Sunday, 10 November 2013

Why I love this blog

I designed this blog and had the first post ready in June 2011. Then I waited and waited for our friend from the north to make some kind of announcement that would release me from her clutches. It came in October and I could finally launch this gentle blog on October 15, 2011.

I love this blog when people share their experiences, I love it when we send good vibes to somebody going through a bad patch, I love the birthday parties and the very funny shenanigans that ensue. I love it when you pull each others legs, the gentle ribbing when the sports season gets going. I love receiving contributions in my inbox and the links to fun sites that appear in the comments.

A few days ago, View sent me a video, saying: "this is 'what time is o'clock' is for me" --- View

When the video was nearing the end, I had a lump in my throat. This is "What Time is Clock" is for me too. And I'm very, very grateful to enjoy the company of some amazing people everyday.

Saturday, 9 November 2013

Things going bump in the night

We have a phantom cat who's a regular visitor on most evenings. We first noticed something strange when Pirouette was fast asleep upstairs, there was a noise of a cat coming through the catflap, but Pirate didn't come upstairs. We tried to investigate, but all we could see from the top of the stairs was a dark cat making a quick exit. So, it wasn't Pirate and we couldn't really identify the intruder.

I googled a phantom cat lookalike

Our cats never leave their bowls sparkling clean, but the phantom cat never leaves a single scrap...

A few weeks ago, on returning from a friend's birthday party, I came through the door first and caught a dark grey cat in the middle of the kitchen. He didn't know which way to go, hesitated for a few seconds, then made a mad dash to the front door, ran past Peter and disappeared into the night.

Sometimes we hear him coming in to polish the bowls and, as Pirouette hardly reacts to the intrusion, we leave him to it.

Last night things were a bit different. Both Pirate and Pirouette were asleep upstairs when we went to bed. Peter heard a commotion and decided to investigate. He found Pirouette on top of the door, various adornments, remote controls and other things scattered on the floor, and Pirate on the stairs. This morning, Pirate was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs looking at the catflap very intently.

Pirouette on top of the door on another occasion

Phantom cat is getting very cheeky!

We fitted a magnetic catflap a couple of years ago, when a different (and aggressive) cat used to come in. It worked very well until Pirate lost the magnet on his collar. We didn't have a spare, so we went to a large pet store in Brive to look for one. We found it, but it wasn't the same make as the original and soon after that the magnet on the catflap stopped working. We decided to take the collars off and treat the catflap as an ordinary one.

If things continue to go bump in the night on account of this uninvited cat and one of ours gets hurt, we may have to fit another magnetic flap. Then we'll have to worry about Pirate or Pirouette getting snagged somewhere and choking because of their collars.

What to do...?


Friday, 8 November 2013

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Have cake, will travel

Here's something absolutely fabulous for the woman who loves to travel.

Happy birthday, CC! Love and kisses to you, dahhling.


Amy sent this lovely gift of roses:


Wednesday, 6 November 2013

A bunch of funnies to make you smile

Mrsgunka sent us some really funny cartoons and pictures. Thank you, MrsG.


GrannyJ will dig this one:








I think this one is for Amy:


Monday, 4 November 2013

The blonde gets even

View sent us this joke. Thank you, View.

A trucker came into a Truck Stop Cafe' and placed his order.

He said "I want three flat tires, a pair of headlights and a pair of running boards."


The brand new blonde waitress, not wanting to appear stupid, went to the kitchen and said to the cook, "This guy out there just ordered three flat tires, a pair of headlights and a pair of running boards. What does he think this place is, an auto parts store?"

"No," the cook said. "Three flat tires... mean three pancakes; a pair of headlights... is two eggs sunny side up; and a pair of running boards... are 2 slices of crisp bacon!"

"Oh... OK!" said the blonde. She thought about it for a moment and then spooned up a bowl of beans and gave it to the customer.


The trucker asked, "What are the beans for, Blondie?"

She replied, "I thought while you were waiting for the flat tires, headlights and running boards, you might as well gas up!"

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Sharing is good!

One of the many reasons I love this blog is the readers' ability to find and share some amazing things.

Yesterday's post had photos of the Dallas Arboretum, where a strange structure could be seen. 1smartcanerican was puzzled by it and asked what it was. Sleuth (what's in a name?), came up with the answer: "It's a glass art piece by Dale Chihuly. The Arboretum is hosting an exhibit of his work. At night, the pieces light up."


Amy, who's another sleuth extraordinaire, posted a picture of one of Chihuly's ceilings, followed by the link to an image search, which has countless magnificent examples of his work.


Sleuth suggested a post about Chihuly (hint, hint!) and I'm glad to oblige. I didn't know him or his work, but now I'm hooked. Learning from each other is one of the nicest things about this modest blog. A big thank you to all.

Here are some examples of Dale Chihuly's works, including some very early examples, shown in the first picture:



















The artist at work:


Further photos HERE.

Saturday, 2 November 2013

It's that time of the year...

Mrsgunka sent us some photos of pumpkins, taken at the Dallas Arboretum. They reminded me of the recipe for a deliciously warming pumpkin soup, which I first published on my old food blog. I think it deserves another outing...




Pumpkin, carrot and beetroot soup

Ingredients

Pumpkin, diced
Carrots
Beetroots
Trimmed leeks
A couple of potatoes
Dry white wine
Paprika
Chicken bouillon
Onion and garlic
A small amount of grated ginger
Salt & pepper to taste.

Preparation

Dice onions, chop garlic, cut all vegetables into chunks. I didn't give exact amounts of anything, you can vary according to taste and how much soup you're making. In a large pan, fry the onions until golden. Add the veggies, mix well, add the garlic, paprika, ginger, white wine and enough bouillon for the amount of vegetables. Adjust seasoning. Simmer for about 1 hour. Check that everything is cooked, whizz the lot in a blender, re-heat gently, taste and adjust seasoning and serve.



Bon appetit!

Friday, 1 November 2013

Things change...

It's amazing to look back and see how much things changed in the last 50 years or so. I wonder what the next 50 years have in store for us...