Bad Pictures of Bad Cats

There was no sewing yesterday, and there probably will be no sewing for the remainder of the week. There are lots of cooking things going on right now. For one thing, I made good on my threat to finish the remaining introductory pages of this book:

And then I jumped right on the baking bandwagon. My goal is to bake every loaf in the book, which will take me quite some time, I'm sure. The "formulas" are listed in alphabetical order, and so there's no accounting for the ease or difficulty of any particular loaf. The first loaf is called "Anadama". Before reading the book, I'd never heard of this kind of bread. It originates in Rockport, Massachusetts, and it has an interesting history. Here's what the book author, Peter Reinhart, had to say about the name:

So, I think this goal to bake every loaf is going to be fun for a lot of different reasons. Anadama starts with a "soaker" that needs to sit overnight, made from coarse grind cornmeal and water. Mine is mixed up and waiting on the counter.

Looks delicious, no? (Yes, no.)

And that was the extent of my productivity yesterday, unless you count my monthly pedicure. On the way home from that, I stopped off to pick up a bag of bird seed. The sun was shining when I got home, and so I went out for a walk with my little cat. He only goes outside with me now, and he actually seems to prefer it that way.

Sometimes when I first drive up to the house, I'll offer him the opportunity to go outside, figuring that me driving up will have scared away any predatory critters. He'll go, but he sits at the door waiting for me, and eventually wants to come back inside. I think becoming an adult cat has made him more cautious, which will also keep him alive.

There's not much to see outside these days. The last tree has just a few fall leaves hanging on...

Oh yes, and herds of slugs; excuse me, a cornucopia of slugs. Big ones...

Little ones...

And eensy-weensy ones.

Smitty ran from place to place as we walked. Just call him The Zoomer.

He thought he might run up this tree, but then the adult cat re-engaged. He remembers that he has to get himself down from these situations, and that's never as much fun as getting himself up.

Be sure to say "hi" to Sadie as we go by. She's not allowed out. Period. Mike keeps whining for her, and I just tell him that if she can suspend her craziness long enough for him to put a harness and leash on her, then she can join us. It's a pretty quick fix because I doubt he'll ever get a harness past her teeth and claws.

Later in the afternoon, Smitty found himself on the wrong side of the fence as well.

He actually doesn't seem to mind. He likes that he can nap outside now and not have to keep either eye open. And he really likes being outside and staying out of the rain.

Not enough bad cats for you? Well, take a look at this one as she eyes the pull cord on the window blind. The fob was chewed off long ago by Himself.

This morning I'm heading out early to go to the grocery store. I expect to see panic in the eyes of my fellow shoppers. I did regular shopping last week, and so today I'm just getting stuff for our Thanksgiving dinner. That still comes to a total of about 35 items. I'll steel myself with a visit to McDonalds for my Egg McMuffin first. When I get home and get things put away, I'll get going on the bread. I can hardly wait! I know...it's a thrill a minute around the Three Cats Ranch.