Public Announcement

I had to... because this is literally me lately:

Good news, I didn't actually take an online quiz about what flavour potato chip I am but I did pull together the Pinterest account I associated with this account. Still building it but got a strong start! And, with exams peeking over the horizon, I expect I'll be spending more time blogging or pinning or taking online quizzes.

Eating for Charity

I try to live by the famous quote from Ben Parker of "with great power, comes great responsibility". Humans have such great capacity to do amazing things (or horrible horrible things) that it makes sense to be responsible. All of our choices even on a mundane granular level such as where to go for lunch will impact the greater picture.

During the day, I work for a large, for profit organization but in my off time, the things I enjoy doing usually surround the not-for-profit sector or those that are not nearly as lucrative. Why? Because I believe that there are causes out there that warrant attention and devotion. I'd say I'm like most people where what I do during the day is something that pays the bills--we all gotta eat. The causes I provide my time and money to are those which are (not surprisingly) in aid of animals. Perhaps I've met just one too many poor examples of human beings to care about a cause specific to people's well-being, but I have yet to meet an animal that I perceive that way. The reality is that people can do something about their situation and change it--animals, not so much. As well, much of the poor animal situations are caused by poor choices of people.

In addition to the fictional Ben Parker's sentiment, another personal value that strongly resonates with me is "participation is appreciation". I got this one from an unlikely source when I worked with a dragon boat coach whom I could not stand, on a good day. His difficult personality and our regular clashing (and occasional bouts of my murderous rage induced by his entire being) taught me a lot about patience, tolerance and devotion. It was a life changing lesson for me, to understand and realize what it means to volunteer your time for something: those who participate and take advantage of your time will generally have no idea the amount of work and effort that goes in, for mere seconds or minutes of "fun".

Over the weekend of the 23rd, I wanted to show my support of one of the girls at the stable, of her work with the cat rescue that we adopted little Stanley C. Panther from. She helped organize a charity all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner. These types of grass roots fund raising events always brings a good feeling for me because you see how sincerely dedicated people are, to the event and cause... before all the commercialism and lame stuff starts to take over. One of the grandmas made all the meatballs (amaze-balls!) and the cooking was done by the actual volunteers and they had cat grass centre pieces. The various dessert items were also donated by volunteers' families or themselves!

Meow!

In case anyone is curious (or looking to help out or even adopting), the rescue we were supporting is the NCWL Cat Rescue (of the west GTA area).

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone their family and furry friends!

Stanley hanging out in my new (horsey) grooming tote

Stay tuned for my post about a year in review :)

Models: Stanley C. Panther
Wardrobe Consultant: me!
Photographer: +ADW 
Finished on Pixlr Express

Merry Christmas!

Models: Buckingham, Stanley C. Panther
Wardrobe Consultant: me!
Photographer: me again!!
Meme Consultant: +ADW
Finished on Pixlr Express

Best Wishes to Everyone!

Possibly my favourite online feline duo to date, Simon's cat and kitten.

From Stanley, Bucky, +ADW and me!

A Review: Cat Sense

Have you ever thought about what your cat is thinking about, when he's looking at you? Or what he does all day when you're not home? I am curious about what goes on, inside my kitty's brain and why he'll go and do one thing while it doesn't seem to logically make sense to me. I read the Cat Whisperer last month and learned a great deal about why cats do what they do and how to address some of the less desirable consequences of not meeting their basic requirements.

John Bradshaw is the writer of Cat Sense and his book takes a slightly varied approach to Mieshelle's book. In Cat Sense, it's more about the cat as a species, its history of coming to be and includes many factual studies done, to discuss the details of what he is talking about. The breakdown of the book is well thought out and flows well, too. We start about the history of cat and move to cats of the future and go through everything else in between. Bradshaw is thorough in his details and it is clear a lot of research has been done on his part. I like that he includes a few illustration scattered throughout the book where helpful and the various "extras" that he includes in boxes throughout the book. His writing style is clear and easy enough to read for the average reader and the prose he chooses is simple enough for even the non-science types.

I felt like every sentence was teaching me something new. He isn't about dumping a bunch of facts for you to read... no, this is not a text book but rather a critical collection of feline history and behaviour compiled through a logical and thoughtful concept and a logical hypothesis made. A lot of his musings are just that... thoughts and questions based on both what he andecdotaly observes combined with scientific research that he pulls in. He provides a good deal of food for thought about some of the current practices that humans employ, to control unwanted cat breeding and reflects both sides of the debate. I found myself critically questioning things I believe and support right now. It gives a different perspectives and either further reaffirms what I think, or encourages me to reflect about some of the perspectives I hold.

The best piece of information I learned was that our cats view us as a type of surrogate mom and giant non-hostile cat. This all makes sense because mother cats and their kittens are very close and I've seen daughters stay with their mothers for the long term but I rarely see males of the family stick around. I wonder if Buckingham tells his friends that he's got two mommys.

If you have a cat or just have a wonder of what makes animals tick, you'll find this read informative and enlightening. I'd highly recommend all cat owners to pick this book up so they can learn about their fuzzy feline friend!

I couldn't resist!
This is both hilarious and common of what people
think of cats.

A Review: The Cat Whisperer

We've been out of internet at home for almost a full week now. I spend all day at work in front of a computer and have full internet access for over 8 hours a day; which is what I suspect, explains why I'm not clawing at the walls yet. I spent the weekend finishing my unexpected read: The Cat Whisperer by Mieshelle Nagelschneider.

You may or may not remember that I have a new fur baby and I'm relearning how to effectively care for your cat. Some of this new found knowledge is attributed to the fact that I volunteer with The Annex Cat Rescue for the past 2 or 3 years. And, it's very true that you can take the wildcat out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the domestic cat. Buckingham is a well-mannered gentlecat just like his tuxedo outfit would suggest. But, he's still got those feline urges that make him unruly and silly, every now and again. I've picked-up a lot of practical knowledge about cats, but have yet to master some of the finer nuances of feline behaviour.

If you have a cat (or want to get one) and are keen to better understand the way they think, and make your life a feline heaven, you'll want to pick up this book to read. I remember when I was that kid when I could do nothing more than beg ask for that family pet and Mieshelle recounts her own experiences with cats (and other animals) to help others who are having trouble in their feline paradise. Mieshelle is a thorough writer about her subject of expertise; she has a life-time of experiences with cats and the way they are and her knowledge is based on experience and intense observation. The thing that many city humans miss out on (and modern humans in general) is that we have lost touch with working with animals. I see dogs dragging their humans down the street choking on their collar or humans who inhumanely declaw their cats, thinking only about what suits them or people who think their meat didn't deserve to be treated well before ending up on their dinner tables. But all the while, these people think this is normal or that this is the way it should be. Like the horse that has helped humans build history, cats and dogs played a significiant role to getting us where we are. But now, we're generally so far removed from them that we've all but forgotten how to listen to them and read them and build a real relationship with them.

The book is broken into sections that a reader who is desperate for relief from their inappropriate urinating/defecating cat or the multicat household which has become a battle zone, can immediately zip directly to that section and read the subject in its entirety. She addresses common problems that cat owners have dealt with or are dealing with. And, if you decide to read the book from cover to cover, the flow in which she's laid out is logical and builds on the previous one and is appropriately chapter referenced where applicable. The writing style is casual and easy to follow. She uses plenty of examples yet inserts many detailed scenarios that might come to mind while the reader is reading. She also has plenty of papers and references footnoted throughout the book for those who wish to do further reading/research. Her primary objective is to help us humans better understand our feline friends and adjust the environment appropriately so that our cat can do what we want in a humane and practical manner without resorting to drugs. Many of the procedures are lengthy, repetitive and require a great deal of patience but that's exactly what modern humans are missing... real patience and let's face it: animals are great teachers for this.

But, there are few things that are perfect in this world and I found that as detailed as she often is, it felt like sometimes I was being told that I wasn't doing things the way they should be done. Things that in my personal practice, have not caused me any problems currently or in the past. I felt invisibly attacked--yes, a little sensitive on my part. She also had a lot of shameless self promotions peppered throughout the book about checking out her product page or her personal consultation page, to which I've just added to... hahaha. But, upon reviewing these sites, I think they are worth looking into because she has some very solid products which I'd seriously consider purchasing and her consultation practice is one which I'd also seriously consider if I was having unresolvable issues of my own. Most pet stores don't come close to providing any real substantial items like these and products are often cheaply made or poorly designed. Perhaps I'll do another review in the future when I purchase something (like that timed feeder!).

My opinion? The book is written simply and substantially complete with relevant content that the average cat owner could easily put into practice. Any new-to-cat-ownership humans should definitely pick it up for a read so that they can better understand their new feline friends. Simply put, get her book as a reference piece in your home if you have a cat because she's quite thorough and basic cat behaviour will probably not be changing significantly in this lifetime so unlikely any need for an updated edition. Otherwise, check it out at your local library and take it for a reading test-drive before you make a conclusive decision to purchase it.

Perfect Escape

It's something I knew but my coworker confirmed it during a conversation earlier this week when he said "... you definitely seem to 'recharge' better with nature and/or animals". You see, I'm an introvert; apparently a severe introvert and I require "me time" to properly recharge after expending my energy on regular events like going to work for 7.5 hours--what a chore! And it appears that I get the most out of being around nature and animals. When I think about Buckingham's entrance into my life (and home), I can see how the dynamics of my home and myself have changed for the better. My parents don't know it but I hear them with the little dude and they sound genuinely happy. Me? I feel plenty better after I spend an evening (or short morning) with him. I know, it sounds a bit crazy cat lady, doesn't it?

Selina Kyle, my hero!


So, the prospect of getting out of the city and spending time surrounded by the Ontario nature and horses really appealed to me. I booked a long weekend at Cadogan Farm Adventures in Caledon, Ontario. This is a horse farm B&B where guests can choose to go and relax away from the buzz of the city, or they can take the opportunity to work with and ride horses.

Since I've started riding, I have fallen further and further in love with the countryside of Ontario. Unfortunately for us this evening, we've arrived late and didn't have the opoprtunity to get the full impression of arriving to our weekend home away. The home is stunning and huge: I'm excited.

Friday morning's first order of business was breakfast before getting ready to head out to ride for our assessment lesson at Trailwood Farms (just down the street). And what a breakfast it was! Our hostess, Gina had stocked the pantry with bacon, breakfast sausage, eggs, cereal, juice, bacon, coffee, tea, pastries and more bacon! What a fabulous hearty breakfast to start your day with.

We are introduced to Gina's head instructor, Wendy at Trailwood Farms. I am assigned to ride a chestnut thoroughbred named Sully; he's a big horse compared to what I'm used to riding. I believe he's at least 16hh. We start the lesson together and by the end, we're split up to work on specific things to further tune our weaknesses and strengths. It's nice to ride a properly sized horse and not a pony. Not that I have issues with ponies... but for some reason, a bigger horse seems to feel safer! We do manage to get into a canter and his canter is this nice smooth "da-dun da-dun" that just has you sailing through the air. However, little did I realize, that without me directing him more, he liked to speed up and drift into the ring during turns. Wendy tells me that I have to ride deep into the corners by pushing him into the corners so that he keeps proper balance and doesn't lose me in the process. I work on staying focused on doing what I wanted of him. We finish off the lesson with some ground pole work and then head out. Trailwood Farms is a beautifully maintained location. And their indoor ring...*swoon* it's truly a spectacular facility.

Our afternoon ride for Friday is on Cadogan Farm property but we didn't quite know what we were in for. This time, I'm assigned a sweet and quiet liver chestnut names Sadie who is a bit shy at the get go; she isn't running away from me but she's not exactly interested in me. This time, Wendy's daughter Nicole is riding with us too. She leads us to the interior of the property; as we walk over the small swell of a hill, we're greeted with this stunning open field with some cross country jumps. We're riding in an open field. What a chance! I'm not sure what's going on but it doesn't seem like Sadie is excited to do this with me... she's more interested to go running and jumping about on her own. We eventually sort out our differences and we take to our lesson and practice cantering and trotting. I'm cautioned that Sadie wasn't started properly (she's a rescue) so when she turns, she turns straight as a board and doesn't bend. So it's on me to get her to bend this weekend.

Uh oh! Sadie sees me with carrots...

Three times is bliss, I say. We finish dinner and head over to Greyden for our regular weekly Friday ride. With so much riding in a short period of time, I'm all limber and I remember some of the things we were working on earlier in the day. A successful ride.

Saturday is more riding in the morning at Trailwood and this time I ride a leggy thoroughbred named Mon. He's a dark bay and he's inquisitive and eager. He's also one of the biggest horses I've ever ridden before. He's stunning. But, he's distracted in the arena because the windows are open and he can see the fields and his friends. With a day like that, I wouldn't want to be working either! We eventually figure ourselves out and we have some cantering and transition work. It's more of a similar lesson on Friday except we ride with NR and Kent.

During our lunchtime break, we spend time on the stunning property and find some peace in the teepee set-up on the property. A lazy afternoon and the perfect rest before our next lesson back in the open Cadogan field! It should be noted that at this point, I'm not (not surprisingly) tired and only a tad sore and with a giant bruise on my leg from a stirrup buckle rub. But I hadn't noticed until late Friday night.

It is incredibly liberating to canter in the field again and we learn what a flying lead change is. Something new to work towards when we get better with our canters but for now, we continue to go with a controlled canter and the proper bend. We do some low level pole ground work where our horses are asked to trot over the poles in a specific order. Our last activity is to actually try a basic cross country jump at a trot. It's not the first time we've done a jump but it was certainly a different feeling when there's so much space available to you and your mount!

This is our last lesson for the day and ADW and I head to the Brampton Fall Fair to watch the demolition derby. Have you ever been to one? This was my first and not last! I admit, I didn't have high hopes about this and figured that we'd just go and see what it might be and head back. But I found it very amusing to watch and we stayed for 2 rounds instead of 1! These old clunkers were doing a figure 8 loop and going at full speed (as fast as broken clunkers can go!) and crashing into one another and drifting out in corners! It was hilarious to watch the cars do their bumper car thing and wheels went flat or flew off, bumpers knocked off and one car even rode up onto the barrier early on!

Towing off car 537 from the concrete barriers...

Our evening ends with a bon fire where we sit calmly staring into the flame. There's something very primal about fire and watching it can be hypnotic!

Sunday is our last day and we finish our time at Cadogan with a nice trail ride. When I mounted Sadie, I noticed how tired my body finally is, after 5 lessons in 2 days. And it's only at this point where I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable sitting in the saddle. I persist to ride but not as effectively as I was earlier :P The trail ride is a perfect way to end our time here since it's easy and gives me the opportunity to spend a nice slow walk with Sadie so that I can get to know her better.

Just after noontime, we part our ways and say goodbye to Gina and thank her for having us. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend and even then, I could still jump on a horse and take another lesson or two! I can't wait to have another opportunity to head out and ride some more at this perfect escape from the city.

Everything's Come Up Milhouse!

For the last week or so, I've had a very welcome string of good luck. It started on the Saturday during Mother's Day weekend when I wanted to go for spa day at Greyden. Instead, I found my little furry friend! A series of other unusual good luck incidents occurred... in addition to winning 3 numbers on two separate Lotto Max tickets I bought for the same week.

Literally, everything's been 'coming up Milhouse' since then but on Monday morning, I got a call about my new furry friend... One that put my stomach in knots. The lady who lost my furry friend was calling to claim him back. I was devastated. I called ADW to tell him that I was going to meet this lady to talk with her about my furry friend and that I would do the right thing and return him if that's what was meant to be.

After talking to my neighbour, she told me that she found the little guy as a stray and that he wasn't getting along with her own cats so didn't have a problem giving him up. I was both relieved and ecstatic! My little furry friend is now going to join me furever.

I decided that I needed to name him appropriately... a name that was both cute and fun as well as refined and proper: Buckingham; Bucky for short! It works out perfectly because he's got these two little white marks on his upper lip that mimic false front teeth and he's quite proper when it comes to his manners.

Here's Bucky beating me to bed the other night...

Time for bed!

Fateful Dumb Luck

I woke up this morning really excited to head to Greyden for the horsey spa day. You must think I'm completely crazy. A "spa day" at a stable is typically a day set aside for cleaning up the horses by giving them a bath, cleaning and clipping and grooming. Riders also clean-up leather tack to remove  dirt and other unwanted things. It's beneficial for new riders to learn how to take apart a bridle and saddle completely to clean and reassemble. I was really looking forward to this.

Unfortunately for me, my mom wasn't willing to let me have the car to drive up there today (and tomorrow--I'm taking her up for a Mother's Day ride!) so I was left to mull around in my own grumpiness. I did though, decide that it wasn't worth the waste of time and got promptly onto my "house to do list". One of those things was to replant the seedlings that were lost over my weekend away. I made a spot on the deck to get things ready and potted so there I was, mixing the potting mix, filling random containers with dirt and placing a surviving seedling into it or a new seed.

Something about working with your hands with the earth is incredibly satisfying. I was rocking away to Of Monsters and Men and just being one with nature. It was a perfect day too. Nice and overcast with a moderate temperature and my neighbour's daughter taking slap-shots with her dad as goalie. It was my time. I love my neighbourhood.

As I'm working away, I heard this faint mewing. I paused and thought that I might just be imagining things. It's been a long while but I still really miss my two feline siblings. Each one as different as the other but both as close as family could get. Maybe it was the nostalgia getting the better of me today but I slowly removed my head phones and I clearly heard the audible "mew mew mew". Here's the thing though, our neighbourhood is known to have several outdoor cats and a few strays so I wasn't exactly thinking that anything would come out of me getting up to explore--my legs are sore squatting so this could just be a good break.

I make my way down the steps to the car-port and I continue to hear this little mew mew and when I crouch down to take a look, I see 2 bright yellow-green eyes beaming out at me with what look like 2 little white front teeth? Upon closer inspection, I see that he's mostly black with some unusual white facial markings. And, a harness?? At first I thought it was just a collar and in that case, it would have just been my kitty loving self going in for the mega pats and belly rubs. But, I see that the harness has part of what was a leash attached--it looks like someone's lost!

My mom was out to do the weekly grocery shopping so I couldn't reach her to get some cat food for the little guy so there I was, feeding him the pricey, extremely tasty stewed Berkshire pork my mom made. Wow, he sure was hungry! By now, I figured I had to get him out of there since he belonged to someone and was probably just lost, cold, hungry and very scared. I was on a mission.

After several hours of me periodically coaxing him out with treats that ADW brought over (thanks ADW!), he cautiously crawled out to grab the treat and retreat back to his spot and munch away. That's the thing about working with animals... you have to have a lot of patience. Some days things go great, other times, you're wishing you could channel some Dr. Doolittle. Today, I channeled Dr. Doolittle and the second I saw my opening, I went in and grabbed him to pull him out. He panicked and freaked out as any good cat would but lucky me, I looked up and ADW was standing there looking at us in awe "how did you get him out!?".

He's such a pig!

After ADW helped me get the little dude into the carrier we set-up, I took him upstairs and assembled a basic kitty hideout in my bathroom. And, with some patience and time, the little buddy came out of both his shell and the carrier to thank me for "saving him". When in reality, the thing that saved him was that halter that he was wearing. Tonight, he's  got a warm and safe place to sleep and when I last peeked in on him, he was peacefully snoozing away.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been channelling Tardar Sauce since snowmaggedon when I missed my riding lesson.

Un-Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!