A Surprise for Periwinkle
Stinky is super excited for Periwinkle’s arrival. He thinks this is going to be one of their best adventures ever. When Periwinkle arrives, he quickly gives her a whisker kiss and paw hug and then ushers her back into the teleportation tunnel before she can ask any questions. Moments later they arrive at their destination. Stinky tells Periwinkle to put her paws over her eyes before exiting the tunnel.
When she opens her eyes, Periwinkle immediately recognizes where they are. “Stinky, we’ve been here before, when we went on our Mill Mountain adventure and again when we visited the Mill Mountain Zoo. Are we going to visit the animals again?” she asks.
“Not today. But we are going to have a visit with some special animals,” Stinky tells her.
International Cat Day Celebration
“Whatever do you mean?” asks Periwinkle. Stinky tells Periwinkle to turn around. When she does, she exclaims, “Oh my gosh, Stinky, where did all these other cats come from?”
Stinky explains that it is International Cat Day, and he has invited some of their friends from other countries to join them in a picnic featuring foods from their countries.
“Stinky, what an amazingly fabulous idea. Who all is here?”
“I hope I can get this right…here goes. From the Netherlands we have Peachy and Stippie. Caspurr, Trixie and Shimshi are joining us from Israel. From the UK, we have Athena and Erin and the entire B Team (Amber, Smooch, Parsley, Pandora, Fudge, Melvyn). Toulouse, Sienna, Miranda and Jack are here from New Zealand. Loulou is joining us from France. From Switzerland, Pixie and Zorro are here, and our North American neighbor, BellaDharma, is here from Canada.”
“Stinky, I will never be able to remember all their names,” bemoans Periwinkle. “And, I don’t speak any foreign languages.”
Stinky replies, “I wanted to get nametags for everyone, but I was worried they’d lose too much fur when they removed them. You don’t have to worry about what language to speak. I am fairly certain everyone can meow in English; though, in some cases we may not understand because of their accents. But stop worrying, we are all here to have fun and enjoy some noms from our various countries. I expect our mouths will be too full to do a lot of talking.”
Periwinkle leans toward Stinky and whispers in his ear, “Do you think our U.S friends will be upset we did not invite them to the party?”
Stinky replies, “I certainly hope not. We’ll just have to cross our paws that doesn’t happen.”
Periwinkle nods and decides to stop worrying and just enjoy herself. As all the kitties wait for the noms to be delivered, they visit with each other and do some sightseeing.
The Roanoke Star
First stop is Roanoke’s famous neon star.
Stinky reads the sign to everybody and then giggles when he realizes the star and his mom are the same age. Periwinkle gives him a quizzical look, but he just winks at her and suggests they all have their photo with the star.
Roanoke Valley Overlook
When they finish with the photo, they head to the overlook to check out the view of the Roanoke Valley and pose for another photo.
Periwinkle is happy Stinky has decided to behave himself and has not climbed on anything. She panics, however, when Pixie and Shimshi jump up on the railing. She politely asks them to get down. They agree to do so right after their photo is taken.
Mill Mountain Zoo Photo Op
Stinky tells the gang he wants to show them the Mill Mountain Zoo, that he and Periwinkle visited in a previous adventure. He says that they do not have time to visit today, but he and Periwinkle hope each of them will return for a visit there in the future.
They all agree that they’d like to return another time to visit the zoo.
After their photo at the zoo entrance, the felines head toward the spot Stinky has selected for their picnic. It is nice and shady; though, the day is very warm. Stinky is just happy that the really, really bad storms of the past few days have moved on.
What’s for Lunch?
Stinky tells Periwinkle, “I asked each individual or cat family to bring a dish from their country to add to our picnic.”
“That sounds cool. I usually like trying new things,” she replies.
Stinky asks Miranda what the Dash Kitten Crew has contributed. She tells him she has brought two dishes, Southland Cheese Rolls, also known as Southland Sushi, which consist of a slice of bread with cheese rolled up like sushi with a generous helping of butter and then grilled. They’ve also brought Paua fritters, which are made from edible sea snails, also known as abalone.
Next, Periwinkle asks Pixie what she and Zorro have brought from Switzerland. Zorro tells the tabbies, he and Pixie have Rösti, a kind of potato cake that can be combined with almost any ingredient. Their Rosti is prepared with smoked salmon.
Next up are the J-Cats from Israel. They too have two contributions: Rugelach (one of Stinky’s mom’s favorites) and Limonada, fresh lemonade spiked with mint.
Next Loulou presents what she has brought from France: Bouillabaisse and Creme Brûlée.
Erin steps forward with Fish and Chips. And Athena has brought Shepherd’s Pie.
By this time, Stinky’s mouth is watering, and Periwinkle hands him a napkin to wipe his chin.
Peachy and Stippie present their offerings from the Netherlands: Bitterballen, croquette-type snacks created from thickened meat stew, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried; and fresh herring filets.
Finally, it is BellsDharma’s turn. “I bet you thought I would bring Poutine, but I didn’t. I have Sushi pizza. It consists of a fried rice patty topped with salmon, tuna, crab, avocado slices and spicy mayonnaise. I left off the soy-wasabi sauce, as I think that would be too hot for us.”
“Wow, this is going to be quite a feast,” says Periwinkle, and the asks, “What did we bring Stinky?”
“Some traditional American fare, hamburgers and hot dogs,” replies Stinky.
“Wow, Stinky, I sure hope everyone is hungry. This is quite a feast,” exclaims Periwinkle.
All the cats gather together to lay out the blankets Stinky has brought to sit on. When they’ve finished, the felines fill their plates and pick spots to enjoy their meals and conversation with their friends.
After all the kitties have had seconds, and in some cases thirds, and cleaned up the area, they agree it is time for a nap. They all settle down for a nice rest.
Time to say, “Good-Bye”
Unfortunately, once everyone is awake, it’s time to say, “good-bye.” The felines spend quite a long time hugging, exchanging recipes and promising to keep in touch. And everyone agrees they would like to make this an annual event.
Finally, the individuals and families head to their teleportation tunnels for trips home to their own countries. Periwinkle and Stinky make certain all their friends are off safely before entering their tunnel for the quick trip back to Stinky’s house.
When Periwinkle and Stinky arrive at his house, all his fursibs and Mom and Dad want to hear about the day, and the tabbies animatedly tell them all about it. When they are finished regaling them with news of the delicious food and the wonderful new friends they have made, it’s time for Periwinkle to head home. She and Stinky spend several more minutes whisker kissing and paw hugging. Then with a blown kiss and wave, Periwinkle enters her tunnel and is gone in a whoosh. Exhausted, Stinky heads to the bedroom where sleeps until the following morning.
The End
We’d like to thank all our kitty friends for their participation in today’s festivities. If you would like to visit any of them, here are the links to their blogs.
Pixie & Zorro (The Swiss Cats)
Jack, Miranda, Toulouse and Sienna (Dash Kitten)
Peachy & Stippie (Angelswhisper2011)
BellaDharma (The Purrfect Pad)
Caspurr, Trixie and Shimshi (Purr-sonally Speaking)
Amber, Pandora, Fudge, Smooch, Melvyn and Parsley (Bionic Basil and the B Team)
Athena (Athena Cat Goddess)
Erin (Erin the Literary Cat)
Loulou (Living with Loulou)
The entire gang will be joining the Happy Tuesday blog hop over at Comedy Plus. Click on the badge below to do the same.
