I recently started volunteering at a local no-kill cat shelter. I had always wanted to do something like that, but there were always excuses. This time I just decided to do it.
It is incredible. These cats are amazing. I can't wait until next weekend when I go again! If I could do this as my full time job I would.
They need people, they need that time that we give them. They are so dependant on us...It is a pleasure to be able to help them learn to trust and become confident again.
It has made me look at my three kitties at home in a new light, too. They are lucky little cats, but I don't want to ever take them for granted. They need me, and I need them. They help me remember how important we all are to each other.
Sigh, my little loves!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Dreams and other nonsense
I've just woken up...my dream is still in my head, and it was fantastical and a little scary, but I still wanted to finish it. I was mildly disappointed when I woke up and I felt that the dream wasn't done yet.
I was a child, in the 1930s or 40s, running and playing in a forest with my friends. It was summer, in the afternoon and it was a beautiful lazy day. We found a door, a great big iron and wood door that looked ominous, with great big wheels set beside it like a drawbridge mechanism and huge bars set across it to lock us out. Out? Maybe.
We found a weak spot in the wood of the door and crawled through like mice, and when we got through to the other side it wasn't summer anymore but autumn, and we were in a place that had many fences, and in all the fences were piles of scrap metal. Cabinets lined the walls of the place, because unlike where we had come from this was a room, not a wide open space. Children were crawling in and out of the cabinets like little worker bees. I was immediately scared, and tried to run through the paths without being seen - I had noticed another door far across the Room of Fences and I deduced that it was probably less scary than what was here.
"Stop right there! What are you doing, trying for the door without having taken your test yet?" I was grabbed from behind by two dogs with uniforms on, and forced to look up and up and up into the face of a woman with wheels for feet, and scissors for hands. She had short black hair and was wearing a mockery of victorian dress.
I replied that I didn't know I had to take the test but I would if I could make it through that door. The woman smiled (horribly) and directed me to the cabinets, where I would make my little home until I could pass the test. I was a little worker bee now, like my friends and the children before us.
I kept the door fixated in my mind - I don't know how long I stayed there but I eventually tried to escape.
I found out I could jump higher than any other person in that room, so I vaulted myself up and over the fences, running with great strides, running like a deer would run, not like a person. I jumped and landed through the door - no splintering of wood, no great sound, nothing to mark the occasion of my escape - I was just through.
I was through and sitting on a tree branch with a family of Gypsies. They had feathers woven into cloaks on their backs, which helped them fly up into the branches to rest for the night. I checked my back, and I didn't have any feathers, it was my extraordinairy jumping that allowed me to join them. I was a little disappointed, but then realized that this way I didn't have to be one of them, I was just a visitor and I could move on. They fed me apple cider and beans from a tin, and we sang beautiful songs that filled up the sky - now that I was beyond the Room with the Fences I could see the sky again, and all around me was a beautiful lush forest. If I listened I could hear singing from other areas of the trees - other Gypsies singing together, perhaps with other visitors like me.
I woke up alone, in the tree with the leaves and twigs cradled all around me. I didn't want to wake up, I wanted to be part of the tree forever and see things come and go and sing sometimes. I got up regardless, and jumped down from the branches to the forest floor.
...Then I woke up.
This is spinning in my mind, I want it to be finished! I was immersed in this strange world for a meagre moment, it was a tease.
Maybe I will think of more, and write it down. Maybe it will be a dream that doesn't fade. Who can tell?
I was a child, in the 1930s or 40s, running and playing in a forest with my friends. It was summer, in the afternoon and it was a beautiful lazy day. We found a door, a great big iron and wood door that looked ominous, with great big wheels set beside it like a drawbridge mechanism and huge bars set across it to lock us out. Out? Maybe.
We found a weak spot in the wood of the door and crawled through like mice, and when we got through to the other side it wasn't summer anymore but autumn, and we were in a place that had many fences, and in all the fences were piles of scrap metal. Cabinets lined the walls of the place, because unlike where we had come from this was a room, not a wide open space. Children were crawling in and out of the cabinets like little worker bees. I was immediately scared, and tried to run through the paths without being seen - I had noticed another door far across the Room of Fences and I deduced that it was probably less scary than what was here.
"Stop right there! What are you doing, trying for the door without having taken your test yet?" I was grabbed from behind by two dogs with uniforms on, and forced to look up and up and up into the face of a woman with wheels for feet, and scissors for hands. She had short black hair and was wearing a mockery of victorian dress.
I replied that I didn't know I had to take the test but I would if I could make it through that door. The woman smiled (horribly) and directed me to the cabinets, where I would make my little home until I could pass the test. I was a little worker bee now, like my friends and the children before us.
I kept the door fixated in my mind - I don't know how long I stayed there but I eventually tried to escape.
I found out I could jump higher than any other person in that room, so I vaulted myself up and over the fences, running with great strides, running like a deer would run, not like a person. I jumped and landed through the door - no splintering of wood, no great sound, nothing to mark the occasion of my escape - I was just through.
I was through and sitting on a tree branch with a family of Gypsies. They had feathers woven into cloaks on their backs, which helped them fly up into the branches to rest for the night. I checked my back, and I didn't have any feathers, it was my extraordinairy jumping that allowed me to join them. I was a little disappointed, but then realized that this way I didn't have to be one of them, I was just a visitor and I could move on. They fed me apple cider and beans from a tin, and we sang beautiful songs that filled up the sky - now that I was beyond the Room with the Fences I could see the sky again, and all around me was a beautiful lush forest. If I listened I could hear singing from other areas of the trees - other Gypsies singing together, perhaps with other visitors like me.
I woke up alone, in the tree with the leaves and twigs cradled all around me. I didn't want to wake up, I wanted to be part of the tree forever and see things come and go and sing sometimes. I got up regardless, and jumped down from the branches to the forest floor.
...Then I woke up.
This is spinning in my mind, I want it to be finished! I was immersed in this strange world for a meagre moment, it was a tease.
Maybe I will think of more, and write it down. Maybe it will be a dream that doesn't fade. Who can tell?
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Problems that aren't mine, and pizza that is
I walked in the house today, half an hour late and smelled something incredible. Of course, my beautiful wife, who can cook anything (and make it fantastic) decided to make vegan deep dish pizzas. It was such a homey, fulfilling supper made with such love that it made my whole day so much better than it had been.
Getting told that you are going to take the fall for something that you really had no hand in is awful. Ten minutes before it was my time to leave I get a phone call - it was something I was following up on, and I didn't have the answer he wanted. To make a long story short, I missed my train while I was running around trying to create the answer he wanted. I thought about telling him to go take a hike, but never did. Never did, and feel better for it because I created a solution for him and now he looks like the idiot that lost his temper.
Yay me.
Then I finally got to the next train, which I sat in for twenty minutes before it went - and it was nice, I got a good seat and read my book. I'm currently reading Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Can you say amazing? I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I only really read on the train, unless I can squirrel away in bed earlier than the wife, but that is rare. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. It has a wonderful style that brings you into the story like you are experiencing it with the author. It's raw and emotional, very good book.
Now, back to the pizzas. She made TVP with all veggie beef flavoured bullion, and a bit of oil so it was greasy like sausage - sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced onions, and a superbly spiced sauce. The crust was a simple yeast dough, very easy and it browned very nicely without browning too fast.
Pizza for lunch tomorrow!! Hooray!!
Note to self: Try to get recipes to post them for anyone who might be interested.
Getting told that you are going to take the fall for something that you really had no hand in is awful. Ten minutes before it was my time to leave I get a phone call - it was something I was following up on, and I didn't have the answer he wanted. To make a long story short, I missed my train while I was running around trying to create the answer he wanted. I thought about telling him to go take a hike, but never did. Never did, and feel better for it because I created a solution for him and now he looks like the idiot that lost his temper.
Yay me.
Then I finally got to the next train, which I sat in for twenty minutes before it went - and it was nice, I got a good seat and read my book. I'm currently reading Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Can you say amazing? I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I only really read on the train, unless I can squirrel away in bed earlier than the wife, but that is rare. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. It has a wonderful style that brings you into the story like you are experiencing it with the author. It's raw and emotional, very good book.
Now, back to the pizzas. She made TVP with all veggie beef flavoured bullion, and a bit of oil so it was greasy like sausage - sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced onions, and a superbly spiced sauce. The crust was a simple yeast dough, very easy and it browned very nicely without browning too fast.
Pizza for lunch tomorrow!! Hooray!!
Note to self: Try to get recipes to post them for anyone who might be interested.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Blueberries, yum.
So this morning I had a hankering for Oatmeal Blueberry bars. I love blueberries, and I love oatmeal. I also had some cashews, and the flavour of the cashews with blueberries is just decadent.
In the oven right now are my bars, thrown together because I love making sweet breakfast things with no recipe. It is what I do, much to my wife's chagrin. She is an excellent cook, so much so that you can give her ingredients and she will measure them out to make a perfect dish. You give me ingredients and I might just snack on them while I look for the sugar.
Oh, and we are vegan. I should mention that.
Back to the bars. The crust is an oatmeal/soymilk/baking soda/egg replacer/cane sugar conglomeration that tasted pretty darn good in the bowl. We were out of flour (except for rice flour, and, well, I don't like rice flour that much) so I really hope this turns out. I heated up the blueberries with a bit of cane sugar on the stove, until they started juicing up nicely. Stained my cream coloured stir spoon, but it looks rather prettier that way, with streaks of purple and blue. I poured that mixture over top of the crust and quickly candied some cashews and pressed them into the mixture.
It looks absolutely gorgeous, and it smells even better. You know, even if it doesn't come out as "bars", I think the kids and the wife will still love it. I know I will, with those flavours how could I miss!
Well, I hope so anyhow.
We were also hoping to get to Bard in the Valley today, but with the rain we aren't feeling that outdoorsy. Not to mention my butt hurts from tennis yesterday. Good stuff, yeah! The production that Bard in the Valley is putting on is A Midsummers Night Dream. I've never seen it as a play, I was very intrigued. I did see that movie that was made in the 90s that was loosely based on it...it had Kirstin Dunst in it, but for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. The movie is a great filler movie, but nothing I would have ever paid to go see in the theater. Good thing I didn't.
Off to go check on breakfast!!
In the oven right now are my bars, thrown together because I love making sweet breakfast things with no recipe. It is what I do, much to my wife's chagrin. She is an excellent cook, so much so that you can give her ingredients and she will measure them out to make a perfect dish. You give me ingredients and I might just snack on them while I look for the sugar.
Oh, and we are vegan. I should mention that.
Back to the bars. The crust is an oatmeal/soymilk/baking soda/egg replacer/cane sugar conglomeration that tasted pretty darn good in the bowl. We were out of flour (except for rice flour, and, well, I don't like rice flour that much) so I really hope this turns out. I heated up the blueberries with a bit of cane sugar on the stove, until they started juicing up nicely. Stained my cream coloured stir spoon, but it looks rather prettier that way, with streaks of purple and blue. I poured that mixture over top of the crust and quickly candied some cashews and pressed them into the mixture.
It looks absolutely gorgeous, and it smells even better. You know, even if it doesn't come out as "bars", I think the kids and the wife will still love it. I know I will, with those flavours how could I miss!
Well, I hope so anyhow.
We were also hoping to get to Bard in the Valley today, but with the rain we aren't feeling that outdoorsy. Not to mention my butt hurts from tennis yesterday. Good stuff, yeah! The production that Bard in the Valley is putting on is A Midsummers Night Dream. I've never seen it as a play, I was very intrigued. I did see that movie that was made in the 90s that was loosely based on it...it had Kirstin Dunst in it, but for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. The movie is a great filler movie, but nothing I would have ever paid to go see in the theater. Good thing I didn't.
Off to go check on breakfast!!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Saturday So Far
I really like Saturdays where I can go to bed tired and ready to sleep.
I have a hard time sleeping sometimes during the week because I work at a desk job and don't get physically tired. Except from wearing heels, but I don't think that counts.
Being a very social person however (sometimes to my detriment) I do find myself traversing a visiting path around the office quite often. That notwithstanding, I do have a desk job, and nonactivity begets more of the same. More often than not I come home with "grandiose" plans of the dog park or tennis or something outside...and I end up just sitting on the couch after dinner, playing on my laptop or watching tv. Then before I know it, it's time to start getting stuff ready for the morning.
Head tired, body not.
Today I managed to fit in a nice array of activity...Had homemade blueberry scones (wife's recipe, she is a genuis) with Strawberry tea, then tennis, when we came back we made vegan "fishsticks" (see previous statement about wife), then went to the dog park.
I absolutely love the dog park. You have a bunch of people amassed there with their canine compatriots and you have instant conversation ice breakers: "You have a beautiful dog!", "What kind of dog?", "Oh wow, look at them play!"
As I've said, I'm extremely social.
I also love dogs. I love watching dogs, I love petting dogs, I love walking them, I love being around them all the time.
So the dog park is one of the best places I can think of to go...My wife said that we aren't allowed to have any more of our "dates" there because it doesn't count if the dog is there. If the kids can't come, the dog can't come. My reasoning is that it's free and fun and we always both enjoy ourselves...although I do get distracted and start talking to the whole park. That being said, I do get her point.
Note to self: find free and fun things to do for couples.
I have a hard time sleeping sometimes during the week because I work at a desk job and don't get physically tired. Except from wearing heels, but I don't think that counts.
Being a very social person however (sometimes to my detriment) I do find myself traversing a visiting path around the office quite often. That notwithstanding, I do have a desk job, and nonactivity begets more of the same. More often than not I come home with "grandiose" plans of the dog park or tennis or something outside...and I end up just sitting on the couch after dinner, playing on my laptop or watching tv. Then before I know it, it's time to start getting stuff ready for the morning.
Head tired, body not.
Today I managed to fit in a nice array of activity...Had homemade blueberry scones (wife's recipe, she is a genuis) with Strawberry tea, then tennis, when we came back we made vegan "fishsticks" (see previous statement about wife), then went to the dog park.
I absolutely love the dog park. You have a bunch of people amassed there with their canine compatriots and you have instant conversation ice breakers: "You have a beautiful dog!", "What kind of dog?", "Oh wow, look at them play!"
As I've said, I'm extremely social.
I also love dogs. I love watching dogs, I love petting dogs, I love walking them, I love being around them all the time.
So the dog park is one of the best places I can think of to go...My wife said that we aren't allowed to have any more of our "dates" there because it doesn't count if the dog is there. If the kids can't come, the dog can't come. My reasoning is that it's free and fun and we always both enjoy ourselves...although I do get distracted and start talking to the whole park. That being said, I do get her point.
Note to self: find free and fun things to do for couples.
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