Wrigley. The older brother!

Handsome Boy

Rusty is 12 weeks old

It has been a fun and furious few weeks. 

Last week Rusty took a header off the landing over the stairs. Much like Wrigley did at the same age actually. However, Rusty is still nursing his bruised ego... or harboring some PTSD and since his fall and has been diligently avoiding the stairwell ever since. 

On the bright side, this means we are able to leave the doors open upstairs for Wrigley to come and go and rest assured that Rusty will not scurry downstairs. 

Wrigley, it seems, has his own developing PTSD. He must have been accosted by a crow or something in the last week, as ceiling fans are now freaking him out.

So... does anyone have the number of a skilled cat therapist?!

Rusty is 10 weeks old

Feisty and fast, that's our Rusty. He has an iron will and a sense of persistance that knows no bounds.

From our perspective, Rusty is charming, self assured and a sponge for learning. Albeit, scratchy!

From Wrigley's perspective, Rusty is pushy, bitey, scratchy, little button-pusher. But... also the most fascinating, scintillating playmate to have ever crossed the threshold of this house! He is distinctly compelling, for better or worse and has earned the right to stay a bit longer, grow a bit bigger and sometimes, even call the shots.

Yep, Rusty is destined to take a leadership position in our family. Right now he is testing boundaries and building ego, but it's also possible he is honing skills he'll later draw on as our dictator.  This one is definitely a strong personality with an over inflated sense of entitlement.

And we LOVE him to the moon and back.

Here's what the last week has looked like... Lots of naps, bouts of hyperactivity, squealing if snatched away from whatever he is doing. (Plays the victim like a CHAMP!!!)

 

A COVID baby... It had to happen!

There was a time, 18 months ago, when adopting another baby animal was something Mark and I made a pact about. About NOT doing it.

We had our beloved Wrigley and he was constantly a step ahead of us, exhausting us... and ultimately fulfilling us. He was enough. He was MORE than enough.

Then about 2-3 months ago, Wrigley mellowed. Stopped eating his toys, learned to play with claws retracted and even gave up stealing our food. I was able to teach him tricks using cat treats!  So it came as only a tiny surprise to Mark, the day I crept into his office and coyly suggested it might be time to reward Wrigley by getting him a companion.

As it happened, some friends had kittens looking for new homes!

Eight weeks prior, they found some day old kittens, cold and hungry, abandoned in a pile of tires in their yard. After valiant efforts to warm, feed and return the babies to their feral (but friendly) momma, they had to admit the kittens were really meant to be hand-raised by their daughter, Ava....inside the house. Momma cat wanted nothing more to do with them. She opted for a "closed adoption".

Day in and day out, Ava nurtured the babies. Turning out 4 healthy, blue eyed, bundles of well socialized, confident and energetic fluff.

On Sunday June 28th, Mark and I met Rusty (then named Opie) and brought him home. It took all of an hour to fall in love with him. Wrigley's reaction? Ah. Yes, let's call it "less enthusiastic". He has alternated between shunning us, growling, hissing and refusing to purr. Through closed doors and the bars of the cat carrier, Wrigley does his best Darth Vader impression and tries to freak out Rusty.

Rusty was the Dalai Lama in a prior life, so it's not working.  He responds with a nod, a lean and a soft look into Wrigleys eyes. There is no growling or hissing or spitting. Rusty is a kitten of few words, but I KNOW he is saying "I love you Wrigley and I can't wait for us to spend time together. It's going to be amazing. You'll see. I will grow on you (like rust)."

We know it's going to be a process. Today is day 4 of having a younger brother and Wrigley is 90% back to the loving, smooching, purring giant baby that I love with all my heart. This is progress, to be sure. Wrigley is a very smart cat. He is a skilled communicator and was deeply unhappy with the arrival of Rusty. However... I'm fairly sure his unhappiness was mostly fear. Fear of change and of new things. Wrigley has a history of suffering from what olde timey docs might have called "hysteria". His super emotional reactions have several times, resulted in physiological conditions and vet visits in the past. He always pulls through.

Meanwhile, Rusty is settling in just fine. He loves life, has boatloads of energy, sleeps well and is ever so cuddly.

This is the part you've all been scrolling down for: The Rusty Gallery

The Isolation Farm is harvest-ready!

Remember back when I had nothing better to do than watch seeds sprout and sprouts grow? Real Estate was super slow and distancing all but thwarted any efforts I made to connect with clients and show houses. 

So... real estate is huge again but I haven't forgotten my little green babies in the back yard. A month ago they were spindly and pasty, barely able to tolerate the swings in day and night temps, torrential downpours and random hail storms. Today that 4' x 4' raised bed is a jungle. Veggies are shading each other with their leafy goodness and I'm picking them for dinner, for space creation... to give the remaining ones the best chance possible to reach their full and delicious potential.

So far we are going gangbusters with the swiss chard, mesclun lettuce collection, radishes and hot peppers. The strawberries have mostly met their end in squirrel mouths, the zucchinis are only 2" long and the yellow squash and bush beans are just getting going. Tomatoes that were pasty, got some Miracle Grow and now blossom. Green onions, found hidden beneath neighbors appear to be doing ok and the herbs - well they've gone crazy!!!

 I feel invigorated and satisfied when I make my early morning rounds in the garden. Our Isolation Farm (boredom project, grand experiment) is in no uncertain terms, a success!

Who loves pizza? WE love pizza!

Once in a while, Mark and I order pizza. It's a guilty pleasure for sure and on top of that, I feel the need to apologize that it's generally Domino's. Why? I dunno. We live in a foodie town and gourmet pizza abounds. Plus who doesnt have a friend or two from NYC or NJ... someone who delights in scolding you for eating chain restaurant pizza, non-authentic pizza. Pizza that just isnt "the real thing".

Near the end of "shelter in place" my adorable lender, Susie Kiesling (Elevations Credit Union) mailed me a gift. It was one of those fancy pizza cutters. A half moon shaped board that you rock back and forth to cut the pizza. It was compelling. I had to make pizza in order to cut pizza.

A new hobby was born. The Isolation Cafe was expanding its menu!

Check it out:

Fig and Pig pizza.
Thin crust, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, figs and arugula. Then a wee drizzle of a balsamic glaze to finish. Mmmmm.... delish.

Then a more traditional pepperoni with peppers, onions and mushrooms. I loaded the tomato sauce with garlic and after a hearty helping of grated mozzarella, added parmigiano-reggiano sprinkles.

In case you were wondering, the dough I used was a traditional olive oil bread dough. Basically just water, oil, salt, sugar and yeast, then few cups of flour and ... done! It proofs for 2 hours in the oven, then is chilled for a couple of hours in the fridge to make it easier to work. 

I roll about 2/3 lb of the dough into a round thats 1/4" thick and put that on a pizza shovel that is covered in corn meal. Quickly load it with sauce and toppings before sliding it onto a super hot pizza stone and cooking the heck out of it for just 12 mins.

* Dont leave it too long on the pizza shovel and dont load it with toppings until ready to shove into the oven. It gets challenging to work with fairly quickly, IMHO and darn that pizza stone is hard to clean once burned with cheese!  LOL

Hiking in Spring

Hey, hey! We love hiking. It has been a lifesaver during "shelter in place" and then "safer at home". Pretty much the only excursions we have taken, that don't involve groceries, until later in May.

Now that spring is truly here, the hiking is delightful on another level. Days are longer, light is pretty darn beautiful at sunrise and sunset and the animals are all out and about now too.  I LOVE it.

It's just a cow, right? Not the farm animal you'd associate immediately with aggression or expect to take much interest in us. But... I guess that depends how protective of her baby, she is!  LOL  I made Mark go first.  :-)

Italian night.... with a twist

Facebook. I have a love-hate relationship with it. When it's not bombarding me with ads or winding me up with fake news, ignorant and discriminatory re-posts and commentaries,  I find myself grateful for connection to loved ones far away, new recipes or life hacks. <sigh>

This week I was inspired and motivated by a lady who turned her focaccia's into beautiful works of art. All edible!  I tried my hand at one and out of it was born Italian date night with Mark.

Fresh homemade bread and spaghetti al dente. (Raise your hand if you DON'T think you were Italian in a past life?!)

Im sure there was an Italian desert that I could have whipped up, but the truth is, there was a small bunch of browning bananas on the counter. If they didn't end their lives as banana bread tonight, they would have been fruit fly utopia by tomorrow! 

One of the positive outcomes of COVID quarantine is small changes in behavior, don't you think? Like not wasting food.