Did You Feed the Cat?

Though I gave away the purpose of this week's Caturday post, you might have wondered what this stainless steel mod looking half circle is in the above photo. You could be saying to yourself, "Why, that looks like a bread box". And you would be right ... except that it's not a bread-box in our home. Rather it's a place to reign in the feeding habits of our kibble tossing feline friend, Eddie.

I don't know about all cats, but ours is a pro at getting kibble all over the floor. It used to amaze me when I found one in his water bowl that was located a good 2 feet away from his food bowl!

Before our recent kitchen renovation we used to keep his bowls and water under a vintage table we used in place of an island. With the renovation, we had an actual island added to the kitchen and there no longer was a clear-cut place to feed Eddie. Enter the idea of a movable, cover-able feeding station, which took the form of a cool bread-box we found at a store called Canadian Tire.

Food Friday : Vegetarian Chili Tacos

Lately, Nick has added a new meal to his repertoire, which he has now perfected after several tries throughout the past few months. These are soft-shell vegetarian chili tacos. His inspiration came from a delicious meal we had this summer at Milagro, a new-to-us Mexican Cantina. He liked the idea of buying fresh corn tortillas and forming them into taco shells. And since we don't eat much meat and always have a pot of vegetarian chili on the go, he fills them with chili and an assortment of toppings, that varies every time he serves them.

Themed Thursday : Squirrels and Acorns

When a pretty squirrel kindly stopped its busy work to give me a few pictures last week, I knew that this week's theme had to include squirrels. I have been unsuccessfully trying to get a decent squirrel shot all summer long, with no luck at all, so I was very happy when this one stayed still long enough to be photographed.

And so resulted the theme of "Squirrels and Acorns".

Apothecarist for the Day : The Lavender Oil is Ready

Making Lavender Body Oil, Part II. This is a continuation from a previous post called Making it : Lavender Oil, found here. In the previous post I went about harvesting fresh lavender and bottling it in three different types of oil, to make Lavender Scented Body Oil. In order for the scent to transfer from the lavender to the oil, the jars had to sit in a dark place for an extended period. Today, being a little over a month later, I decanted it into bottles and will share the results.

The New Hat I Made

I have been crocheting since I was 8, having first been inspired by my playmate Ruby's lovely older sister Valerie, sitting out on their front porch, crocheting a scarf for her friend. I was mesmerized and no matter how much Ruby tried to draw me away to go run around in the back yard, I stayed where I was, watching the miraculous creation of fabric from yarn, occurring before my eyes. I still remember the colour ... violet.

Anyway, I went home and asked my mom if I could learn to crochet too. Mom bought me a hook and a skein of yarn, but while she is a knitter, she didn't know how to crochet, so I played with my supplies pretending I was doing it. That Christmas I received a kit, called Arts and Crafts Today : Learn to Crochet. I loved the various size hooks it came with, and the generous supply of turquoise yarn. But I was too young to follow the instructions, so I still couldn't do it. Until my parent's went on a week-long vacation, and we were babysat by some beloved family friends, Serge and Linda. It turned out that Linda could crochet, so during that week, she showed me how. I have pretty well had a project on the go, since then (though admittedly some have taken a very long time to get completed and they usually get put aside for the spring and summer months!)

Was that too long an intro to the discussion of the hat I made last week? Maybe .. lol, sorry! My new hat is made of 100% cashmere wool that I bought on Etsy, from Yarns of Italy. Though I've used many the yarn in my days, I have never had the pleasure of working with cashmere! It was an absolute joy to crochet with. If only you could feel it ... so. very. soft. I used 2 3/4 balls of 50g wool so I have a little left that I'm planning a tiny project for. Can't let any of this beautiful yarn go the waste!