Saturday, March 24, 2012

Nom-noms and a cutie-pie

Today we went to Penny's Market, a farmers' market at exit 35 on highway 417. It's open Saturday from 9 to 1 and Tuesdays from 12 - 4. If you're in the Ottawa or Montreal or Cornwall area, you should check it out. As growing season approaches, they're getting more goodies in every week.

Today we bought quiche, salmon spread, local cream cheese, oatmeal-coconut cookies, lime loaf, salmon, organic spelt flour and bread flour, local sour cream, pierogies and these...


Jerusalem artichokes! I should have taken a pic before Gordon peeled them and chopped them up. They are the tuber of a variety of sunflower, and very tasty. Gordon made a Jamie Oliver recipe with them using garlic and bay leaves. They were very yummy. 


Jerusalem artichoke peelings.


We also had Arctic char, which is my favourite fish.



I am still using garlic from the crop I grew last year. Time to bring up some more from the basement!





This is the lime loaf from Carolynn at Taste of Town and Country. She makes amazing baked goods, quiche, smoked salmon and more.

Some veggies are just starting to grow. They expect to have spinach and green onions at the market next week,  and maybe some lettuce. Some farmers around here get an earlier start by using polytunnels.


So that was the nom-noms. Here's the cutie-pie.Remember this, back at the start of January?



Look at her now:


Emily is 4-1/2 months old now and growing like a weed. She's long, lean and lanky. She spends a lot of time running around like she just mainlined the entire inventory of Starbucks.



She loves the pipe cleaners Auntie Trish from Katnip Lounge sent with our prize package last January.



I think she could fly with those ears!

Her new favourite toy is a hard white ball of used, dried-out Kleenex. I forgot a snotty tissue in my bathrobe pocket, which went through the washer and dryer before I found it and threw in the bedroom wastebasket. Emily fished it out and has been batting it around and carrying it in her mouth like it's the most awesome prey EVER.

I don't know why I spend money on cat and dog toys and treats. Sophie spends her doggy days plotting how to steal my used Kleenex. Emily is in bliss with a nicely washed and dried one. I should get walking pneumonia more often! Not.

Anyhoo...


I just love her markings. And although she lost the tip of her tail to frostbite, the fur has grown in nicely and you don't notice that her tail isn't quite as pointy as it should be.

I don't know how she came to be dumped at our farm in frigid winter temperatures, a tiny six-week-old kitten, but I am so glad we found her and brought her into the family. She's happy and healthy now, and will never be alone in the cold and dark again.

And a little Mama duck update. Eugenia is healing very well after the fox attack. In a week I will take off her splint and see how she's doing. Every day she puts more weight on her injured leg! Today I opened the top of her "recuperation suite" (aka dog cage) and while I was getting her feed and water, she flew up, hung a left out the duck coop door and landed outside on the grass amongst her children.

Everybody had a joyful reunion, and Eugenia snacked on grass until her son Moishe decided to try to have his way with her. Whereupon I rescued her and put her back in her cage.

We had one male duck left to name, the big white guy. We're calling him Oedipus, since he (and his brothers) are all a little too willing to hump their mother...

And on that note, enjoy the rest of your weekend!







31 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:00 pm

    You're very kind to have let me kept Emily! And I didn't even have to plead with you too much! ;)

    g

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    1. That's right, ANonymous, and don't you forget it!

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  2. I think I'm going to try growing garlic this year - it's my most used spice, and I hate seeing the sign at the grocery store that says "grown in china"

    Emily is lovely. My Miss Peno has a penchant for stealing used q-tips out of the garbage and carrying them around the house.... I have no idea why.

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    1. oooh, you should have planted it last fall!! BUt you can try planting in spring. But homegrown garlic is about a billion times better than anything from the grocery store, and it's not hard to grow.

      http://www.garlicfarm.ca/growing-garlic.htm

      I get my garlic from Richters Herbs: http://www.richters.com/

      Used Q-Tips, hmm. Cats definitely have something about earwax. I occasionally use earplugs and when I do, i have to watch where i put them because Naomi is hell-bent on stealing them. She will also attempt to clean out my ears at times when I am sleeping!!

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  3. Awww, Emily is totally adorable.
    Those male ducks sound very naughty... humping their own mom!!!
    All of that yummy food made me hungry :)

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    1. I thought roosters were bad; drakes are much worse!!! :)

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  4. Good laugh before hitting the sack. Emily is so beautiful. Wow! And her tissue fetish..Audrey just ran down the hall tonight with a crumpled up piece of paper from the bathroom trash. As I type this I can hear her on the stairs batting the hell out of it. I have posted before about making your own cat toys and boy, is it getting easy. Another thing...pencils. She played with one all day yesterday. They are easy to carry around and she never knows when she may need one. Happy the duck is on the mend. Have a good, restful and healing Sunday, Natalie. Deb

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    1. I would love to know where Emily came from. Where did she get those markings!?!

      Audrey is such a lovely little thing! I wonder when EMily will discover pencils?

      Hope you have a good Sunday too. I think I will start some seeds for my veg garden!

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  5. Emily really is so pretty. We totally agree. Why do we buy toys when the simple little things work even better. Also if you change the location of any toy or not toy, it becomes a whole new thing of interest. Hope all of you have a super Sunday

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    1. Last night she was playing with one of my dirty socks! She carried it off in her mouth!! :0

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  6. One of our cats (Sydney) has a 'thing' for socks, so when a sock gets a bit too indecent for wearing it becomes hers...though she will try to steal the socks you are about to put on if she feels like it.
    Great news about Miss Eugenia's leg!
    Jane x

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    1. Jane, I worry about how she'll do without the splint... I guess it will never be quite the same, but if she can get around and not be in pain, I'll be happy. She seems pretty content right now. Fingers crossed! One more week and I'll take it off and see how it's doing.

      What is it with cats and socks?! :)

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  7. Doublewide and ROUGHRIDER would love to play with Emily.

    We planted Garlic last Fall,too. And it's growing just fine. This would be our first batch ever. We also started all kinds of other veggies in our indoor Greenhouse, and of course Sunflowers.

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    1. ROughrider, that's it!! I forgot!! Emily could hold her own with those two!

      You are doing great with your planting! You'll love having your own garlic.

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  8. Anonymous10:48 am

    Emily is gorgeous. I had a tabby with similar markings (with no tan), but not the ears. At one point I was finding socks, hand towels and hot pads scattered around the house. It was a mystery until I saw my yeller cat, Samson, dragging a clean towel into the living room.

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    1. I am thinking Emily will grow into those ears. We shall see! ANd that's so funny about Samson stealing all those things! :) Caught red-handed, or is that red-pawed?

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  9. A bout of nostalgia looking at the Arctic char. It was such a regular part of our menus when living on Baffin Island. Even Zorro The Cat took it for granted. Until we returned South and he absolutely refused the boring catcan food we tried to offer.

    Emily's coat looks like luxurious velvet. She is truly a princess born to be queen.

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    1. Claude, I think of you every time I eat char now! This stuff was probably farmed. The char you ate n the Arctic must have been amazing.

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  10. Your blog is ssooo enjoyable, and your cats and other animals are too. Thanks for sharing your life with us.

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    Replies
    1. Deven, that made my day! Thanks so much. :)

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  11. So cute she is!

    Hugs
    Elna

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  12. I love farmers' markets, too. So many good things.
    Glad you're feeling better!

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  13. Emily! I am smitten with her. In lurve...

    How do you cook char and what does it taste like? I'm intrigued.

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    1. I think Arctic char tastes like delicate salmon, and it has slightly finer texture, and maybe less fatty than Atlantic salmon. I'd cook it anyway you cook a salmon filet. I have a recipe for blackened char that I like, but we also do a rub and cook it in the oven. Or you can pan-fry it, or whatever. Or do it in parchment paper.

      Emily has a TON of personality and she sure loves those pipecleaners. And she LIVES in the cube you sent. She rolls it around like a hamster in one of those exercise balls!

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  14. Knatolee, you describe the Arctic char perfectly. I cooked it in parchment paper, in the oven.

    In Pangnirtung, there would be a knock at my door. And the Inuit would offer me a huge, freshly fished Arctic char for $5.00, so he could take the family to the HBC's old movies (like Oklahoma!) that evening. I've sent Christmas gifts (out of guilt) to Joe Akpalialuk's grandkids for a few years, when I returned to Ottawa, and realised how expensive the fish was down south.

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    1. Claude, you have the best stories. I wish yo'd write a book! :)

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  15. Anonymous12:09 am

    I miss our local farmers' market. It will open within the next few months. I've never had Arctic char. Is it a mild fish?

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    1. Yes, I find it very delicate. But more flavourful than, say, sole! I just love it. Like delicate salmon!

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  16. THat Farmer's market sounds awesome. I will have to check it out.
    Emily is sooooo adorable. Glad you rescued her!
    This post is going out to my sister, who having 5 tabbies herself, loves to see Emily and how she is doing.

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!