Sunday, March 2, 2025

Small stuff

Houdi is still finicky. How finicky? Well...so finicky that I bought him Blue Buffalo cat food. That's the pricey good stuff. Did he appreciate it? No, once again, he turned up his snooty little nose at it. So...he didn't get supper last night, which he made a lot of noise over. 

When he decided that no replacement canned cat food was forthcoming, he indignantly went to the door and began to fuss to go out. 

I let him out, but it wasn't long and he'd changed his mind and decided he wanted back in. Understandable. It was pretty cold outside. 

I'm about sick of his nonsense. He did not get his wet cat food last night and spent the day prowling around and crying pitifully. I discussed it with him in a very no-nonsense way: 'You've been fed, dummy. If you don't want to eat that, go nibble your kibble.' My poetry did not stop the protest. 

The good news is that when I slapped down a helping of his Meow mix wet food tonight, he didn't get all persnickety. He ate. 

The good news is that the ferals are always delighted with the rejects. Nothing goes to waste. 

One of the ferals, Minnie has done an injury to himself, so we are going up every day. He gets his own cat food with an antibiotic in it. Of course, he's the wariest one of the batch, so I don't actually get to see what he's done to himself, but he's grateful for his separate dish catfood and gobbles it down right away. 

I've been just grieving today. It's everything, I suppose. Just a pile of stuff. On top of it, my knee has gotten quite bad at this point. May and surgery seems discouragingly far off. I imagine that the cold weather aggravates the arthritis. 

But there is good news. 

I bought my first Christmas gift for next year. 

It is supposed to get up to 58 degrees on Wednesday. For comparison, it is 18 right this minute. 

I read a book all the way through for the first time in a long time. I've been struggling to keep my mind on a book. 

We've got wild turkey coming in to eat corn just about every day at the new house. 

I made sushi today. I did a beginner's mistake, so I will try again, but it was fun to try my hand at something new. The good news is that I think I know what I did wrong, and even though it did not look the prettiest, it did taste good, so I've got that part right. I did lick some avocado off my finger, only to discover it was wasabi, and almost blew my own sinuses out. 

I wrote the first installment of my fairy story for my oldest grandaughter. 

I found a nice pair of jeans for my grandson. 

I have plenty of small reasons to celebrate. Sometimes, I just need to attend to those things and not look at the big picture for a while.

49 comments:

  1. I am excited about your fairy tale story for your granddaughter. I have been trying to find things to occupy my mind besides all the world on fire. Today I saw a facebook recipe for making paczkis. I thought, why not? Well, the dough rose the first time, didn't the second, I was two hours in and just baked the darn things. Tasteless cookie type things. I frosted them and I'll see if the kids will eat them for breakfast. Does not even resemble a paczki at all. Why do I fall for those recipes?

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    1. I have learned to totally disregard any advertisements on facebook. I haven't ever tried a recipe from there. I probably would have turned it into some sort of cobbler dish to salvage it. Paczkis are little packets of deliciousness and I have not had one for 3 years or so.

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  2. clear sinuses eh? ouch. linda
    kS

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    1. There is nothing quite as shocking as a jolt of wasabi or horseradish.

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  3. Hope you cat gets over this picky eating thing. My friend gives her cat dry food one evening and canned the next evening. She seems to like the change and eats it all up each night. She buys salmon cat food. You are a good cat mom.

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    1. Ooooh...do not ask Houdi. He would disagree. Loudly. The putz.

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  4. Houdi has been around for a while now..nice to hear how he is getting on too.

    Ah, wasabi!!! I love it....but unexpected , it is quite a surprise!!!

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    1. Oh, he's a pill. When he decides it's time for bed, he gets quite vocal about it, and follows me around until I get myself there. Then he curls up next to me and purrs, his job done.

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  5. As a dog person I sincerely sympathise with you over cats and their autocratic ways;) Rest your knee and don't contemplate the news, though Robert Reich is being somewhat optimistic.

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    1. You know, Robert Reich has really become a favorite. He looks square at things and sees hopeful signs.

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  6. Just keep celebrating all those small things. The add up to a whole lot of happies.

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    1. They do. It's hard for me to keep the balance, sometimes.

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  7. Cats just being cats, by the sound of it.
    18 degrees is jacket off weather, balmy.
    I know what the fumes from wasabi are like and I don't like it.
    Grandma buying jeans for a young teenage boy. Hmm, could be problematic.

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    1. I actually pay very close attention to what boys are wearing just for William's sake. I know that clothes are very important to teenagers. These were a pair of Aeropostales, in perfect condition, on the half price rack for $3.74. He was very pleased. I've been doing very well in the clothes department for him.

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    2. I recognize the name Aeropostales, so there must be a lot of them out in the world. It's pretty cool that you can buy things that fit.

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    3. I keep track of his size. I tend to try to err on the side of a bit too big. The way he is growing, if they don't fit now, they will probably fit by next Tuesday.

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  8. We made something new last night - bao - I had sourdough discard to use and Paris had shared a recipe that triggered the idea - & we are definitely doing that again.
    The black cat here has not yet discovered that power.

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    1. I love that Paris is looking up recipes. Bao looks yummy. I could use you looking over my shoulder as I try sourdough starter again, when it gets warmer.

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  9. We have 23F today feeling like 12 and it is bloody cold but we call it ~9 C. Not jacket off weather yet. After that shit show by orange & but kisser, I have hope that there could be more backlash. I am not going to live in fear here in Canada as we have very good plans should the tarrifs go on. A good percentage of us have stopped buying anything from the USA and have cancelled trips there too. I quit going there many years ago after a very nasty border crossing where we were photographed, searched, dog was swabbed etc. and we were only in transit from Grenada to Toronto flying. We made sushi while sailing when we caught a small tuna and it was a fun day and the sushi was delicious. The rice has to be very sticky. I hope Americans will keep protesting for the sake of us all. Gigi

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    1. If the world works together, maybe...just maybe...

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  10. I am proud of your sushi-making! But that wasabi mistake- whoa! Live and learn, right?

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    1. It was one of those absent minded things. I have learned why the Japanese focus on mindfulness.

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  11. It's hard to hear the awful news and not get down but you are right about celebrating small things around us to get us through.

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    1. We have to. The circumstances would be just too overwhelming if we did not.

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  12. It's hard not to grieve with all the fuckery. It feels like we're watching a slow motion trainwreck, everyone is waving at the conductor, telling him to stop, and he just keeps on going. It's awful.
    I'm glad the cats are all okay, and that you're getting surgery in May (which must seem like forever at this point). I hope you're taking something for the pain at least.
    Sending hugs.

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    1. I just take OTC pain killer, but it really isn't very effective at this point. I started walking once the ice melted off, and I noticed that it was getting worse. I've eased back on it, but it doesn't seem to be helping.

      The trainwreck analogy is exactly what I see. I wish everyone was waving at the conductor and telling him to stop. Where I live, a lot of people are waving, high fiving, celebrating. It is awful.

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  13. Houdi is all cat! They're just wired to be impossible. Especially if you stock up on some food they've always loved, suddenly it's what's that stuff??

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    1. LOL. That is the number one reason for cats to dislike a food in my opinion: Because they see you've bought a case of it. Good luck at your appointment today.

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  14. As I have written recently, Lacey upchucked the expensive wet food, so we’re back to the grocery store type, but not the cheapest alternative there.

    Going above freezing is good. We’re also heading there.

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  15. Cats! Sometimes they're just little furry ingrates!

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  16. Will the cats be going to your new house Debby?

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    1. The ferals already live there, Northsider. In the garage once we are up there full time, we hope that they will become inny outie cats like Houdi.

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  17. I think that's a good approach. Enjoy the small things. That's what I'm trying to do as well!

    As for the cat, unless he's ill, he'll eat when he's hungry enough.

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    1. Well...he did eat tonight. It's not so much that I'm worried about him as much as it is that he is so freaking vocal!

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  18. The cold is hard on me, too. Then again, so is the heat, for different reasons. Chronic illness is a bitch. We're supposed to have severe storms tomorrow and, of course, I have to be at the food bank all morning and bookclub in the evening. But if that's my worst problem, then I'm in good shape.

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    1. You know, I was thinking of a lot of you folks down south. This storm looks like a baddy. Stay safe.

      I wonder how much of the knee pain is due to the cold and the arthritis part. But my knee is also audibly popping now...so...hard to tell what is going on. I think the weather is just wearing on my tolerance levels.

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  19. If you can keep your knee comfortable that may help the inflammation.

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  20. Sorry about the knee. Thus far my left one grumps a little once in awhile, but really, it's nothing.

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    1. I've been dealing with this for years now. It's finally gotten to the point where I need to do something about it.

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  21. I'm so sorry for your knee, Debby. My knee has gotten better, but now it's my wrist, of course. I feel like I'm breaking down.

    Yikes with the wasabi!!! That's very powerful! If you're making maki sushi are you using that bamboo mat to roll it with?

    Here's a website: https://www.seriouseats.com/makizushi-sushi-rolls-recipe

    You are very adventurous. I haven't made makizushi in... oh gosh... 16 years? It's so much work!

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    1. Yes. I use the bamboo mat. I have a wide reed mat and the bamboo mat. Is one better than the other, do you know?

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  22. Hello old friend! Gosh I have some catching up to do... sorry about your knee (I totally empathise!). I too struggle with reading and focusing (must be all the distractions in our lives). Sending much love. BB

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    1. Gees, I was glad to see your post the other day. Your 'hungry hippos' gave me a good laugh, and your brother and sister in law's award - the Burnhams making their mark!

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  23. I did the same today, just focusing on life's small pleasures. We need some peace of mind.

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    1. We do. Your weekend sounds like it was just what the doctor ordered!

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  24. Cats are each quite unique and usually very opinionated, which is why I like them...and why they can be so frustrating--lol!
    Keeping my eye on the small things works for me, too...for a while. ;)

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