Lego art

Who says Lego's are just for kids? Nathan Sawaya is doing some really cool sculptures with them. He's been successful enough, that I understand he's been able to quit that pesky day job as a lawyer. My favourites are the "Rebirth of New Orleans" and the "Iwo Jima Replica."

Feline fiend, Uh, I mean friend

So, it continues. A couple of days ago I found Midian settling down to a gourmet delicacy of baby bunny brains. You should have seen the look on his face - Hannibal Lecter has nothing on our cat!
Now then, I would be more impressed if he started wolfing down the canada geese, but I guess that we'd probably need something more along the size of a bob cat for that. Hmnnn. Then my own brains (small though they be) might be in peril too! What to do?

Celebrate doing nothing

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Flashback

I think that Curt finds my nostalgic moments somewhat ridiculous.
None-the-less, today I have the Dire Straits song 'So Far Away From Me' firmly embedded in the old noggin.
It is fun to remember back to a 4th of July in Vermont when we would all go inner-tubing & hang out with friends at Doug's church-turned-home. There was one year where I think all we had to listen to was Dire Straits and the Cars tapes. We must have heard this song tens of times over that week.

Those were the formative years & our vacations to the old church firmly instilled in me a love for mini-golf, inner-tubing, plastic snakes and glasses where the pinup girls on the sides would lose their coverings when provided with the correct temp. liquid.
Wow, it really makes me long for a set of plastic lawn flamingos.

Getting a bit out of control

So, earlier in the year I was rather proud of my little ginger-haired friend for showing off his hunting capabilities. However, Midian's enthusiasm for killing things has apparently reached across the line from birds and mice to human hands and feet...most notably, mine!

The other day I was laying in the lawn innocently reading a book. Midian came and lay down for a snooze next to me. All was peaceful for about half an hour and then he got up & shook off. I thought that he had just gotten warm and would re-position himself for further nappage a little ways off. The next thing, I felt a little mouth clamp onto my heel!
Ticked off, I shouted at him to, well, stop.
He seemed to accept this and went back to napping.

Some time later, I found a cat firmly attached to my hand. He dug all claws in and began biting in earnest. Not too bright. He ended up about 10 feet out in the little lake out back.

After our battle royal, I went in to cover my wounds in neosporin & he struck out for a remote part of the yard in which to lick clean his muddy coat. Ever since, we've had an uneasy truce. He just uses me for food & the occasional pat. I keep out of his way.

Well, in what is clearly a further provocation, I found half a vole staring up at me this morning from the carport floor. It was on end so it's little head and front paws were up in the air. Now he's just taunting me!

Part of me is pleased to have him violate the huge community of nasty rodents that have an underground network all over our lawn & that find the tubers of my hosta and campanula a delicacy.

On the other hand, leaving carcasses is clearly showing off how he is the mighty provider and just hangs around with us losers because he pities us. Obviously, we cannot help being such inferior creatures.

If this continues, I might have to demoralize him by putting on a new collar with bells. Yes, I see it now, a sporting pink thing with little rhinestones embedded. If he still continues, perhaps I will get him pink claw covers to match!

Oooh, as I write this, he is laying right outside the window sunning himself on his back. Whatever happened to the timid, aging cat that moved down here with us?

Cringe readings

Okay, so messing about online, I came across this group out of Brooklyn called Cringe. Basically, they dug up their old teenage diaries and read them out loud for laughs. Pretty good. Maybe they'll start making reality TV shows on them & 'earn' pots of money. Guess I should have kept all those weepy pages.

CSA

We joined a CSA farm this year - the Weatherhand in north Randolph County. Yesterday we got our first week's supply of veggies. What a treat! The box came with lettuce, long & delicate stalks of asparagus, 2 heads of crisp broccoli, sweet peas in the pod and a bunch of cilantro. I might be forgetting something...hmnn. Anyhow, for dinner Curt made angel hair with sauteed veggies including the broccoli. Very tasty stuff!
So, which veggie will we try out for lunch? Well, that's a very interesting question. I'll get back to you right after I polish off some more of this cake. Oooh, better have some tea with that...

Swa-eeeet

Yesterday was very decadent. I made up some peanut butter & oatmeal cookies that dear Sean and Adam had given me as part of a birthday basket. Sooooo yummy. This is saying a lot as I usually really dislike peanut flavouring in anything beyond sandwiches and Asian food. Oooh, what a nice surprise to find how yummy they were - perfect consistency, delicate flavour - just hit the spot perfect! I found that they sell a 4-pack at Amazon (although I think that I've seen them individually in World Market)

Later, as I was hunkering down to a quasi-healthy dessert of fresh pineapple, Curt came up with a different plan. He found an amazing recipe on the Cooks Illustrated website for pineapple upside-down cake. It came out light and fluffy with a sort of caramelized pineapple topping (vs. the usual dense cake with giant pieces of soggy fruit slopping over the top and down the sides). Anyhow, we've had great luck with the Cooks Illustrated site & found that it is definitely worth the price.