Welcome!

We are happy to welcome a new addition to our family:  six-year-old silver tabby cat Eris**!!

She comes to us from some friends who had to make a difficult move and could not take her with them.  And so we had offered to take her.  Except it wasn't all finalized until late this afternoon.  Her owner brought her over around 5:30 and we put her in the basement "cat sanctuary" which we used with the boys just a year and a half ago.

And yes, she looks an awful lot like our dear Mr. P!  In fact, we were all a little shocked because she looks more like him in person, being bigger than her picture indicated.  But their faces aren't at all the same.


The kids are thrilled and have been down to visit a few times, with lots of pets for her.  She came out of her hiding spots under the cat tree and under the bookshelf within about an hour.  Now she's on the puffy hedgehog just hanging out.

And we're watching her via remote online camera to see what she's up to.

Yep, I think we're officially crazy cat people.  I just can't easily say "no" when a cat is in need.  That's how we got Hopalong, Fudgie, Christmas Snow, Pinkie Lee, and Lilac when I was a child, and how Mama and I have gotten Morgan, Mr. P, and Mojito.  Only Albus and Hermione were in any way planned; even Curiosity, procured by Aunt Banana, arrived because the hairstylist told my 5 year old sister that she had kittens to give away and, before the haircut was over, we were on the list to get one!

Still, we're happy to have Eris.  And even though she looks like Mr. P, she'll be her own cat and we're excited to get to know her.


**But we didn't name her.  To quote T.S. Eliot, or really Andrew Lloyd Webber, "the naming of cats is a difficult matter."  Eris is the name her last family gave her.  Bud is against altering it because it's HER NAME, which is fine.  Even if Eris is the Greek goddess of discord and chaos who started the Trojan War.  Maybe it's some kind of protection against the evil eye, like naming a child "Hiccup" (see How to Train Your Dragon.)  We're big on nicknames so I doubt it will be just "Eris" for long.  I already like "Miss E!"

Tea and Cake and Sympathy

Been a quiet couple of days around here.  Mama back at work; kids back at school.  Chores to do but not much else.  So I sit and drink my favorite Taylor's of Harrogate Rose tea in my new-to-me "vintage" 1988 Japanese Shafford creamware teapot and my NYC Starbuck's mug, both of which I got this weekend.




And notice that my sweet couch buddy, who kept me company everyday after my surgery, is gone.

Thankfully, Mama Teacher came for a visit today and we had a wonderful, comforting chat . . . and cake!  This delicious Orange Marmalade Cake from the NYTimes (I'll grab the recipe another time.)  It was even better than the Orange Poundcake I like so much (that was definitely fine, dense poundcake; this was coarse, buttery yellow cake.)  It was great to try the cake and have such a good friend with whom to share it.  A recipe for healing, for sure.


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Orange Marmalade Cake
adapted from the NYTimes (I changed the zests)

2/3 cup coarse-cut orange marmalade, divided (though plain ol’ Smuckers Sweet Orange Marmalade is what I had and it worked)

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus 1/2 tablespoon for glaze

¾ cup granulated sugar 

2 ½ teaspoons orange zest

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt 

4 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

Beat together softened butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Beat in 1/3 cup marmalade and the orange juice.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Fold dry ingredients into wet until just combined. 

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until surface of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer pan to a wire rack.

Cool 10 minutes; turn cake out of pan and place on rack right-side up. Place a rimmed baking sheet under rack to catch the glaze. 

GLAZE:

Heat remaining 1/3 cup marmalade in a small pot over low heat until melted; whisk in confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 tablespoon butter until smooth. Slather warm glaze over top of cake, allowing some to drizzle down the sides. Cool completely before slicing. 

Cat Love

Loving my fur buddies, who are my constant companions (usually one or two at a time.)

He was purring AND snoring!

Albus says, "This is my house."

I like to sit on my brother (see his ear?)

My brother makes a nice pillow.

Brothers

Hermione refused to pose for the paparazzi this time around.

Yarnophiles

My friend and fellow yarn lover Miss S came for a lovely lunchtime visit today . . . and brought along a wonderful gift from her yarn stash!

After she left, Mojito, Yarn Cat, conducted quality assurance.  Mojito loves yarn and has his own crocheted blanket downstairs, under which he sleeps (we've never seen how he gets perfectly tucked under it, but he does.  Mama is going to Go-Pro it!)

I got to work with the yarn right away, making a Granny Square lap blanket.

And Mojito helped.

Our Great Big Cat Adventure

I will start this post with the end of the story:  we did NOT take in a fifth cat.

Okay, to begin with the beginning of the tail tale.

Sunday morning, when we were outside in the sunshine cleaning the snow off the driveway, our across-the-street neighbor came over.

"You know about cats, right?

The night before, in the cold and snow, a small, young, clean and healthy, tortoiseshell cat "knocked" on his kitchen window. Even though they are not pet people, he had brought the cat inside to his mud room, an enclosed unheated space, not unlike our enclosed porch--probably quite literally saving her life that very cold night.  And he wanted help finding the owner.

Sis gladly helped by taking the above photo of the cat, and with it, I contacted the local lost pet people and the local cat rescue club and I left a message for Animal Control.  And we kept in touch though there wasn't much news.

But the temperatures Monday night were going to be 4 below.  Which means the mudroom would be too cold for the cat.  My neighbor was ready to offload the cat; he'd absolutely done the right thing but was ready to be done all the same.  He'd run out of the cat food he'd bought (and so they'd fed it an egg!); I'm not sure he even had litter.  I think he had expected to find the owner when he knocked on doors Sunday afternoon.  "If we'd wanted a cat," he told me, "when would have already had a cat."

We didn't want to take in another cat, certainly not one who hadn't been tested for disease, but we didn't want it to suffer either.  So we arranged to board the cat at our vet very temporarily and to have it checked for a microchip and different diseases; our neighbor was relieved.

And then Animal Control called.  They couldn't take the cat in, it being healthy and uninjured and probably clearly owned by someone, but they could help find the owner.

And a bit later, the AC officer called back--someone a few miles from here was missing their cat, a recent rescue.  The owner called me and she came over to my neighbor's to see the cat, with her son, a boy a little older than the kiddos.

And it was their cat!  They were so happy to have her back.  And I was so glad, and also relieved that we didn't have to figure out how to take in yet another cat.

As a friend said, yesterday, we were heroes to a cat and her family.

And we hugged our four a little longer last night.

Date Day

Mama and I had a wonderful date lunch today . . . and we deserved it.

(The idea came to me because a creative date time was a topic of Hibernate recently; it'd been a long time since we'd met for lunch.)

See, we'd spent the morning worrying about one of our NYCats, Patron, who has had some intermittent stomach issues this week, culminating in a trip to the emergency vet this morning for fluids and antibiotics.  It was only the ER vet because our regular vet is closed on Thursdays and we didn't want to wait a day for fluids.  We also had him ultrasounded to follow up on our vet's concern about an abdominal mass.  Turns out there is some intestinal thickening, either from something straightforward as inflammatory bowel disease or cancer.  Let's hope a change in diet and rest will reveal the former.  Either way, we're planning on going the slow medicine/palliative route; no one wants invasive or extensive treatments on an almost 15-year-old cat.  And if we can keep his symptoms under control, he's been pretty happy.  We knew this might be coming and we are better equipped to handle it, both from increased wisdom and experience, than we were with our cat Morgan, but it was still a pretty quick onset and a little disheartening.  He's home now and eating and purring and pretty happy; we've closed him and his brother Mojito in the basement alone to keep the Connecticats from harassing him.

All of which is to say, we were glad to have a midday respite at our favorite restaurant, Bloodroot. We had a peanut stew, a big marinated cabbage and tofu salad, special grilled cheese sandwiches on that incredible oatmeal bread, an incredible vegan chocolate mousse and our favorite butterscotch pudding!   Mmmmmm!   And a great chat with Selma and Noelle, the owners, about their upcoming trip to Italy, a new knitting project, and the secret ingredient in the mousse.   Restorative. And we brought some pudding home for Sis, who loves it, too.

If and when it snows this Saturday (or Monday or Wednesday . . . ), maybe we'll make some more.


Butterscotch Pudding
In a medium-sized pot, warm 1 cup milk and 2 cups heavy cream together with 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar.  In a larger pot, combine 3/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup water.  Bring to a boil and cook to form a caramel.  When sugar is golden brown, remove from heat and add milk mixture gradually.  It will boil up suddenly and violently, which is why the caramel must be started in the larger pot.  Be sure heat is off and all is combined.  Set aside.

Separate eggs; you will need 6 yolks.  Reserve whites for other purposes.  Slowly whisk hot milk into yolks, being careful not to curdle them.  Add 1 teaspoon Kosher salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Stir well.  

Ladle into 6 ovenproof custard cups set in a pan.  Fill the pan halfway with water, being careful not to get any into the pudding dishes.  Bake at 325F for about 30 minutes or until no longer wobbly.  Let cool; chill.

Serve with creme fraiche or whipped cream.

Best of Bloodroot, Vol. 1 Vegetarian

Patron Don Gato

We had a wonderful evening.  Bud practiced magic card tricks.  Sis read.  I crocheted.  And Mama played games.

All while Patron "Don Gato" (from the song) wandered around on the first floor with us.  (We're trying out nicknames, such as Mr. P, Mr. T, Big Tabby, Senor Don Gato, etc.)

For three hours!

He chased mice toys and the red light.  He licked his banana.  He walked around the backs of couches.  And then he got cozy on the couch, first time he's really sat down to relax upstairs from the basement.  So, of course, we had to take lots of pictures--of him chilling, getting chin scratches, sitting on my lap (with my crochet--he was testing out the blanket), sitting between Bud and me.

All the while, the Connecticats slept on the second floor, while his brother Mojo (also Mojito, pronouncing the "j") stayed downstairs.

It was a wonderful three hours.  He's so big and so soft which such big cat features.  And this great rumbling purr and a hoarse meow.   He's just a marvelous cat.

Is It Christmas Yet?

Hermione is tired of waiting.

Live Blogging the Super Bowl: Cat TV

Albus our cat is watching the game.  The players must look like little bugs to him.

Not sure he cared about the interception or the fumble.  But he likes the game.

A Little Cat Drama

Our cat Albus is at the animal hospital but should be home tonight.  He had gotten out on the (thankfully) enclosed porch and was there long enough to eat a plant and perhaps other things.  After we found him (his sister alerted us to his adventure by meowing at the door), he spent the evening throwing up and obviously feeling quite unwell.  So he spent the night at the animal hospital, got some fluids, some tests that indicated he probably ate something he shouldn't, but is doing well this morning.  We hope he has a good day and can come home tonight.

Our Jellicle Cats

Our cats, Albus and Hermione, make brief appearances on this blog, usually with small walk-on parts.  But in real life, our cats are central to our family.  And they're quirky!  We watch them, laugh at them, talk about them, talk to them.  The kids try to pet them; both yearn for the day a cat will sit on their lap or sleep with them.  We worry when we find a hairball or can't find them, though we're extra careful (most of the time) to keep them off the porch and (hopefully) never outside.  They're our little black (and white) bundles of love and joy.

Albus likes to get up on high things and tap people on the heads with his paws; he also likes "head bonks," where he rubs his head against our foreheads, over and over (I think it's a marking behavior).  He loves a head bonk when I'm on the treadmill--he hears me start it up and comes running, hopping on the handlebars to demand some love.  His other favorite place:  the new dining room table, upon which he spreads out and then rolls repeatedly--to the point of falling right off!  Very undignified, but he always hops up and starts again and won't let Hermione anywhere near him.  He also tries to get outside on the porch, just for the change in scenery (or for chewing on plants or plastic!).  In addition to coming when the treats are rattled (as does his sister), he loves to get involved when we change the sheets (they both like attacking feet and each other from behind the bedskirt).  He likes Mama and I just fine, curling up next to me at least once a day and then sleeping with one or the other of us most nights (this week, both cats are sleeping as bookends to Mama, with Hermione complaining more loudly when Mama tries to move), but he's much more cautious about the kids.  Usually, he likes to be on a different floor, running upstairs when they come down and then vice versa.  Recently, though, he has approached one or the other child for a brief sniff.  He also likes to appear, meow several times, and then leave.

Hermione is much more social, often coming to greet any guests, staying if they're adults predisposed to give pets.  She also lets the kids pet her.  She'll even sleep in their vicinity, on the back of the glider in the living room, ignoring their comings and goings (but no doubt fully aware).  Right now, she's asleep on my thigh.  She's not as territorial as Albus is about the table, but she does get defensive about being on my bolster which is hers and hers alone, as is the top of the bookcase in the sunny "cat room" window.  She had been really quiet, except for a few trills and some motor-like purring, but she's picking up chatting from her brother.  When she wants attention, instead of bonking us on the head, she stretches up our legs.  Another odd habit:  she drinks at her kitty fountain sideways; we think it's so she can see her reflection (Albus prefers the faucet).  She's much more relaxed, despite her plastic-eating habit, and doesn't try to get out as much.  She even lets him push her out of the way at meals.

However,  occasionally, she'll jump him and they'll fight.  When they knock each other off something like a cat tree, the kids call it "a kitty coup."  Mama and I call it "slap kitty" because they rear up on their hind legs and go at it like rutting moose or something.  They do love to tussle, sometimes with hissing, and lots of thundering up and down the stairs.  Both love chasing furry catnip mouse toys and will jump high in the air after one, if our toss is good; otherwise, they just seem to stare (they also like watching prism rainbows and trying to catch them).  Hermione is the better jumper, but Albus actually fetches and returns mice to the thrower (or whomever he wants to play with!), when he's not hoarding them by stuffing them under the couches.   They both love kneading on stuffed animals, particularly a couple of penguins I use as side pillows.  Hermione drools when she gets that excited.

In the end, like most cats, they sleep a lot, choosing the oddest places (we call this "the softest spot in the house," even if sometimes it isn't), in the oddest lumpy positions (covering cold noses or paws), and "stopping the progress of the world" by keeping us from doing anything but pet them.

As Mama and I have often said, we'd love to come back as cats in a lesbian household.  Luckily, these cats don't mind that the household has kids.  May they be with us many more years . . . .

Many-gurumi

Mama has started her first yarn project--this easy Amigurumi cat from Lion Brand.  It's a few simple single-crocheted rectangles, four legs, and a few other details.  I'm really impressed that she's picked up the stitch so fast (I can hear her, under her breath, chanting "Swish and Flick" from Harry Potter!), but she's struggling with tension--"I either have too many fingers or not enough!"  We upped the hook size (for3 mm to 4 mm) to make it easier.  It'll come along.  And then I imagine she'll be off, making penguins, bunnies, hedgehogs, pandas, turtles, who knows what!  I'm proud of you . . . just quit eyeing my yarn stash.

Our Mama Cat

Hermione, our girl cat, has become quite the little mama cat. No, not real kittens. But the kids! The pattern has been emerging for several weeks now. During the day, if one of the kids begins to cry, Hermione comes running from wherever she has been sleeping to check things out, which usually consists of circling and sniffing us a few times. For the most part, during the day, she sleeps out of our general vicinity, but sometimes she comes down looking for attention and sits in my lap (and she can hear me sit, thereby making a lap, from anywhere in the house), calmly, resolvedly, patiently letting the kids (try to gently but often not quite) rub and pet her. I imagine it's the same look she would give a litter of kittens crawling all over her. She is always with us for tuck-in, as soon as the lights dim and we begin "happy thoughts" and final kisses. She'll wander the room until it's time to leave. At night, anytime one of the kids wakes up, either to go to the bathroom or to request something else, she shoots past the open door circles the room completely, going under the beds, and then emerges to leave when we do. Once in awhile, none of us, her included, are paying attention and we forget her and she gets locked in--sometimes she stays for a bit but always she meows to be let out eventually. Ah, here she is now (really, it's true, not just a writer's trick). No doubt her kids will soon follow.

Household Blotter

Who:  One black and white cat, doesn't answer to Hermione.

What:  Couldn't find her after we noticed she wasn't around and had skipped breakfast.

When:  This morning.  Last sighting, late last night.

Where:  Somewhere in the house.  We were pretty sure she couldn't have gotten outside or in the basement.

Why:  I thought I heard quiet meowing and realized that I hadn't seen her.  Was she stuck somewhere?  Her brother cat Albus seemed unconcerned.  He was the one meowing to play.

How:  She must have hopped into the bathroom cabinet unnoticed at some point during the wake-up rituals, for she was curled up perfectly contented when we found her about 1 1/2 hours later.

Yahrzeit

Today is the first anniversary of the death of our beloved cat Morgan.

And so we mark his life with fond memories and the lighting of candles.

And watching our two cats, Albus and Hermione, chase each other and their favorite mice toys.

I Think She's Right

DP suggested to me yesterday that our cat Albus might have had a striped mom. You see, she had seen him kneading my new striped fleece blanket, something he hasn't done anywhere else.

And last night around 2 a.m., I decided she was right. Albus curled up behind my legs, kneading and purring and rubbing around, the happiest cat in the world. He doesn't usually sleep on my side. But I had just spread out my new striped blanket on my side recently and he seems very attached to it.

Maybe his feline mommy was striped. His nighttime people mommy sure is.

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Fleece Blanket Pattern

2-3 yards of 2 different kinds of fleece (I usually choose one patterned fleece and one complementary color)
sharp scissors
measuring tape

Wash fleece. Cut off selvage edges.

Lay one fleece piece out on the floor, face down. Lay the other fleece piece on top of that, face up. Straighten so they line up without any huge wrinkles.

Cut 4" square piece out of each corner (a friend of mine has a swatch piece 4" square that she uses just for the corners). The spread out your measuring tape along one side and make 4" cuts every 1". This will give you fringe 4" long and 1" wide (it's easiest if you stretch the measuring tape from corner to corner and cut upto the tape every one inch).

Tie the top and bottom fringe together. I like to tie them in a knot so that the contrasting color is on each side (i.e. patterened side with solid fringe and vice versa). It's best to finish one whole side at a time but it is not necessary to finish the blanket in one sitting.

I'm not very good at writing patterns, so if you want to see another version with slightly different measurements, check here.

You're Kidding, Right?

Everyone was spoiled at Christmas in this house. Including our two cats. Albus and Hermione have taken to stalking us in the bathroom, practically begging us to turn on the sink so they can play in the stream of water. We do, sometimes, always cognizant of the waste of water. So for Christmas, they got a kitty drinking fountain. And they love it. But they still run up the stairs when they think one of us is headed to the bathroom.

They also got a mouse doo-dad that spins around a wand toy. Basically, cat entertainment for the lazy mommy. Or in our case, the busy mommy. We turn it on when we're fixing dinner, before we can sit down to play with the cats. And they love it. In one week, they've broken the wand and ran down the battery. So last night, with the yellow mouse doo-dad on the fritz, I picked up a good, "old-fashioned" cat charmer and started to whisk it around for entertainment.

Can cats roll their eyes?

It was if you took away the Wii from some kid and handed him some jacks.

Poor 21st-century cats.

The Cat Did It

First, you should know that we have a cat named Albus.

I was in the bathroom the other day with the door open (as is required, even when I just have to pee--some people have a family bed, we have a family bathroom. Privacy is only something the kids get when I change their diapers. And boy are they adamant about that. DD gets upset if the cat walks by) and heard DS making a noise that seemed to indicate something was amiss. I asked DS if he was intentionally dropping food on the floor, and he replied, "It was Albus."

Mind you, the cat was in the bathroom with me.