When we decided to put a second basket on top of the upright freezer as a cat bed, we had hoped that eventually the cats would be able to use them at the same time. And so they have.
Yesterday, as I was finally finishing up the major kitchen cleaning and reorganization project I mentioned earlier, I put out the jar that holds cat treat and stocked it. That got someone’s attention.
A little while back Shakay sent us a link to this website. The design is fantastic and the fact that this is all designed for cats just thrills me to pieces.
It also terrifies me.
It looks like today will be the last “balmy” day for a while, insofar as the temperature was well above freezing most of the day. Starting tonight temperatures will begin to drop, and they are predicted to not go above freezing for a good while – possibly as long as two weeks. And we will probably get more snow too, starting tomorrow night. So enjoy today, Boston, but prepare to be cooped up inside for a while. You aren’t going to want to spend a lot of time outside after today. So go grab some DVDs from the library or Netflix or whatever and catch up on your favorite show or shows. You might have some free time in the near future. Or if you are like me, grab a stack of books. It will be a good time to curl up with that monster George R.R. Martin book with a cup of something hot to drink and some small furry companions at your side.
-Geoff
My big project this week has been the kitchen. I have wanted to do a major cleaning for a while now, and it’s as good a time as any. This also gives me a chance to do some reorganizing since I have a good idea now of what new kitchen items (I mean post-wedding) get used more often than others. So my electric griddle gets put somewhere that makes it easier to use, for example. The clam boil pot, as much as I love it, might get used once or twice a year and so it can go somewhere out of the way.
Anyway, as I was cleaning yesterday Scratch decided he was going to “help” by heading up to his new cat bed, up on the freezer. Now, before I get into this too deeply, some background is required.
Continue reading “Major kitchen reorganization and cleaning, supervised by Scratch”
One of the things we always say about my cat Scratch is that since he grew up with a dachshund, and since he spends so much time with the dogs, he wants to be a dog. He has always wanted to go outside with the dogs whenever they go out to do their business. And he tends to curl up with them to nap from time to time, especially when the weather is cold.
Well, it turns out he also likes to burrow into the blankets, just like the dachshunds do. And I managed to snap a few pictures for once.
As dumb as it sounds, one of the things I love about George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the heraldry. Specifically, the house sigils, as they are more commonly known, are some of the most iconic things about the show. Of course Martin based this on medieval heraldry practices that, at least technically, still exist to this day. Plenty of families have coats of arms, as do cities, towns, universities and colleges, etc. And the central part of any coat of arms is usually a shield of some sort. In the world of ASOIAF these tend to be fairly simple (the direwolf of House Stark, both the HBO version and book-ish version) although a few do get more complex (like House Tarth, HBO version and book-ish version). And GRRM goes to a lot of trouble to describe the sigils of a great many houses in ASOIAF. To give you an idea of the sheer amount of creative calories burned, check out the Heraldry page at the Citadel website and this awesome Westeros map some uber-geeks put together. I totally geeked out about both of those.
Well, Kelly and I decided a while back to make our own sigil (in true geek fashion) and now I will share it with the world via the Intertubes. A lot of people did something similar with the “Join the Realm” promo web page done by HBO for Game of Thrones. But I wanted to do our own, with symbols that meant something to both Kelly and me.
There’s a joke somewhere on the internet about how you can use your cat to tell how cold it is. At some point around freezing the cat gets friendly enough to let you pet him, below freezing he’ll actually cuddle with you, and at some point near zero the cat tears open your midsection while you sleep and warms himself in your viscera a la Luke on Hoth.
That’s not quite how it works in our house.
It is nice to not have anything to do today, except for dropping off our rent. It is a cold day outside, about 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and we have lots of cuddling animals following us around the house. And it is going to get even colder, and we are going to get a foot of snow by Friday, maybe a little more. A Nor’easter is coming our way and there may even be blizzard conditions for a while. That’s ok, as long as there are no White Walkers or wights.
Goodbye, 2013. May 2014 be a much better year for us all.
-Geoff
It may not be a winter that lasts for years, as it has been known to do in Westeros, but this winter has come a little early here in Boston this week, with temperatures not getting out of the 40s during the day and dropping into the 20s at night. We had to turn on the heat for the first time in a good while. And of course all the animals start getting a bit more cuddly at night, except for Rerun, who wants to be on the bed but otherwise gets a little grumpy if you invade his space.
Hopefully we will get back into the habit of more regular posts now, at least that is my intent. I think I will try to talk a bit more about some of the more interesting cooking I am doing this season.
-Geoff
Geoff and I have been dealing with a pile of bureaucratic red tape so high that 1) we’re tired and 2) I know now how to spell bureaucratic without looking it up or using spell check. So, in lieu of real content I present you with More things you should be reading right now. All links are, as always, SFW.
Continue reading “More things you should be reading right now”
The Books are Taking Over... 