Friday Favorite: the Feline Edition
It’s not secret that we’re cat lovers here at Chiot’s Run (at least I am, perhaps I shouldn’t lump Mr Chiots into the “crazy cat lady” group with me). If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know that we have indoor cats and outdoor cats and have a soft spot in our hearts for these furry friends.
We have Soafie (gray) and Samson (orange), which are brother and sister that we rescued 6-7 years ago from a feral cat rescue in Cincinnati, OH. They’re indoor cats that have never lived outdoors. Soafie is the princess and rules over all the other pets in the house. Samson is the quintessential orange cat, a lover that can never have too much attention.
Dexter showed up on our doorstep two years ago in November. After unsuccessfully trying to find his owners, we had him fixed and welcomed him into the family. He quickly found a place in our hearts, he’s a chatty fat cat with a personality as big as he is.
The newest additions to our growing list of furry friends are the garage cats of course. If you remember, we had a feral cat coming around last winter. We started feeding her because she was looking a little scrawny and a little rough around the edges.
This summer she moved her kittens into our garage and was coined “Miss Mama”. After a series of unfortunate events, only one survived. She was coined “Little Softie” and has been a great addition to the gardens. It sure is fun watching her scamper around chasing leaves and acorns. Here she’s eating the bone meal I made for my garlic.
Cats definitely bring much joy into our lives. Lucy does as well of course, after all she’s the namesake of the garden, but I’m more of a cat person than a dog person. Besides, Lucy can have her own Friday Favorite some day.
Some day we hope to have a larger piece of land so we can add some chickens, sheep, perhaps a donkey and maybe even my dream pet, a Scottish Highland cow. Until then we’ll practice with all the cats.
What’s your favorite pet? Do you have a dream pet?
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Quote of the Day: Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Right now those colors are particularly fabulous!
What’s your favorite color in nature?
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How Do You Choose?
I must admit I get really annoyed this time of year by political ads in the mailbox, signs on every corner, and commercials on TV (so glad I don’t have cable any more so I don’t have to hear them). Every day I open a mailbox full of fliers, and most of them are negative. I wish there were something like CatalogChoice.org for political mailings.
I wonder if these ads actually do anything, are people swayed by them? I know I’m more put off than anything, especially if the flier is negative. One local senator has been sending a flier almost every week for the past 6 months telling us how great he is and how much good he’s doing. In the small print on the back of each flier is says “This mailing was prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense”. You can believe he’s not getting my vote for wasting all my tax money telling me how great he is.
The older I get and the more I read about campaign funding and revolving door politics, the less political party affiliation affects my voting choices. I agree with different ideologies from many parties and find myself not really falling into any one. I focus on areas that are important to me, mostly agriculture and food. When I try to figure out who I’m going to vote for, I spend some time online looking up who’s funding each politician and their previous jobs and spouses jobs. I find a lot of great information on OpenSecrets.com as well as a few other places. Generally I vote for whoever gets the least amount of corporate funding. If all candidates get lots of corporate funding, I usually vote for those that aren’t getting money from companies like Cargill, Monsanto, Syngenta, GE and big pharma companies.
How do you choose who you’re going to vote for? Do ads and fliers sway you to one candidate or another?
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Friday Favorite: Keen Footwear
When trying to decide what to write about for my Friday Favorites today I looked down and noticed what shoes I was wearing and knew. I had to write about my LOVE for Keen Footwear.
I have 3 pairs of Keens that I’ve acquired over the last couple years and will be replacing a few of my other shoes with Keens when they wear out. I’ve been looking for a pair to replace my gardening shoes (remember those), but I have yet to find a pair.
One of the reasons I love Keens is because of the roomy toe box. I have wider feet, so these shoes are super comfortable and I have no toe squeezing as I have with most other shoes. I also love the way the toe box is protected with rubber, this really helps the shoes look better longer and helps protect your toes, especially in the sandals & flip flops.
Keens are pricey, but they’re worth every penny. They last forever, so they end up being cheaper in the long run than less expensive shoes. The comfort factor is huge as well, my Keens are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned, all three pairs.
I’m a barefoot or free foot person, so sandals and flip flops are my shoes of choice. I’ve found myself lately on our chilly evening walks wearing some wool socks with my sandals so I can continue wearing them as long as possible. Unfortunately I don’t have a pair of Keens to give away today, but I do have the winners from last week’s Friday Favorites giveaway of Al’s Beanery Coffee. Our winners are: Kat from Food, Literature, Philosophy and Susan. If you don’t get my e-mail contact me through the contact button in my sidebar.
What kind of shoes do you prefer, sandals, tennis shoes, no shoes? Do you have a favorite brand of footwear or do you just wear whatever?
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Preparing for Dark Days
I’m a light person, I love to have lots of sunlight coming through the windows. I would love to have more and bigger windows throughout my house, but I have to make do with what I have. I enjoy the seasons and I enjoy the relaxed pace of winter here in NE Ohio, but I don’t like the darkness of it. The days are short and often gray and I do anything I can to get more of that light into the house during the winter months.
Cleaning the windows is an important part of keeping the windows bright, it always seems like so much more light comes through clean windows. I usually take advantage of the last warm days in October to give windows a good scrubbing. The insides of the windows get cleaned almost once a month (a must with 3 cats and a dog living inside). The outsides only get cleaned 2-3 times per year, once in spring and fall for sure, and occasionally a mid-winter cleaning if we have a nice warm day.
We had such nice weather this past weekend I took advantage and spent some time washing the windows. When I finished, they were so clean and sparkling, I just had to take a few photos, I knew they’d have kitty and dog nose prints on them before the day was over.
I often take down the blinds during the winter and sometimes I even remove the curtains, although they’re light and white so they don’t block much sunlight. I also make sure I remove the screens from the windows as they block a lot of light from coming in. After this weekend my windows are undressed for winter and I’m much happier!
Do you clean your windows for winter? or remove the screens? or do you live in an area with the opposite problem – too much sunlight?
