Cat-Nap Wednesdays (A day late!)

So I picked up some new food for Katie to try. She seemed quite pleased when I showed it to her.

But then I made the mistake of telling her it was reduced calorie and would help her with her weight loss goals.

The above picture shows the scowl on her a face as she was saying "What weight loss goals??"

When I asked her if she would try it, she shook her head "NO!"

~Michele

Fordite or Detroit Agate

Growing up in metro Detroit, you typically have cars in your blood. Add that Michele's family has made a living off of cars for three generations (service stations) and many hobbies (racing!) and you see why she loves this jewelry.

The artist, James Blanchard, finds paint rooms from old Ford plants and harvests chunks of paint. These have layers of paint built up over decades in some cases. As you can see he cuts and polishes each until he gets gorgeous shapes, patterns and colors.

A wonderful way to appreciate cars and recycle.
Andy

Cat-Nap Wednesdays

OK, one current pic of Katie above. Yes, she's under an Amazon.com box. No, we cannot explain why. (She wants to be returned?  ;-> ) That is the feline nature . . .

And, some from the past. Awhile ago, we had two others from the same litter, Abby and Jessie. They were both pistols and we miss them very much to this day.
Andy

Ballooning

Click for a larger picture of the balloonist inspecting the lines.

I was lucky enough to have a ballooning photoshoot awhile back. The balloonist that took me, Jeff Geiger, was the person who coordinated the event of the previous post. I highly recommend him; he's simply excellent, safe and professional. Grand Traverse Balloons.

Prep for lift-off.

Instead of "go fly a kite", go fly a . . . BALLOON! 
Andy

Straight down . . .

About a mile up . . . you can see the curvature of the earth.

Balloon Glow

We were able to take in a local hot-air balloon festival. We think it is the first of its kind in our area which is surprising since us North Michiganders can "festiv-ize" virtually anything. Just search back through this blog for "asparagus" to know what I mean.

I'll have another post later on this topic, but here are some shots in the meantime. Up, up and away!

Andy

Cat-Nap Wednesdays

Katie's new friend!!

~Michele

Asian Slaw and Asparagus . . . PESTO?!?!

That's right. Asparagus Pesto compliments of one of my favorite chefs, Mark Bittman aka "The Minimalist". Check out his video on this recipe. Here's the recipe I used:

• About 1 lb of fresh asparagus, 2 inch pieces boiled al dente
• 3 fresh green garlics (garlic scapes are not yet ready in our area, but the young plant is and works well!)
• 1/3 cup chopped/ground walnuts
• 1/4 cup fresh mozzarella
• 1/4 tsp (or to taste) kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp (or to taste) fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil or more; yes, like Mark I use A LOT and Michele and I LOVE Tuscan Herb Infused from Fustinis
• 1/8 cup Fustinis lemon infused white balsamic; yes, we love this too and you can add this to taste.
• Juice of a half lemon--I like to make sure it has a good lemon flavor
• 1/2 sweet red bell pepper, diced and stirred in at the end

Put it all in the food processor and it's yummy!

Does this bowl/table/lighting look familiar?

AND, one recipe of Asian Slaw can actually provide TWO dishes! Make and split in half the base below, mix up two sauces, and voilà!
BASE

• One fresh head of Napa Cabbage, shredded or chopped, about 4 to 6 cups
• 1/4 cup finely minced garlic greens (did you see this coming?)
• 1 to 2 cups finely julienned carrots
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

SAUCE ONE: Ginger Honey

• 1 Tb peanut oil
• 1/3 Cup Ginger Honey White Balsamic (guess where that came from?)

SAUCE TWO: Sesame Soy

• 1 Tb toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tb rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)

Bon Appétit!
Andy

Cat-Nap Wednesdays

Sweet little Katie has had a rough week. Went last Friday to have her teeth cleaned and had to have one removed. She was so happy when she got home that she went though the house purring and rubbing on everything. Then she realized that she really didn't feel so good ... poor little girl! She slept a lot for a couple of days but certainly found the energy to put up a fight when it was time for her medicine.

Today we had lots of storms ... one this afternoon that was pretty scary ... a lot of wind, hail and heavy rain. Katie doesn't like storms, so she spent the day running to the basement. When the weather settled she came up to my craft room, where I was doing some cleaning. She found these stacked boxes and made her way in.

At the moment Katie is a bit cross with me. She's had canned food (which she HIGHLY prefers) since she had a her tooth out. This afternoon I gave her a bit of dry food, to start her back to her regular diet. She looked at me as if to say "you have to be kidding" and walked away. She did come back and eat it though!

~Michele

Tree Swallows

In honor of our local and first annual BirdFest, here are some shots of a sweet Tree Swallow.

These are from a decent size bird sanctuary at the Suttons Bay Marina.
Andy