8/21/12

Cat Day Afternoon

Today is the only day I'll have this week to really get much fun stuff done.  I decided it would be a day of sewing and canning.  I took all of the tomatoes I've harvested so far and made my first batch of pasta sauce. At around 12:30, it looked like this:


While I was peeling and chopping, the kitties went outside.  Gracie is tolerating Smitty much better.  She likes him better when they go outside together.


Gracie has always been super cautious when she's outside, and so I'm hoping she'll teach Smitty the ropes.  She has already taught him the fine art of sipping water from the puddle that forms below the birdbath.


Smitty likes to hunt.  For now, he stays close to the house, but I expect he will grow more bold.  He caught his first mouse a couple of weeks ago, and now seems to have developed a taste for hunting.


And he really likes to lie in wait and attack Gracie when she's not watching out for him.


She hates that.


Do you see how one of his knee socks is longer than the other?  Either that, or one of them has fallen down around his ankle.


He looks appropriately chastened when Gracie boxes his ears.  This lasts for all of five seconds or so.


When the sauce was ready to simmer for a while, I decided to bring Mr. Smithers inside with me.  I don't like leaving him out when I'm not around to keep an eye out for predators.  We went down into the sewing room, and I set a timer to check the sauce and give it a stir every ten minutes.  It took about two hours to cook down.  At first, Smitty thought he might get into things.


But then, after playing outside most of the morning, he started feeling tired.


Then his little bed started looking like a good place to tidy up.


And within a few minutes, he was sound asleep.


I sewed the rest of the afternoon, taking care of my pasta sauce as needed.  I can't show you anything I sewed today because it is for:


You'll be able to see it there on the very first day.  Also, I volunteered to make a block for a mystery project.  It's so much of a mystery that I can't share it with you.  Many of you are also taking part, so I'm imagining you know what I'm talking about.  Still . . . shhhhhhhhhhh. No peeks and no leaks.

And here's what my pasta sauce looks like now.  I was able to get three quarts from this first batch, which is a pretty good yield.  


And may I just say, Yum.  This tastes like a burst of summer when I open a jar in the dead of winter.  I'm hoping to grow and harvest enough tomatoes for at least another five jars.  If I can do that, my tomato angst will not have been in vain.  For now, I'm going out into the greenhouse each morning and doing a little cheer for them.  I keep my pompoms out there for convenience.  I was thinking of making myself a little cheerleader outfit, but that seemed like overkill.  I'm so happy about my tomatoes, the I'm linking up to:


Tomorrow I have a full day away from home, which is a bummer.  I'm getting my hair cut and colored.  I always ask them to add a little gray so that I can look my age (snicker).  It's such a bummer getting carded all the time when I go into a restaurant (snort).  You know what I mean, don't you?  And then I'm seeing the doctor about my knee.  My knee has hurt for decades--literally, decades.  Lately it's been giving out on me when I go down the stairs. Not a good sign.  Several years ago I was promised there was a knee replacement in my future. I'm hoping that time has not yet arrived.  On the other hand, it would be good if it would stop hurting too.  In any case, no sewing for me tomorrow.  And probably none on Thursday either.  It's Smitty's day to go to the V-E-T.

How's your week shaping up?

13 comments:

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

Yummy sauce! When you make only a few quarts like that do you freeze it? Or how do you preserve it? A little clueless here. Thanks! I love the adorable kitty pics!

Kirsty said...

Your sauce looks fab and so do the kitties. Gracie is so pretty and Smitty is adorable. Well done on your photos! We're in the depths of winter here but worse than that, its been raining for about a week. I made a huge error when my three were little in that I dried them off with a towel whenever they came in from the wet. Now, 2 years later, they are massive and still insist on being dried off by towel. It can get a little trying at 2am, and 3am, and then 4.30am. But you've got to love them. I have just arrived home from the beauty salon to find the telly not working. I traced it back to a multibox that has been 'watered' if you know what I mean. I suspect Fluff. She's looking self-satisfied and a too innocent. Flash, meanwhile, is sitting out in the rain, staring at me. Thank goodness Zorro has seen sense and is remaining abed. All the best for your errands this week. Happy Tomato Growing x

Julianne said...

I just love reading and seeing pictures of Gracie and Smitty...what a couple of sweet kittys!!
That pasta sauce looks awesome...yum yum!

Junebug613 said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Gracie and Smitty posts! The tomato sauce looks pretty good! I don't like tomatoes, but I do like them in sauce and soup. :0) Sorry about your knee. I hope the doctor can give you some good news.

Teresa in Music City said...

I am so jealous!!! Your sauce looks good enough to eat :*) It sure would be nice if I could cook, but about all I can handle is seeing that Don and I don't starve. I so admire my friends who are such good cooks!

Smitty is growing!!! What a gorgeous coat he has too! I'm glad Gracie is beginning to soften toward him a little. But not too much - Smitty needs to be kept on his toes for a while yet. Training is important for one so young, and Gracie knows that very well :*)

If you decide to make the cheerleader outfit, you do realize that you have to feature it on one of your photo days? Right? Because there is no such thing as too much laughter =^..^=

Dana Gaffney said...

You're such a good Mom, you look at that picture and see chastised, I see "I need to come up with a new plan, what am I doing wrong, gotta be faster with the attack and retreat".
You might want to ask Mike about the cheer-leading outfit, before you completely reject the idea.

Margaret said...

Your sauce looks very tasty. I wish I could can. I am just not very kitchen savvy and I don't have a garden this year. We are planning on building a new house next year and if we do then I will have a garden at that house. I haven't had much time to sew this week either. The hubs gave me a list yesterday with about 15 things on it. I got 3 of them done yesterday. More to do today.

Lynette said...

So many wonderful photos of the kitties. :)

Hey - I stumbled on this blog that's trying to pull together a master list of link-up parties. Thought you might like to add your Friday Fact party.

http://fromblankpages.blogspot.com/2012/08/master-list-of-linky-parties.html

Anonymous said...

I love your kitties. Your blog is wonderful. It's fun to stop by here to see what you and your family is up to.

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

Wonderful pictures of both Smitty and Gracie. They both make me smile :)
Hope your knee appointment went well - we can't have you falling down the stairs and injuring yourself. I bet your sauce is delicious!!

Anonymous said...

the sauce looks lovely delicious!

Kate said...

Smitty is such a cutie! Glad that Gracie is getting more tolerant of him.

Unknown said...

look at your tomato sauce!! i'm so jealous! this year i was going to plant 12 plants and really rake in the tomato sauce. there really is nothing like that burst of summer in cold-snow driven-february.

p.s. speaking of getting carded - you should SEE the 19 year olds at the bar i work at and the way they roll their eyes when they get ID'd... i just look at them and say "dude. i was born 14 years before you and I still get carded. when you hit 32, you'll be WISHING you were getting ID'd". haha.

thank you for taking the time to share with us at The Wednesday Fresh Foods Blog Hop - we hope to see you again this week with more incredible posts! xo, kristy