Sunday, 3 March 2013
Bits and Pieces : February 2013
Hi. Here is the monthly entry where I put the shots that I like, but that didn't fit into any other post.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Bond Between Man and Animal
My husband Nick and our cat Eddie knew one another before I ever met Eddie. They had made their acquaintance during the spring of 2001 while Nick was working from home and I was heading out to work every day. At the time we were feeding a roughed-up stray tomcat who we called Jack. That guy was as street as they come but came to trust us enough to hang out a bit in our yard and have some food and clean water.
As the story goes, Jack brought this other stray cat with him one day while I was at work, and a bond was formed between man and cat. This second cat turned out to be the one who would come to live with us for 12 years and counting. It wasn't until about a month after Eddie had first begun visiting our home that I even laid eyes on him. I still clearly remember being called out to the yard by Nick to see this cat, and it was love at first sight. After we did our due diligence to find out if anyone was looking for this pretty fellow, who had been fixed and de-clawed, he moved in with us and our elderly indoor cat Johnson.
Throughout his time with us, though he shows me courtesy, the bond between the two males has always been a very strong one. There is no question who Eddie is very attached to, and that person is not me.
Which brings me to the real story behind this post ...
The other day, laundry day, I caught sight of these two little ears peeking up from behind a pile of items in the guest bedroom that were awaiting their turn in the washing machine. I liked the way the light was hitting and had my camera handy in the next room, which is our shared office. So I snapped a few pictures and went back to work at my computer.
Friday, 1 March 2013
A Chat about Cabbage and Our Recipe for Coleslaw
This post is about how great purple cabbage is. (They say to be a good blog writer you should try to find unique topics that nobody else is writing about. I think I may have managed that here, unless you've read another post singing the praises of this particular cruciferous vegetable recently!)
Not only is it very pretty but it is darn inexpensive this time of year. Nick picked this one up for a whopping 89 cents, and so far we have had a big bowl of this colourful slaw, plus some in a homemade barley and vegetable soup I made, and some shredded into a couple of green salads. All that and there is still a quarter of it left.
Go cabbage go! Pretty looking, nutritious, incredibly inexpensive and versatile.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Making a Card for My Father from Recycled Materials
I find that the most challenging greeting cards to make are those for men. I have no problem making pretty things for women or cute stuff for children, but crafty-combined-with-manly don't come together so well for me.
So I thought a while about what to do for my father's birthday card this year.
In fact, I was stumped so did some chores while I pondered it. While going through the pile of newspapers for recycling (during which I do much of my catching up on paper reading!), I saw this story about the previously unknown-to-me designer and artist Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (May 1871 – 3 May 1949). I was struck by the full page image illustrating the story and knew that this was something I could use for my dad's card.
Also on my list of housework tasks was going through a shopping bag of used gift wrap that I'd just put in a corner after Christmas. That bag contained a piece of gold tissue paper that looked slightly gilded, that was primed to be re-purposed.
With these two things, and a pre-made card base, a piece of card stock, a glue-stick and two-sided tape, I made this card.
Monday, 25 February 2013
Winter Walk About
Here are some pictures I took on a recent walk. I decided to head to a 'lesser explored by me' area, which is located along the train tracks going west out of the city (specifically south of King, west of Bathurst).
It was interesting to walk around there because, although very close to the city core, it had the feel of an abandoned industrial park. It was very guiet and there were hardly any people about on this bright Sunday afternoon. That was understandable as it was very cold out so most were probably warm and cozy inside someplace.
