Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Wednesday Medley

Sadly, I have been forced to return the five kittens to the barn. Look what they did to the room they were staying in!




They must have climbed the walls; note picture hanging askew.

This tissue paper and ribbon was pulled from a shopping bag. Some books were knocked from the shelves.



The first two days they were quiet and calm, due I'm sure to the after-effects of their surgeries. But when I returned home yesterday after several hours away, this is what I found. Lamps overturned (luckily not broken), litter strewn all over the floor, candle holders and other things knocked off the table. To say the least they had a party while I was gone.


Now I can't totally blame them. They are used to roaming freely in the wide open spaces and I'm sure they were feeling a bit confined and needed to exercise. 


But I'm afraid I can't put up with this chaos. They had three days of rest and recuperation following their surgeries so I think they are good to go back to the barn.

One side of me feels really sorry for them, because if it would have worked out, I would have let them stay, at least until they return to the veterinarian clinic on Aug. 15 for their recheck. But I visited them at the barn several times today and they seem perfectly happy to be back at their previous home place.



I spent the better part of today cleaning and putting order back into the room.





On another topic, I mentioned two days ago I was making homemade yogurt. This is the little machine I've been using for years, and it does a great job. Heat a quart of milk to 180 degrees F. Let it cool to 105-110 and add 2 Tbsp. yogurt starter. Pour into glasses and place them in the machine overnight. It has slots for 7 glasses but one glass has been lost/broken. Also, plastic tops were provided, but over the years they have worn out so I now just cover the glasses with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate until ready to eat. You can add fruit or not. This is a wonderfully creamy yogurt and the best part is you've made it yourself and you know it contains no additives; only milk.




My favorite breakfast: my homemade yogurt topped with fresh or frozen fruit, a few tablespoons granola and a few chopped walnuts. Yum!


The the refrigerator coconut cake from two days ago is half gone. It keeps well in the refrigerator for several days. Here's the remainder:



And I had a nice slab for lunch today:


16 comments:

  1. Looks like the kittens had a party - kind of sorry to miss it. It must have been fun.
    Your breakfast sounds nice. I love to add nuts to anything I have for breakfast. Really keeps me going all day.
    I had lunch with Catherine from Aesthetic Alterations Blog today and we talked about how scrumptious your Coconut Icebox Cake sounded. Now I can see how good it looks.

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    1. Those little kittens really know how to throw a party! If you are interested in that coconut cake, it's under the comments section of Evening Skies post (three days ago).

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    2. Beryl, I just copied and pasted the recipe again below under Patricia's comment.

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    3. hi all. does anyone know where the aesthetic alterations blog has gone to? i can't seem to find it anywhere. :-(

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  2. What naughty kittens, lol! It does look like fun but I would have put them back in the barn too. Thank goodness your lovely lamp was ok. The coconut cake looks delicious; have you posted the recipe? or would you mind telling it to us? I would love to try that one. Homemade yoghurt looks great. Maybe I should try that too, as I also raise my hand for a yoghurt breakfast.

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    1. Hi Patricia, here's the recipe:
      Just use a white cake mix and follow package directions. Bake in a 9x13 pan. When completely cooled, mix up the frosting, which consists of a 9-oz. package of frozen coconut, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 t. vanilla, dash of salt 8 oz. sour cream and 6 oz. Cool Whip (mix all ingredients and fold in Cool Whip last.) Keep in refrigerator.

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  3. "...girls just wanna have fun!" (..and boys!) Don't you know those little kitties had a ball! They'll probably like the outdoors better where they can really go crazy climbing trees and chasing unsuspecting mices... :-)

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    1. Hi Areeda, they have re-adjusted quite well. They followed me home yesterday but have not done so today. They seem to know the barn is their real home. They are sweeties (although I didn't think so when I first saw that room!)

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  4. Cute story unless you're cleaning up the mess You did those babies right, took great care of them now its time for them to return to their normal life. Don't feel guilty about it!!! They are definitely mischievous and inquisitive babies.
    The cake was wonderful and also the granola you made. Thanks

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    1. Hi Sissy,
      Yes, I was having some guilt feelings about it, as you know. Taking them from an air conditioned room where they napped on a loveseat back to a dirty old barn seemed cruel. But they are happy there, it appears. Glad you liked the cake.

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  5. Wow, quite a mess! Worse than our kitchen in the mornings ; ).
    However, you did a fine job in cleaning and polishing it. Good for you. I agree, perhaps the kittens have to grow and cool up before receiving another invitation into the house.
    Our library looked very similar, when Morty was a puppy. He pulled out books from the shelves, as he was " learning to read ". We lost over 2 meters of books. Morty learned to read.

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    1. HAHA. Morty went through quite a few books, didn't he. What are his favorites? Adventure books, perhaps! Our last golden (got him at 8 weeks) was quite naughty as a pup, too. He ripped out tile in the utility room, which had to be replaced (entire room). We got our current two dogs as rescues/adults so didn't have to deal with the puppy stage.

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  6. Puppies are also naughty except they do not climb walls!

    A house is never a home without books,see you have a large collection. Ida

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    1. Hello Ida
      I know I have too many books, but I cannot part with them; they are like old friends. Even though I read on Kindle most of the time, I occasionally still enjoy reading a "real" book and turning the pages.

      I watched an Olympics/Dressage competition this morning and wondered if you were there today.. You mentioned August, but perhaps there are others to follow.

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  7. Oh no....our Ollie was a wild one when he first joined us. For about a week we would lock him in the bathroom with his food and water and litter box and a little tent and toys. He loved being there even though we felt it was cruel. After that week he started behaving.

    So you recommend the yogurt maker. I think I might do it.

    Sending you love.

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    1. Well bless his little heart. He apparently learned his lesson by being confined in the bathroom. What seems cruel to we humans is sometimes not cruel at all to little animals; it likely felt like security to him.

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