This weekend it was rainy....

This weekend it was rainy, and since Boston is starting to look Autumnal, Jason and I decided to do some Harvest-y things :)

Like maple syrup and oatmeal (awesome cat mat from my mum)

We also had a bucket of apples from a friend and an apple peeler from Aaron....

So we made some pies (an a bottomless bowl of pumpkin goo)

Even the kitties felt the need to snuggle down!

Yep.... glad it was the weekend!

~Rowan

Skwish da belly!

Scimi likes to squish Jason's belly... it's funny... I took photos!

But she still loves him

Whitie just loves to snuggle himself

Also my socks have limes on 'em :D Frozen Margarita socks designed by the Tsarina of Tsocks

Kitty Cock-block!

This is the kitty/weaving equivolent of a cock-block!

Pooling Rainbows

A shawl and a scarf, similar but different :) Now for sale on my etsy shop.

Also some gratuitous kitty photos

So you thought you'd be knitting.....

Yesterday I lay one of my knitting projects out to take a photo of it before I felted it (washed it with the idea of shrinking it)... but Whitie had other ideas....

Ohhh look! Something for me to lie on!

This is nice!

Hey... you, cut it out with the flash!

 

This sucks, I'm outta here!

Just Cats

Quickly on the tail of my last post, I figured it was time for a few more kitty photos, just in case the thumb cuts were too gruesome for some. First off, is just a photo of Scimitar being cute and relaxing on the futon. Next, is Ong-Bak (or Whitie as we mostly call him now, though perhaps Orangie would be more appropriate, since his back is mostly orange now), sleeping in the bathroom sink. I'm not sure what gave him the idea to do this. It doesn't matter if the sink is damp, he'll still jump up, then curl up in it. Finally, I can't remember if I ever posted photos of both of them when they were really young, so just for reference, here's a shot of them the first day we had them home.

Cooking for Rowan's Birthday

It's been far too long since I've posted, but the last few weeks have been crazy with Rowan studying for quals for a month, then taking two weeks of exams, and now the aftermath (ie, doing nothing). In the middle of all this craziness, Rowan's birthday came up. Being unemployed as I am, it didn't feel right to me to buy any expensive gifts, but I am fairly handy with baking, and am slowly becoming a better cook, so I decided to put together a culinary delight as a birthday present. It started out with cinnamon rolls. A fairly simple thing to bake and I always enjoy kneading the dough. They turned out wonderfully, and though you can't taste them, I hope the pictures help to convey just how delicious they were. For the main course, Rowan asked for scallops and bacon in a white sauce over pasta. This one was a little more tricky, but the local grocer had some nice frozen scallops and I found a recipe for a white wine sauce to go with scallops, and then just added some bacon. Again, pictures are included below, and as you can see, Ong-Bak was really really into the scallops. The dessert was a thick, moist chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I made the cake completely from scratch (no packages of cake mix for me). By all accounts, it was an excellent cake, it took the two of us almost a week to get through it, but it was superb. Finally, Rowan's family had some flowers delivered for Rowan's birthday. Strangely, by the end of the day these flower had still not arrived. Serena (Rowan's mum, for those that don't know), called up the company and it was discovered that the flowers were left in some flower bed outside of the manager's office. I didn't even know we had a manager's office! The next day the flower company called me and explained where they delivered the flowers. It was out front of the apartment outside a set of stairs that lead to the basement of the apartment. They were sheltered by some plants, and were still in good condition, so all was well. Anyways, should be more updates soon!

"At long last" or "The weekend and other updates"

I'm rather poor at telling good stories, but maybe that's just because my memory is terrible and I can't usually remember any of the exciting stuff or the details. Anyways, I don't think anything too exciting has happened since my last post. That is, except that Rowan and I rented a car to get some much needed stuff. Some items much needed and others just because they would be great to have. The most exciting of these (in my opinion) was a glass display case to show off Rowan's rock and mineral collection (and a few items of my own). It looks amazing and does its job wonderfully. Hopefully these photos capture the sparkle and beauty on display. Also of note, previously I wrote about a bump on Ong-Bak's face. Well, it's pretty much all better now. No more puss, just a hardly detectable bump that is getting better each day. Hurray! I'll probably post more stuff later if I think about it, but that's all for now.

Ong-Bak and his "Bump"

For about 3 weeks now, Ong-Bak has had a small bump on his jaw. It seems to us that it most likely a small infection caused by the cats fighting or something. About a week ago, I saw Ong-Bak with a patch of blood on his face where the bump is. Maybe it just burst on it's own, or he scraped it open. In either case, it drained most of the way and was much less of a bump for a few days. It has since returned to its previous size and has a nice scab on it from when it burst. Since Ong-Bak and Scimitar are being left with friends over Christmas, we figured it was a good idea to make sure it wasn't serious. We got a ride from a friend and took Ong-Bak to the vet. The young-looking vet inspected his bump, probed it a bit with her fingers, and said that it just felt like inflamed tissue, likely some kind of infection (possibly a bit of kitty nail got stuck in there or something). Of course there is always the possibility that it is some kind of tumor. Anyways, having the surgery to have a biopsy would be a little over $600. So, we headed back home with some anti-biotics, which he'll take for the next two weeks. Hopefully this clears things up. If it not cleared up by the time we get back, then we'll have to decide what to do for the little guy. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother him at all. I haven't seem him scratch at it yet, his appetite hasn't changed, and he doesn't seem sick. I know cats are very good at hiding pain, but his behaviour hasn't changed at all and he doesn't react unusually to being touched in the area of his bump. Anyways, here are a few pictures of the little guy. Since returning from the vet, Scimitar has assumed occupancy of the cat carrier (she didn't come along) and Ong-Bak has just been chilling out as usual. The first picture shows his bump, though because of poor lighting and his moving head, it looks mostly like a red bloody/burry splotch. It looks kinda gross now, but when it's "clean" it's just a small bump with a scab. This whole ordeal reminded me of the time Moses (the second cat we had as a family, and the first I really knew) got hurt fighting another cat or something and got a really nasty infection on his chest. Aaron and my parents probably remember it much better as I was still pretty young at the time, but I remember there being a lot of puss.

Scimitar: Queen of the Scimi-tower

As with most cats, Scimitar does not think too much of her human servants, sometimes referred to as "furniture" or the-big-thing-that-scoops-my-poop. Even her brother, Ong-Bak, is barely tolerable, but at least he is a cat. Fortunately, those human did one thing right, and provided her with a place from which she can watch over her empire, the "Scimi-tower". Seated high above the lowly peasants, Scimitar lounges regally watching her subjects carefully (when not napping). Clearly the superior cat, Scimitar has claimed the tower as her own and rarely allows her brother to enjoy its decadence. Though on occasion, outings must be taken to show the commoners that, even though she may appear soft and weak, she is in fact a ferocious beast, capable of dismembering any enemies of the throne, or lazy servants. Indeed, the best for Ong-Bak is often a chair.