It's been a day. None of these things belong in the same post but here we are.

One news story I read so bad that I don't even want to post it because then I'll have to see it every time I look at my blog. Just trust me that it's an infohazard, as the kids say. Hug your cats, yeah?

Thinking of all my trans friends on Trans Day of Visibility. Hope you're safe, wherever you are, and I pledge to fight to make wherever I am safe for you to be.

Anyway, here is a tracker for all of the people that America has disappeared so far. 

Maybe I'll watch the video of a person making a Swedish sandwich cake for her cats again. 

It is my cats' birthday (well, usual disclaimer that it's Cocoa's birthday—19!—and I celebrate their birthdays on the same day because I don't know when Sabot's is. Who would like to see pictures?

( cut for the sake of your phones )

I have done a second cut, because the last three pictures are lethal levels of cuteness.

( you think you can handle it but you actually can't )

So there you go! Happy birthday my babies, long may you reign.

It's a kitty birthday!

Cocoa is 18. Sabot remains Age Unknown but likely around 13.

Alas, unlike in birthdays past, I could not make a meat cake because Cocoa is diabetic and also hates food, and also unlike in birthdays past, my Nikon is unexpectedly being hateful and needs a trip to the camera shop, so I only have my cellphone to document it. But they did get diabetic treats and catnip, plus a new bed and new sushi bowls.

( cat pics )

But seriously, the real gift is for me, as I get to share a house with these beautiful girls. If you've been following this blog for awhile, you know that there were points at which I did not think I would get this much time with Cocoa, and I am grateful for every day I have with both of them.

I get to announce today the happy news that Cocoa has been off insulin for 14 days and is, accordingly, officially in remission! I'm of course consulting the diabetic cat group that tbh provided better advice than my vet did about next steps, but omg yay!

It's very rare that at her age and with her constellation of nasty chronic medical conditions, I have anything resembling good news, so I'm going to celebrate this for as long as I can.

Spot the difference.

I tried to take some proper photos of them with my Nikon, but of course by the time I grabbed it and put the battery in, the cats had lost interest in the pumpkins. Still, I think these came out well. I think I may print them out and resin-coat them.

On a related note, is there any reason why it's bad to yeet an entire batch of Chinese five-spice pumpkin seeds that you just made directly into your cavernous gob instead of saving some for a future version of yourself that might want a snack? Asking for a friend.

“If a chap can’t compose an epic poem while he’s weaving a tapestry, he had better shut up, he’ll never do any good at all.” — William Morris

THAT’S RIGHT EVERYONE there is a William Morris museum in his old house.

Okay so William Morris is the most relatable historical figure. He was bougie as anything and wrote utopian science fiction and did LARP before it was called that, and loved pretty things, and also he was a hardcore socialist and published books on the Paris Commune and Kropotkin. And also was just the most brilliant artist, which I am not, but he basically sits at the intersection of all of my interests.





Then we took a long walk and met some boat cats, which apparently belong to people on the boats and I can’t take them home with me, no matter how much they clearly wanted to come home with me. There were even baby swans (less friendly).







Apparently there is a Canadian bar here. It looks like the worst thing ever and has a fuckzillion types of poutine. I am embarrassed for my country.

It's the girls' birthday today! Cocoa is 14 and Sabot is still Unknown Age. We celebrated with a meat cake and they received Enemies of the People stuffed with catnip to help them train for the revolution.









Happy birthday to my babies—I love you more than life itself.

Tonight's dinner. The salad was technically part of lunch as well.

I almost never make anything super-fancy just for myself these days—seriously, half my meals come out of a can—but fiddlehead season comes but once a year, and my mom brought me some, so I got to make some of these tasty-but-dangerous delights.

Here is a recipe for how to make fiddleheads.

It came out excellently, holy shit.

The Southwestern salad is my own recipe, more or less. Sauteéd jalapenos, avocados, grape tomatoes, cilantro, and walnuts. The dressing is olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, black pepper, and lime juice. 

Other delicious things I have made or participated in making this weekend: Homemade falafel balls, pear-walnut pie, and more of that avocado pasta that I am obsessed with at the moment.



















In other, related news, my apple tree is blossoming!

 

And Cocoa is looking extra-cute:

You guys you guys I did it!

I made the chocolate caramel shortbreads vegan. I usually make chocolate caramel shortbread as one of my Christmas cookies but that was Before. Now I had to re-learn how to do them.

This was a massive triumph of baking engineering given that my first attempt to find a recipe was a total clusterfuck that ended in literal tears. This is some advanced shit and it took two recipes + substitutions to create something that worked. But it worked! And it tastes like joy.



How'd that last picture get in there? Cocoa, you are not a foods even if you are the same colour and named after a foods.

Anyway I am really proud of myself so here's what I did under the cut.

( om nom nom )