A to Z: A – Jane Austen

It’s here! The 2018 A to Z Challenge! Remember my cohorts and I are doing cat-related book reviews. I hope you enjoy them!!

Pride and Prejudice and Kitties
A Cat-Loves Romp through Jane Austen’s Classic 

Jane Austen
Pamela Jane
Deborah Guyol
Skyhorse Publishing, 2013 

From the back of the book: “What if Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was told from a cat’s point of view? On the heels of smash hits like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I Can Has Cheezburger?, this hilarious mash-up spins a fresh, quirky take on two things we just can’t get enough of: classic cats and classic Jane.

“Pride and Prejudice and Kitties juxtaposes wacky photos of cats with the wicked humor of Jane Austen. Soulful Mr. Darcy gazes at Elizabeth Bennet in fascination; hysterical Mrs. Bennet yowls that no one understands her; somnolent Mr. Hurst passes out on the sofa after dinner; arrogant Lady Catherine hisses at Elizabeth. Each photo includes a hilarious caption that corresponds with the story.

“Pride and Prejudice and Kitties is a book for cat-lovers, Austen-lovers, and people who love to laugh—in other words, just about everyone.”

I hope my librarian and Jane Austen fan Auntie doesn’t read this review—but I thought the book was just okay. We don’t read many romances around here or even much classic literature. So, it was with difficulty I finished the book. I’ve never read Jane Austen before or even seen one of the many film & television adaptations of her books (to the horror of my Auntie and Granmama). But mom saw it on the shelf at the library and it had a cat on the cover and was about kitties, she said ‘why not?’. You should have left it on the shelf, mom.

What was wrong with it, you ask? For a cat who doesn’t like to read books about females whose sole intent in life is to get that tom and marry him, this book was torture. I was struggling and got really confused by all the goings on (does he love me?, does he hate me?, blah, blah, blah) and had to stop midway through, have mom pop the DVD in (which she’s had for several years and hadn’t even removed the blister wrap), so I could figure out the story. After the movie, I sailed on to the end, grateful it was done.

Whether or not the book is faithful to the original I cannot speak to and I won’t be finding out anytime soon. My final verdict? If you love romance, Jane Austen, and cats, this is the book for you. If you love cats but not romance or silly girl kitties fighting over eligible toms in the neighborhood, avoid the book at all costs. Also, some readers may find all the cat-memes funny; but I didn’t guffaw at them, just mildly chuckled. I guess my humor leans in another direction.

Rating: 3 out of 5 paws because I’m just not into Jane Austen (sorry Auntie!).

Reviewer: BobbieSue

 

 

Tuxie Sunday Selfies

Here are the tuxies!!

MerryBelle

PeggySue

BobbieSue

 

Check out more Sunday Selfies at Click on the Badge!!

Tuxie Tuesday with the Sues!

While PeggySue was sacked out on a basket of plastic bags…

 

I was watching Mable & Matilda. Can you see Mabel looking at me as I am looking at her?

 

Here’s where I showed her my teeth.

 

And here’s where I showed her that I CAN fit her inside my mouth if given half-a-chance!

 

What? No, mom. I didn’t threaten Maude and Matilda with my teeth. I am totally innocent of any wayward thoughts when it comes to the bird girls.  😉

See you next time on Tuxie Tuesday when I’ll demonstrate my jaw strength!!!

Love, BobbieSue

Q is for …

Not only is it Tuxie-Tuesday-on-Thursday but it’s also Thankful Thursday and it’s an appropriate day for “Q”! The two pets I have to share today are both heroes and their humans are thankful for them! There’s a very small Quaker parrot named Willie and a very large Quarter horse named Stormy!

Willie, a small lime-green Quaker parrot loves to talk. He calls his human, Meagan “mama” all the time. One afternoon Meagan was babysitting a friend’s two-year-old daughter, Hannah, and while they played and watched TV Willie was in his cage chattering away like normal. Meagan got up to run to the bathroom and left Hannah, happily munching on a Pop-Tart. As soon as Meagan left the room, Willie started screaming and going crazy in his cage. He was flapping his wings and screaming “Mama baby!” over and over as loud as he could. Meagan ran back in the room and saw Hannah on the floor choking and turning blue. She immediately went to the little girl and performed the Heimlich maneuver which dislodged the Pop-Tart. Hannah started breathing again and her color returned. Both Meagan and Hannah’s mom credit Willie for saving the toddler’s life. She said he added the word ‘baby’ to ‘Mama’ on his own and that’s what really got her attention.

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Two wings up for Willie!!! And human kids? You can’t leave them alone like mother cats do; our mom’s leave us alone even while nursing so they can get a break and replenish their tummy’s!

 
Siblings Emma (9-years-old) and Liam (7-years-old) were out one afternoon exploring the woods near their home in Louisiana. Emma was riding her Quarter horse, Stormy, while Liam was on the ground walking ahead on the trail. Stormy became skittish and difficult to control and Emma didn’t know why. All of a sudden, a wild pig came crashing through the undergrowth, stopping barely 6 feet from Liam. The boar was really big with brown bristles and sharp tusks. He was making aggressive clicking noises and making ready to charge at Liam. Meagan yelled at her brother to run but he was frozen in fear. Stormy took charge of the situation. She trotted around and put herself between Liam and the boar and nudged him back toward home. She then moved so her rear end was in front of the boar. With one swift kick, she struck the boar right in the snout. The wild pig squealed in pain and ran away as the kids and Stormy ran in the other direction toward home. Liam and Meagan’s mom said “Stormy took care of those kids and we will be forever grateful.”

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Instead of ride’em, cowboy!! It’s punch’em, Stormy! To tell you the truth I wouldn’t want to get near any horses’ hooves – even on a good day!!!

 

I hope you enjoyed “Q”. And thank you, Toby, for letting me represent today!!! It’s time to make my Queenly quitting of this blog. Hoping for a quiet evening, BobbieSue

 

 

Tuxie Tuesday presents: C is for Clay Henry and Cicero

C today’s topic here: Clay Henry and Cicero 

 It was very nice of Toby to let me share in some of his challenge duties. He’s taken over staring at Mable and Matilda while I present the “C” subjects.

First we have Clay Henry, who was a goat that resided in Texas. One day in 1986 he was elected mayor of Goat Mountain (aka Lajitas), a super small town in southwestern Texas. Clay Henry wasn’t a shoo-in – he had competition: from a man who lived in Houston, some 500 miles away, a wooden stature of a Native American that stood outside the local trading post and a local dog named Buster. Mayor Clay served until his death at the very old age of 23, in 1992. His major claim to being famous was not that he was mayor but that he loved beer. His citizens always made sure he got his daily ration of beer – and then some!

Being the most powerful goat in town, Clay Henry started a political dynasty that continues on. After the original Clay, next came his son, Clay Henry, Jr. who served until 1998. And then Clay Henry the Third who began serving in 1998. The most recent update Toby found was in 2008, Clay Henry III was still serving as mayor and fortunately sired a son, Clay Henry IV, before being rudely castrated by a local drunk. (The drunk was caught and arrested; Clay Henry recovered.) Maybe this is why Toby didn’t want to share this with you – it brought back memories of being neutered!!He’s almost a tuxedo goat!!!

 

A skewbald* draft horse named Cicero began his working career in the lowly profession of a milkman’s horse. He was known as Paddy then and lived in Edinburgh, Scotland. Paddy and his owner delivered milk to many houses in town, one of which was Holyrood House, where Queen Elizabeth stays when she visits Edinburgh. One day on their usual route, they found their way blocked by a very noisy royal parade. Paddy reportedly watched with interest, and, not being bothered by the noise and commotion of the troop, music, drums, other horses and the crowd, the large horse stood completely still until the parade passed by. A few days later the milkman received a letter from the queen’s Household Calvary. It seems a colonel of the Calvary noticed Paddy standing calmly unmoved as the parade passed and they were looking for horses that were able to remain calm in the midst of chaos.That’s quite the parade!!

 

In 1968, Paddy was on his way to the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace in London to begin months of training. He was renamed Cicero and promoted to the lofty profession of Drum Master’s horse. He paraded with the Life Guards, the queen’s bodyguards, and spent 10 years in parades carrying 2 118-pound drums plus the Drum Master. When he retired in 1979, Cicero was (and still is) one of the longest serving drum horses. Look at those hooves – they’re huge!!! Also, I hope you notice Cicero is walking on his own with no one guiding him. Very smart horse.
*Skewbald is a British term and is a color pattern of horses. The North American term is ‘pinto’. A skewbald horse has a coat made up of white patches on a non-black base coat, such as chestnut, bay, or any color besides black coat. Skewbald horses which are bay and white (bay is a reddish-brown color with black mane and tail) are sometimes called tricolored. These horses usually have pink skin under white markings and dark skin under non-white areas. Other than color, it is similar in appearance to the piebald pattern. Some animals also exhibit coloration of the irises of the eye that match the surrounding skin (blue eyes for white skin, brown for dark).

Thanks for stopping by! Now I can get back to Mable & Matilda. Mom says I’m obsessed with them. I don’t know what that means. I only spend every moment of every minute their door is open staring at them. She told me this morning I’m going to lose weight because I forget to eat! Toby will be here tomorrow with the letter “D”.

Love you! BobbieSue