Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

Happy Thursday! Happy March! Happy day to all!

We'll start this lovely day off with the Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge, hosted by the handsome mancats known as Angel Sammy and Teddy.

Each week, our hosts share with us a photo prompt to get our creative rhyming juices flowing. For this week's poem, they shared this gorgeous photo:

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought of some wonderful angels over at the Rainbow Bridge when I first saw this photo. I even tried to write a poem based on that heavenly image. But, the result was just not working for me, if I'm to be honest. I ended up feeling a bit down trying to write a poem on that topic, so I stepped back and tried something different altogether.

While I really wanted to go for something far more profound for the beautiful photo above, that's admittedly not what I ended up with. My second attempt at a poem this week began with the bridge in that photo. Ever since I was a little girl, whenever I see a bridge, I always think of fairy tales and whimsical stories that tell of trolls who guard their bridges. One such story I always remember is the fairy tale known as "Three Billy Goats Gruff". Who else knows this one?

Anyway, long story short, I decided I'd try my hand at creating a retelling of the goats' tale. The poem below is the result.

Three Tomcats Tough

The cats of Cat Island avoided Troll Bridge like the plague.

That is, until Spring left them no other way.

But what's so bad about Troll Bridge, you ask?

The troll, of course, who made crossing a task.

 There were three total bridges that led to the mainland.

That is, until Spring on Cat Island began.

When it rained and rained with no end in sight,

The bridge situation became quite a fright.

The two other bridges disappeared beneath the floods,

 Leaving Troll Bridge the only one to use above.

Most cats of Cat Island refused to travel abroad in the Spring,

For traveling Troll Bridge was simply not worth the sting.

But there were three very brave brothers on that Cat Island,

Who refused to remain landlocked or the least bit frightened.

One one fine sunny Spring day,
The three brothers decided to be on their way.
Their names were Tommy, Tommy Two, and Tommy Three,
And for their day out they were as excited as could be.
But then they reached the one and only Troll Bridge,
And it was there that trouble brewed more than just a smidge.

Tommy Three was the youngest of the bunch,
And with him he had brought sardines for his lunch.
It was Tommy Three who reached Troll Bridge first,
And the butterflies inside him were the worst of the worst.

Tommy Three tiptoed and made not even a peep,
Yet still out jumped the troll with a bloodcurdling shriek.
It was big, gross, and ugly, this brute of a troll.
It looked and acted as if he had not even an ounce of a soul.

The troll gurgled and spluttered and roared at Tommy Three.
Then it pointed at his little tin filled with sardines,

And demanded he hand them over with words meaner than mean.
Frightened and unsure what else to do,
Tommy Three tossed the troll his very own lunch food.
While the troll scarfed down the fish with buckets of drool,
Tommy Three ran and left behind that beast ever so cruel.

Not long after that came Tommy Two.
Of the peevish troll he most certainly knew.
He checked left and he checked right,
And was happy to see no sour old troll in sight.

But the peace and quiet was quite short-lived,
For the troll suddenly jumped out from where he hid.
The troll demanded that Tommy Two give him some food,
With manners that were nothing if not rude.

Tommy Two had no food or anything such,
And he quickly told the gnarly troll just as much.
Unhappy to hear this news,
The troll grabbed Tommy Two by his shoes.
He flung and shook poor Tommy Two this way and that,
So that onto the bridge his money and coins did splat.

When the troll became distracted by a shiny penny,
Tommy Two did run off in a hurried frenzy.
Tommy Two had been saving that money for lunch at a seafood joint,
And seeing his money go to waste did Tommy Two disappoint.
But, turning back now was simply not worth the trouble,
For with the troll he most certainly did not want to tussle.

Last came the oldest and biggest Tommy,
Who approached the bridge while eating his breakfast of salami.
The troll sniffed that out with ease,
And jumped out at Tommy with a blubbering wheeze.
"Give me the grub!" the troll bellowed.
Compared to the troll, Tommy was but a tiny little fellow.
Nevertheless, he looked the troll dead in the eye,
Telling him, "You are a loathsome bully of a guy."

Words meant nothing to the troll.
He only had his eyes set on his goal.
For now that was the salami on which Tommy munched.
The troll wanted it for his eleventh brunch.

The troll demanded the food yet again,
Using words that were certainly meant to offend.
With a sigh and a shrug,
Tommy held out the salami to the thug.

The troll clambered over for his prize,
Not knowing that Tommy was really quite wise.
Tommy quickly pulled out his favorite ball of yarn,
Which he always carried with him as a lucky charm.

Around the troll's wrists Tommy did wrap the yarn,
And then continued binding up those chubby arms.
Before the troll knew it,
He could not move even a bit.
The yarn was around his arms, legs, and even his tummy.
He looked rather like a grumpy old mummy.

Without further ado, Tommy called on the authorities,
So that they could do with the troll what they pleased.
After all, Tommy did not suffer a bully,
For such injustice made him feel fury.

After that, the Troll Bridge belonged to the troll no more.
The Tommys easily passed from shore to shore.
And so Tommy, Tommy Two, and Tommy Three went on their way,
And the troll was a bother to no one after that day.
The cats of Cat Island could not thank the Tommys enough,
For being bold and brave and three tomcats tough.

***

Hello, friends! It's me, Thimble! I told my mom I get to do the rest of this post, so here I am! Just as my fursibs have done over the past couple of days, I am now going to share with you all 18 facts about myself. This all started with our pal CK, who recently shared these 18 facts about herself. Thanks for giving us such fun ideas, CK!

So, if you want to know more about cute little me, read on!

1. Favorite smell – Catnip!

2. Last time I hissed – The only time I ever hiss is when Eddy and I have hissing contests. My mom always tells us we need to learn to play nicer, but I find our games purrfectly fun.

3. Favorite pizza – None, please. The only human food I like is ham baby food. And flour.

4. Favorite flower – Catnip! I love getting high. Wait, have I said too much?

5. Favorite dog breed – Astrid! I love to lick her ears. Then again, I also love to lick human ears. I have a thing for ears.

6. Favorite ice cream – No, thank you. I'll just stick to my ham baby food.

7. Pet peeve – When any of my fursibs try to interrupt me and Mommy's cuddle sessions. I always cry and slap them away. Mommy is all mine at cuddle time.

8. Shorts or jeans – No way. I wouldn't want to hide my cute little tushie.

9. Color of your PTU – pink

10. Color of your eyes – green

11. Favorite food – Can you guess? Ham baby food!

12. Least favorite food – Pretty much any and all human food, besides ham baby food, of course. And flour. I don't see what's so great about other human food. Yuck.

13. Favorite holiday – Christmas is fun. This past Christmas was the first one in which I took lessons from Eddy on climbing the Christmas tree. Mommy says I don't quite have the finesse Eddy has, but she also speaks nonsense most of the time.

14. Night owl or morning person – Both. I like to roam the halls at all hours.

15. Favorite day of the week – Mommy is usually home on weekends, so that makes them the best.

16. Do you have a nickname? Lots! Mommy is always calling me Baby, Baby Girl, Baby Doll, Baby Face, and Little Lady. Another favorite of mine is Cuddlebug, Bug for short. Want to know a weird one? Mommy calls me Thimbly Wimbly Woo. She even has a song to go with this one. I was curious and asked Mommy, and she said the song goes to the same tune as "Willoughby Wallaby Woo", for any humans who might know that one.

17. Favorite music – Remember that song I mentioned my mommy singing to me in #16? I get really excited every time I hear her sing it.

18. Tattoos – I think I'll leave you guessing on this one.


Now, don't worry. I won't leave you without a picture of my adorable face. Here you go.

Oh, and of course I didn't forget about Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

I am thankful for so many things, like my mommy, my fursibs, my home, my ham baby food, catnip, and of course all of you friends of ours! All of us here are so grateful for all of you.

Wishing you a happy day, friends!

Purrs,
Thimble

***

One Tip of the Day:
March is Pet Poison Awareness Month, which means we're of course going to be giving some tips relating to this over the next couple of weeks. To begin, though, today's tip is a simple one. For today, we just want to remind you to always have a plan for an emergency, of course including your furbaby ingesting some form of toxic material. This could be chocolate, a poisonous plant, human medication, or even an item such as a battery. Being prepared would include knowing where to take your furbaby, as quickly as possible, in the event that they consume anything poisonous. For example, if the trip to your regular veterinarian is not a quick drive, then perhaps have another backup clinic in mind, one that is closer, in the event that you need to get your furbaby help in a very timely manner.

Along this same line of thought, also make sure you know the nearest emergency veterinary clinic, especially for evenings, weekends, and holidays. Have the phone number and address of said clinic handy, such as on your refrigerator. What's more, we may not always think of this, but also try to be knowledgeable of how to get to any clinic you might need, before you might need to get there in a pinch. If need be, bookmark or print out directions to nearby clinics and keep them somewhere accessible. This way, should your furbaby get into anything poisonous, you can hop in the car and get help without delay. As we always say, it's better to be safe than sorry.