpkin pie in the oven, pecan pie ready to go.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Lennon Faris said...

Made a no-bake cheese pie, am currently licking the spoon, and that will prob. be the extent of my cooking today. Spaghetti for dinner, hooray! Turkey will be Saturday when someone who knows what they're doing cooks it :)

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone.

Lisa Bodenheim said...

So the DoY roused you from your prone post of the last couple of days? Glad you're feeling better.

I saw a picture on facebook yesterday of an older dog (black lab/collie mix?) rescued from a neglect situation. The shelter was looking for a foster home. I wanted to bring that poor soul into my home to sit next to me on a couch.

But...I'm a cat person. I dated a guy at one time whose golden retriever had the run of the house. I like dogs but not in the house. So, now I have a desire to foster a dog. Hm...

Craig F said...

And a Happy Thanksgiving to you your Grace. And of course to all of the rest of you.

I have to go and shower before having Da Bird with a family of Trumpets. Should be fun.

You'll have a most excellent day, evening, Friday and so on.

If your turkey ends up a little insipid you can mix up a turkey cocktail sauce for it. Throw that whole berry cranberry sauce into a saucepan. Toss in a goodly glop of horseradish and a splash of Key Lime Juice. Let it simmer a bit and serve.

It adds lots to those turkey, dressing and cranberry sandwiches too.

Enjoy.

Claire Bobrow said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Janet, and to you, Duchess of Yowl, and to all the Reiders and Reider families and animal friends!

The pie dough has been wrestled into the pie plate and shoved in the fridge to sulk before pre-baking. Can of pumpkin now waiting for cream, maple syrup, and rum to hopefully make a little Thanksgiving magic.

Best wishes to you all for a very happy holiday!

Colin Smith said...

I can see it now... THE DUCHESS AND THE AFGHAN by "Thumbs." A picture book? What do you think? :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Reiders! While Thanksgiving Day is an American tradition, the sentiment is one I'm sure we share no matter where in the world we live. We all have much to be thankful for.

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

Hah, Elka and the Duchess share a culinary taste (though really, we typically give her the water or oil from the can of tuna, overtop her food like a fragrant gravy)

My turkey's in the oven, and I made a piecaken last night (a pie within a cake, in this instance apple in a yellow/white cake [I had two different boxes]), and mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberry jelly, and roasted broccoli and brussels sprouts will also occur. Getting some writing in, in the meanwhile. Just broke 42k words on NaNoWriMo, and almost to what I hope to be a very exciting bit.

Happy holiday, folks!

Unknown said...

This morning, I spent more time than reasonable trying to get our cat to stop eating a pine needle that had blown indoors -- in favor of eating fresh cat food.

Happy T-Day to you and the DoY :D

nightsmusic said...

Peggy, you really made me laugh!

Loaner Cat is wandering around. Finally, she's gotten used to the dogs again and unfortunately, is going home tonight :( Turkey is roasting, sides will go in the oven while turkey rests, all of my baking was done yesterday and is sitting, covered, on the kitchen table where the dogs are camped out, watching it all, waiting for something to commit harakiri and jump off said table into their mouths.

I'm so thankful for you, Janet, and this community. It's a great place to hang out :)

Barbara Etlin said...

Jennifer, I'm coming over for dinner. You can have my share of broccoli and Brussels sprouts, though.

Happy Thanksgiving to the American Reiders! Janet, hope you're feeling better despite DOY's inconvenient breakfast timing.

french sojourn said...


Alas,there you are...

Mind you, I will deny it.

But you're O.k. Inside the piano.

Never mind that!

But it's just a can of tuna...

I know...but you can tuna piano, but you can't tuna fish.

Julie Weathers said...

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope everyone has a lovely day.

John Davis Frain said...

Taking a break from grilling a turkey, and the DoY was more entertaining than any American football game I'll watch today. The afghan did it. I shoulda known!

Merry Thanksgiving Janet and Reiders everywhere. Outside of a book birthday, this is the most wonderful time of the year!

Beth Carpenter said...

Counting my blessings - so much to be thankful for, and this community is high on my list. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Anonymous said...

Adding to my list of things for which to be thankful: that The White Ninja does not demand to be fed at 3 AM. Sheesh.

And yeah, as others have said, very thankful for this blog. For the advice and wisdom and humour, and for the rare opportunity to chat with other writers in a place that is intentionally inclusive and welcoming.

Janet, hope you're feeling better and were able to partake of some holiday festivities.

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

Barbara well, I burned the broccoli (but not the sprouts, strangely. They were in adjacent half sheets in the oven), so that went to Elka mostly. I never used to like brussel sprouts, but I find tossing things in olive oil and roasting is pretty magical across the board. We've still got far more turkey than anticipated. Everybody quite happy.

And just broke 45k for NaNoWriMo. Listened to Alice's Restaurant several times. All in all, a good day.

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Had 21 over. It was a sit-down filled with food, lots of laughs and no politics. Now, hours later everyone has left, I'm babysitting my six month old granddaughter while the kids spend money. Dishes put away, extra tables cleared, extra chairs set aside. Quiet and as thankful as thankful can be. May you all experience peacefulness I feel now.

Kae Ridwyn said...

These always make me smile.

Happy Thanksgiving! :D

Marsha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
roadkills-r-us said...

I definitely want a copy of THE DUCHESS AND THE AFGHAN by "Thumbs." Can I get that signed?

The DoY posts remind me that I am content with teh fantastic beasts I inherited from my great uncle Scamander, and do not need a cat.

Janet, are you feeling better now?

We went to a god-daughter's for dinner. We had our son and grandson over for breakfast. This morning we had pie (pumpkin for Editor, cherry for Author) and cheesy eggs. Pie for breakfast for a week is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving food. (I say "this morning" but it was noon before we got out of bed.)

Laura Moe said...

I Love DoY. She and Loaner Cat should collaborate on a book. It would be purr fect.