It took Sully a few months to understand Scout. I don’t think he was around dogs before – and clearly not huge dogs. But every night around 9 pm, he takes over my lap (bye-bye any work I might be doing) and snuggles up to Scout. Unfortunately, this dynamic is going to be challenged in the next month. I’m hoping he’ll adjust once again. His need to be velcro seems to eventually overcome his suspicion of change.
This girl is now 90% turkey, for sure. I believe she’s eaten her weight in turkey since Tuesday when I made the turkey broth from the backbone, neck and giblets of the Thanksgiving bird. She may be small, but she can eat the big boys under the table. I have no idea where she stashes it all.
The cheesecloth soaked in bourbon and maple syrup turkey turned out amazing. I can’t imagine doing it another way going forward – changing up the flavors, but always wrapping it in cheesecloth. Foolproof bird.
And finally – I completed my Christmas decorating yesterday. Yup, this is it. I’m not insane enough to put up a tree when chaos is arriving in a week. As you can see, Scout is nonplussed by it all. Not sure how she’s going to take not being the baby anymore.
Stay tuned…
This is an open thread.
debbie
Can’t wait to see the newcomer!
TaMara (HFG)
@debbie: You and me both.
Spanky
Oh crap! I must have missed an announcement.
Can you give us the tl:dr summary of what’s coming?
TaMara (HFG)
@Spanky: I’ve been kinda vague about it… LOL Think of it like a wrapped Christmas present – you can make guesses, but until the big day she’s under wraps. ?
ETA: The size of the crate might give you Paws…
RepubAnon
It’s all a conspiracy! (If you like IT-related jokes, you’ll love this)
zhena gogolia
@TaMara (HFG): Can’t wait! Love your pictures. We had goose at our friend’s. Delicious, but I crave turkee.
HeleninEire
I’M BOOSTED!! The only appointment I could find online was for December. I just walked into a pharmacy by work!! And viola. BULLET PROOF, I am!!
NeenerNeener
@TaMara (HFG): If it’s anything other than a new Dane I’m going to be surprised and disappointed.
TaMara (HFG)
@NeenerNeener: Me, too. ??
MagdaInBlack
Countdown to PUPPY! I’m pretty excited ?
lahke
Wait, if Sully is a boy, does that mean there are two cats? I’m so confused.
TaMara (HFG)
@lahke: Three cats: Emma, 18, Zander 10, and Sully, our new guy (after we lost Gabe suddenly this summer) is 4.
WaterGirl
Thanks for sharing your joy with us TaMara. We are all sharing your loss quietly behind the scenes, and this universe is crazy so maybe that helps in some way.
Can’t wait for your ‘surprise’ next week. :-
edit: I had never realized how beautiful Emma is, maybe I missed some pics along the way.
Sure Lurkalot
We haven’t cooked turkey for ages…no one particularly likes it or dislikes it, just meh, but this spatchcock recipe looks like a good reintroduction. My sister braises turkey legs and I’d like to try that too. I may be coming around!
UncleEbeneezer
Super pissed right now because my sister hosted Turkey Day in Denver yesterday (about 15 people) and allowed my Dad and cousin, both unvaccinated to attend. I wasn’t gonna be there either way and everyone else is vaccinated but I’m just pissed about the principle and the fact that my sister so easily caves. Told sister and Dad that we won’t be visiting if he’s there unless he gets vaccinated. They both said they understand and nothing more. It’s really fucking frustrating trying to talk sense, trying to use some familial leverage to help keep other family members safe but having it achieve absolutely nothing. Tbh, I also really resent the whole damn group for the fact that all the adults (Sister, her ex, Dad, Cousin etc.) have all just sat by the last 5 years and nobody has raised a peep (or did anything about) the threat to Democracy and erosion of rights for marginalized groups. They are all just blissfully immune in their Suburban lives. Even the ones who aren’t shitty Libertarians, have been totally silent and unengaged. Some days I really hate my family. And it’s crazy because I don’t even have any open MAGA in it (like I know many of y’all have to deal with). Anyways it’s just wild that my Dad would rather not see us (maybe for the rest of his 78 year life) than get a simple fucking shot. Fucking White People ??
Sorry, I needed to vent. This shit’s been building up and weighing heavy on me for the past several years.
Benw
That first image: Sully looks like a black cat facing the camera, but if you look again, he looks like a black dog with a white snout and black nose curled away from the camera (towards Scout).
TaMara (HFG)
@UncleEbeneezer: Hey, that’s what we are here for…many of us can relate to it, too.
mrmoshpotato
Oh boy! My Instant Pot has been delivered.
TaMara (HFG)
@WaterGirl: Just for you – Emma in her Christmas best
TaMara (HFG)
@mrmoshpotato: Oh, you’re gonna love it!
I have got to get some work done. I’ll stop back later. Play nice.
mrmoshpotato
@UncleEbeneezer: That’s frustrating as hell. We did a small family (6 + 2 kids) get-together instead of going to my brother in law’s aunt’s because his aunt (different aunt) and uncle refuse to get the shots.
One of my sister’s friends came over too. Apparently my sister’s friend’s mom is unvaccinated too, and is deep down the rabbit hole of conspiracy bullshit. It’s so sad.
mrmoshpotato
The banana of your nightmares!
UncleEbeneezer
@TaMara (HFG): Thanks. One of the hardest parts of waking up on issues of social justice and becoming very civically engaged has been looking around and seeing how many of my friends and family just “ain’t shit” to quote Black Twitter. If they were hardcore MAGA it would almost be less upsetting, but I’m talking people who are mostly oblivious and generally decent people. I expect more/better from them than Deplorables. Also, they all think of themselves and posture as highly intelligent (part of the problem) but I’ve seen more and more that they really aren’t. Sadly they are probably a pretty good window into the majority of US voters and people who don’t even bother to vote (but vote GOP or 3rd Party if they do).
raven
@UncleEbeneezer: Well the new variant is going to kill us all so what’s the diff?
raven
I’m trying to get Artie to use the doggie door but she is so scared!
UncleEbeneezer
@mrmoshpotato: We live far away and don’t visit often and honestly I’m not very close with my family (like we talk on the phone a couple times a year and that’s it) so it’s not like we planned to visit them alot. But this creates an even bigger rift.
Oh well. Honestly, once travel is more safe, we have way better places to go (Mexico, UK, Iceland, Vietnam) but it still sucks and is annoying that so much of our society including our own family will coddle these selfish assholes at risk to everyone else. My sister could have said “No shot, no grandkids” and I bet that woulda worked. But I doubt she even tried.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: Welcome to our cult.
Brachiator
@UncleEbeneezer:
If everyone else was vaccinated, they were protected from the most serious effects of the virus. Your dad and cousin were more at risk, but being in a room full of vaccinated people was probably good for them as well in terms of danger.
But yeah, not the optimum situation.
mrmoshpotato
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Haha
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
Watch this bit (approx. 8:57 to 9:14 in this video) which includes a kid, during WW2 rationing in the U.K., who had never before encountered a banana.
Jackie
@TaMara (HFG): She’s beautiful!
UncleEbeneezer
@Brachiator: Yeah, I know.
I’m just really pissed about the fucking obstinate bullshit, even after 3/4’s of a Million deaths in the US alone. It just disgusts me. Also, not sure if my nephew is vaccinated yet (he’s right around 12 years old I think).
J.
I love your posts and reading about your menagerie. How’s the book(s) coming?
John Cole
If you had not been going through such a rough patch as of late I would totally steal your cat.
That is all and I would have no regrets either.
zhena gogolia
My goddaughter sent me great pics of her podenco mix Dubi, and I’ve sent them to WaterGirl. That, and a very nice in-person Thanksgiving yesterday, are buoying my mood despite Repubs and variants.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: Oh, God, you really don’t want me to get any work done today, do you? That film looks so fascinating!
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
That’s a nice thing about film, It’ll be there later.
Purely by chance streamed all three parts yesterday on Tubi.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: I feel exactly as you describe, only about my family. It’s frustrating, maddening, enraging. And it’s hurtful knowing that a couple of people care more about not being vaccinated than they care about me.
There’s nothing to be done about it, they are what they are. ?♀️
But it’s still hurtful.
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): Stunning photo!
Can we use that for the pet calendar?
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: My sister refuses to be vaccinated, and I believe only one of her 3 children has been vaccinated, and none of the grandchildren.
In most other ways, anyone would think of my sister as a wonderful person. Loving. Caring. Empathetic.
Except when I was horrified and shared the information about Charleston (that was happening in real time, the family was all together that summer 3 years ago?) – her only response was to mention the millions of babies that are murdered by abortions.
She doesn’t care about any social justice stuff and she gets her news from the right-wing sites. It’s just heartbreaking. We used to be very close and now what I mostly feel toward her is cold as ice, even as I know that I still love her.
It’s a terrible thing happening to this country. I can finally understand brother fighting against brother in the civil war.
shorter: you are not alone in this.
WaterGirl
@raven: Do you actually believe the new variant is going to kill us all? Or are you mocking the people who are concerned about the new variant?
It’s impossible to tell from the comment you made.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Dubi is one of the runner-ups for the cover.
Pedants: should that be ‘runner ups’ or ‘runners up’?
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: I think it’s safe to say he’s mocking.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Oh, wow!
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Runners-up. With the hyphen, as in mothers-in-law.
sab
@raven: Eventually she will learn to like it, and stand for long periods halfway in and halfway out, letting all the bugs in and out.
greenergood
Zander is so handsome! And Sully! Do you have a recent photo of Emma? Who sounds like she could be a grand old lady by now. I still miss pics of the Gabe – stole my heart, but looking forward to the new four-legged and hope it integrates into the pack with few problems and lots of pics! Happy post-Thanksgiving!
sab
Dobby the Demon Cat, who is lately just an adorable friendly little guy, just came into the bedroom doing that proud mewing that cats do when the bring you a dead animal. And what he brought was a three inch strip of the tie that attaches one of the chair pads to the chair seat. He is so proud of his capture.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
Looking forward to being regaled with tales of lusciousness.
Madeleine
@WaterGirl: Your sister sounds very much like mine. She and her relatively new husband won’t get vaccinated and she’s made it clear that if I bring it up things will get nasty fast. She’s become religiously fundamentalist thanks to new husband—told me she’d been protesting at an abortion clinic. Just not the person I thought she was snd it’s being a difficult adjustment. It’s such a loss.
But, enough. Count me as number 3 Uncle Eb.
Steeplejack
@sab:
Dobby—I love that guy! He has integrated well from hiding in the basement. Is he still terrorizing your husband?
WaterGirl
@Madeleine: That’s exactly it. How can my sister be the person I have thought she was for my entire life and think / act / behave this way?
It’s terribly distressing.
Miss Bianca
So it’s now official, what you teased us with on your blog? There’s gonna be a puppyyyyyy in the mix again chez TaMara? Yay!
MazeDancer
@Benw:
Not only is Sully a Black Cat, but is a Bombay Cat.
Which I learned about from TaMara at her blog.
And was quite excited for the knowledge, because I have one, too. Kai Luna McDunnett. Have wondered why Kai, a shelter kitty, looks so expensively exotic.
(Not trying to usurp TaMara, at all. And truly celebrating the upcoming arrival. But since she said she was off to work, thought she wouldn’t mind the sharing.}
TaMara (HFG)
@MazeDancer: Is he deceptively HEAVY? Because I’m finding that one of the most fascinating traits – Sully looks sleek and lean and then you pick him up and he’s a rock. LOL
sab
@Steeplejack: Naw. They box a lot. When Dobbs gets tired he releases his claws. Often he sits on my husband’s chest to snuggle. Under his chin, snuggling. Throws my husband, who is used to pets who pretend that they like sports on tv.
Jerzy Russian
Looking forward to seeing pictures of the new pony.
Steeplejack (phone)
@sab:
Aw, they’re bonding. Maybe Dobby will get interested in sports. ?