little steps and a visitor

 There has been a black tom cat on my porch this last week, and he will scratch and the windows and meow at me.  This has a tendency to create a bit of a stir inside.  He is smelling like a tom cat, and if he is still around next week I am calling my vet and getting him neutered.  I don't care who he belongs to, if he is hanging out on my porch, I want him fixed.  It will be way too stinky this spring.


This is a jug of water Kefir, brewing for 
a few days.  Then I take out the kefir grains and allow it to continue to ferment for a few days, and add flavorings, like lemon or cherry concentrate or fresh cranberries, like the one pictured below.  The grains were dehydrated when I got them and it has taken a few feedings to get them going strong, but the last batch carbonated nicely.  I am using it in my smoothies.  It is full of probiotics.  I also got my old sprouter out and am giving that a go again.  It has been tucked away a long time.

Ramona is a sometimes lap kitty, but she loves to climb the ladder as much as Jean-Claude.  I love this picture of him, because it shows his chest circle!

Catnip

I have to separate Mica and Jean-Claude when I bring in the catnip because my greedy little boy eats, inhales it.  Then he goes after hers.  She has to chew the leaf all around the edges, tasting it thoroughly before she actually swallows it, and he will steal it right out of her mouth.  I only find one plant growing right now, hidden amid the lemon balm.  They look quite abit alike, so I am hoping there is more out there.  The irises are blooming, and getting ready to get beat up tonight in the storm that's coming.  Maybe I should go cut some down.

Slow and lazy week and Mica

I decided to give my back a break and have been doing some cooking (Lasagna) and reading this week.  I did have to take some boxes to the post office, but I haven't been moving them all over the place here at home.  I do plan on spending some time in the shed tomorrow, figuring out a better layout for the shelves so that I can get to stuff even when the lawnmower is tucked away. 

I haven't talked about Mica much, but she is a gorgeous tortoiseshell with some strange personality quirks.  She has a crackly Meow and has had since she was a baby.  She loves a cell phone and will come whenever I pull it out to talk or text.  She will get right up in my face.  She also loves the plastic caps off of my Mt. Dew and will suddenly appear when I open one up.  I try to hide them from her but she will fish them out of wherever I put them.  She  loves to play volleyball with little wads of paper that I trim off of my shipping labels.  She and Jean-Claude will bat them all over the place, but she will leap to bat them in air before they hit the ground.  She has a fluffy coat with an undercoat that her brother doesn't have.  Unfortunately, more hair means hairballs.  She does love to be brushed, but sometimes I think that just causes more shedding.

Eggs and Cats

I decided to add this picture of my two eggs, the one on the left from a friend who has chickens, and the one on the right an EGGLAND organic egg.   Look at the difference between those two yolks!  Guess where I will be getting my eggs from now on.

Here we have pictures of the same cat bed, at different times of the day.  There are two others, but this seems to be the overall favorite.

My view of the computer

my Babies

This is how I found the kids when I got home today.

You can tell who's a little bit standoffish.

Jean-Claude and Garnier Fructis

I finished a bottle of shampoo this week-end, and went to my stash for a new one.  I pulled out a shampoo/conditioner from Garnier Fructis and had at it.  I am now being groomed by my tuxedo boy, and realized it has been awhile since he did this.  Actually, since I used Garnier last.  There must be a strong enough aroma that he can smell it, but light enough so that I don't. 

Cats and Computers

It often becomes difficult for me to work on the computer because something keeps getting in the way of the screen.  The word NO doesn't mean anything to him in this context.  Neither does MOVE.

Jean-Claude hates spiders

Jean-Claude watches YouTube

SNACK TIME!

This is the snack time line-up. I shake the bag and yell SNACKS! They come running and line up on the bed. I make them stand up to take the tiny little things out of my hand. I say each of their names and the girls wait their turn, but him--NOT. He is always reaching up trying to knock it out of my hand.

Jean-Claude, Sassy and Mica

Because they are cute.

Mica and Jean-Claude in a pensive moment.

Ebay and bookmooch

It is raining again. I had to go out to the shed and hunt up two books that sold out of my EBAY store yesterday, and Jean-Claude has convinced himself that there is something really interesting OUTSIDE!!!! I finally just picked him up and carried him to the shed, and he explored while I rearranged and grabbed the two books I needed. When I called him to leave he came right up, so that worked out ok, I was afraid I would be chasing him down.



I also had 7 books to ship off of Bookmooch, which is a very good thing, because I had mooched so many myself in the last week and needed to get my numbers back up. Bookmooch allows me an opportunity to move books that aren't worth listing on EBAY by adding them to my inventory and if someone "mooches" it I get a point, which I can then search everyone else's inventory for a book I want. I pay the shipping for any book leaving my house, and the other person pays to ship a book I want to me! If you mooch a book from any other country, it costs you two points, but they get three points for shipping internationally.



Now I have to make a run out to SAMs Club for some more padded envelopes. I really go through those and Sams has the best price around.

I am just throwing this picture of the room I slept in in Scotland, because, you know, there is a book thing going on in this post!





I am working on some sort of weekly format for the bloggy thing. There are so many things you can participate in on a weekly basis, and some of them are right up my alley, so you may be seeing some changes as this developes.

Jean-Claude's Close-up

Jean-Claude is a whiskery boy.

I had to go back to my Marion store today, since I had found the BEFINE packets there and haven't seen them anywhere else. I was able to buy 3 more for my limit of 5. I also needed some copy paper and it was on sale for $3.49.

2 reams of paper = $6.98
3 BeFines $5.97
1 Colgate TP $2.99
one tuna $1.00
----------------------------
16.94
-5 off of 15 and $1 colgate coupon=10.94
-10 ECBS
+ .08 tax=$1.02 which I paid for with the remaining .63 on my old card and .39 on my new card. I received 9 ecbs for the BeFines and 2.99 for the colgate for a total of $11.99.

Spent 10 ecbs and $1.02 =11.02 so I made .97 this trip.

This week-end I will photograph the items I am sending to Afghanistan, before I pack it all up.

Jean-Claude and Mica

Okay, how cute is this?

and this?

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Here's my little boy, Jean-Claude and doesn't it look like his front legs are reversed and should change places? He always brings his eyes to half mast when he sees the camera. He knows all about that darn flash!! And check out his sisters markings. She is a beautiful tortoiseshell.

Ok, so it's raining right now, supposed to start sleeting (wintry mix) by 6:00pm and then snow in the morning. Snow on top of an icy base. Where have we seen this before? Oh yeah, two and three weeks ago. I will be sure to check the SIU webpage when my alarm goes off tomorrow. Maybe they will shut the University down again. Doubtful.

I have become a CVS treasure hunter, making the most of those ECB's and coupon deals. I have been a member of MYPOINTS for ages and had enough points saved up to cash in for a $5o gift card at CVS so I used that as my starting point. I just finished figuring out my February purchases and as soon as I can come up with a readable format I am going to detail them here.

Cinnamon and Honey

My mom sent me an email about the health benefits of Cinnamon and Honey. Since I have been having more and more problems with my knees, I decided I will give it a try. She tried the mixture in a hot tea but had problems with the cinnamon settling. I will give it a try on toast. I am starting today, so we will see how I feel next month!


It is a beautiful day today, supposed to get up in the 70's, but down to the 50's for a high tomorrow and chance of snow on Tuesday. What a winter this has been. The University has been closed three days so far for the ice storms, which hasn't happened in a long time!



My kittens are almost 8 months old and I actually caught Sassy snuggled up with Jean-Claude the other day, which is a first, other than photo shoots I arranged!