Domesticali

Indoor sunshine

My car told me that it was minus 3 this morning on the school run. And icy with it. So icy, that when I opened the back door to let the cat out, he slipped on the lintel. He tried to style it out, with typical ginger insousiance, but I saw him.

Though he'd never admit it. Instead, he got his own back by photobombing my 'seville oranges in the frost' photoshoot.

See what I mean?

It was too cold to try for very long, so I retreated indoors to Radio 4 and the warmth of a marmalade making session.

There are worse ways to spend a frosty January day. What did you do with yours?

Reality bites

Getting up this morning at 6am was hard. Younger son needed to be at school for 7.15 - he's off on a football camp.

When we left the house, it was still pitch black outside. This is the portion of winter I struggle with - the twinkly fairy lights bit is good. But this bit? I could quite happily crawl back into bed with the cat and wake up when it's Spring.

February Mosaic

Not sure this mosaic really captures the month - it has not been a vintage one for photography, that's for sure! Thank goodness, in the absence of great light and the lack of will to bust out the DSLR, that there is Instagram.

I'm not a brilliant phone photographer - I think it's the lack of a viewfinder which handicaps me - looking at the image on a screen isn't the same as seeing it through a lens. But somehow, in spite of the lack of artistry, phone snaps have the power to forge an immediate connection with what's going on in the lives of the people we follow.

I'm domesticali on Instagram too. You'll find all the minor trivia of my life on there. Not artful or airbrushed. Just life. Like the cat getting stuck in the loft.

 

Sometimes life, though not necessarily blog worthy, throws up details which merit marking in some way. Because honestly, that video probably sums up February best of all.

A whizz by weekend

Monday again? How did that happen?

There has been a small triumph this week, in that we've finally succeeded in teaching the ginger moggie that the new, expensive, microchip activated cat flap is fine to use. He is a stubborn feline, and not too overly blessed in the brain cell department. I dare not tell you how long I spent crouched by the back door, with my arm stuck out through the cat flap clutching a pet treat. In the end though, locking him outside in the rain when we weren't home seemed to work best. Tough love.

The other cat has used it nonchalantly from day one of installation. Only slightly disturbed by being chased by an owner brandishing a yet-to-be-installed cat flap, attempting to scan the microchip in her neck. Some people just do change better than others.

I am two weeks into a printmaking course. In spite of having no real idea what I am doing or much natural drawing ability, I am enjoying myself enormously. Helps that I get to see Monica once a week too, of course.

Johnny spent a chunk of Sunday afternoon making a baseball bat. I know. It's a log. I think he may have been trying to avoid music practice.

That's a dulcimer. It sounds beautiful when he plays, but I would hesitate to recommend it as an instrument for a child to learn. Mostly because he cannot carry it himself and it will not fit in the boot of hubby's Mini. If I had to choose a musical instrument for them to play all over again, it would be the piccolo. For obvious reasons.

 

Miscellany of this week

Been hot, hasn't it? We've been moving slow, staying cool, drinking lots and spending plenty of time down by the stream in the village.

Our ginger cat appears to have sunburned ears. I never thought to account for the fact that he is a redhead. Though even if I had, I am not sure what preventative measures I might have taken. Sun hat, maybe.

Anyway, he appears slightly mollified by being able to drink from the play canal. 

Also on the pet news front, we have also acquired a yellow bellied slider for the duration of the holidays. He comes from the physics lab at school. Not biology, which strikes me as strange. His name is George. I liked him far more before I realised he would be eating live mealworms.

There are two terrapins in the physics lab. Mark assured me that we are hosting 'the fun one'. I cannot shake the mental image of returning home to find he has orgaized some secret rave in our absence. 

The long hot days seem to be good for promoting reading too - the latest has been the new Lionel Shriver - 'Big Brother', which I enjoyed enormously. It also contained a line which stopped me in my tracks:

"I had found that 'feeling special' was a private experience, and no one else's projected fascination could substitute for quiet absorption in your own life."

I had to pause and read it several times, and then make a note of the page, so I could return to it. It seemed important. 

Summer sprang upon us so suddenly, that there wasn't really time to consider what our goals were for this long holiday, but perhaps a quiet absorption in our own lives is a good one. What are you hoping to achieve before the autumn?

Reluctant model

Gina knitted a baby hat recently, which I knew it would be the perfect little gift for a friend who is about to pop! It was on and off the needles in a day. Even if I had to substitute a chunkier weight yarn for the green bits. I sort of like the lumpy leaf look though.

My model, Reggie, is less convinced.

I didn't want him to get too puffed up with all the comments the other day about how lovely he was. Truth be told, he's a bit of a git. Likes nothing better that to swipe at me from between the banisters when I am going downstairs with an armful of laundry and am defenceless. Call this my revenge. 

In need of something big and orange

Do you subscribe to the view that your body lets you know what you need? Today, mine is asking for vitamin D. Feels like the sun has been absent for an eternity. I love the snow, but the endlessness of the leaden skies has been sapping my spirits this week. And all I feel like doing is eating.

There are some side benefits to this for the rest of the family, who have been getting very good food this week (even if I do say so myself). And with the oven on, the kitchen is a warm and cosy place, and probably has the brightest lights too, which is cheering in itself, when there is precious little of the natural variety.

So there was a batch of Marmalade this week. And then, because I seem to have made more than we will probably get through, a Marmalade cake, to use some of it up again.

It's waiting for a little glaze of icing. And I am waiting for the sunshine to return as patiently as I can and contemplating other orange things in the meantime.

Reggie, our big ginger moggie - he hasn't been out much this week either. We've both got our paws crossed for next week. At least only one of us has to worry about getting too stout to fit through the cat-flap. Though my jeans may also be cause for concern...

Me-yew

I'm not Toast's favourite owner today.

We had to make our annual pilgrimage to the vee ee tee for injections which would be bad enough, but also involves cat prison (the pet carriers) and a ride in the car. Yowl city. The vet is actually within walking distance, but I would need to load them into the wheelbarrow to get them there. I love my moggies, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be famous in the village as that crazy wheelbarrow cat woman.

They will get over it. I bought salmon for supper.

 

Licked

Stumbling into the dark bathroom this morning, my toes encountered something odd something making a sticky slurping sound as my bare feet met it. Once my eyes had adjusted to the light I could see the floor was shiny - as if someone had spilled a sugary drink. Ewww, was it slugs? And then, behind the cat's water bowl, I discovered the source.

One of the cats must have liberated the dayglo lollipop from a party bag secreted in my offspring's lairs. Though exactly who decided they might take a little lick and then proceed to enjoy the spoils all over my bathroom floor remains a mystery. 

In an effort to flush out the criminal, I have held the offending lolly in front of both cats and not one tongue has appeared. Clearly they are smart enough not to incriminate themselves. Either that or they have already consumed quite enough sugar for one day.

A quick google shows perhaps this behaviour is not as odd as I might have thought. Who knew?

Halloween weekend preparations

We always indulge in a smidgen of Halloween decorating - nothing too over the top, because it's only up for a day or two, but we like the house to look festive for the trick-or-treaters. So the front hall is the logical place to focus any decorating efforts. 

After seeing Monica's advent calendar last Christmas, I began to collect tins with a view to making one here. But I have stalled in my efforts, and 'boo' requires far fewer than 24 tins! The letters were a template from The Graphics Fairy and I picked all the orange sweets out of a tin of Quality Street. I also ate all the blue ones as a public service, because I'm the only one who really likes coconut and I'm very selfless. The trick-or-treaters will get the strawberry creams, which nobody likes.

This is the view from our front door.

See the mouse on the half-landing? A download from Martha Stewart. But there's been a little problem - an after dark stealth attack - note the absence of one tail?

 

I wonder who the culprit could be? 

That's Toast's innocent look, but it's not fooling anyone. Guess she didn't fancy a strawberry cream either.

Meet the family

A long overdue introduction. The ginger chap on the left is Reggie. His original name. And the tabby girl on the right is Toast.

So, after several weeks of cat ownership, what can I tell you?

1. I thought we weren't going to be allowed to take them home at all when Johnny asked in a loud voice at the animal shelter 'Mummy, can you eat cat?'.
2. Naming by committee is a dangerous thing. Toast was half of the 'Marmalade and Toast' suggestion by Anne. I feel I will be explaining that name choice for some time...
3. Confronting a litter tray first thing in the morning is a real downer. They are now free to roam outside, but somehow still prefer the indoor facilities. I am on a mission to put an end to this.
4. They are camera shy. How did I not think to have screen-tested them before we adopted?! But then, I also failed to put 'as photographic props'  on the form where it asked why you wanted to re-home a cat.
5. The 'no cats on the beds when we are sleeping' rule lasted about ten seconds. I think I have pushover in cat runes tattooed on my forehead.
6. Reggie's favourite way of getting attention is to plonk his furry backside on top of the computer mouse. Evidently, being scratched with the left hand is not good enough. My keyboard is getting rather hairy.

We're adopting!

Yes, it's true. The four legged feline variety. Or in our case 2x4.

The only slightly worrying thing about them is their names.

Yes, Reggie and Ronnie.

I think they may have to be re-christened. Veggie and Bonnie?

Unless of course you have better suggestions. And somehow I feel you might. The boy is a big handsome ginger fellow and the girl is a small pretty tabby. Johnny is keen on calling them both Colin. Honestly, naming is not our strongest suit.

We pick them up next Saturday. And on Sunday I morph into dotty woman who takes too many pictures of her cats.