Friday 30 October 2009

Autumn Stories

It’s been a long time since I last posted anything, but there’s a reason – I feel very guilty of rushing off and telling everyone about Kitty. The day I did it, we were sure she was going to make it, but her illness must have been stronger than we thought it would be.

We had her for less than a week, but she straightaway became a member of the pack, so no doubt it took some time, before I started to calm down and realise that despite such sad moments life CAN BE and IS beautiful.

Now I keep looking around and enjoy all of the autumn stories:

- about leaves silently changing their colour, sparkling in the sun and then falling on the ground;

- about a boy, who tried to catch the wind and for a split second took off the solid ground;

- or some simple joys of life: a warm scarf, a cup of tea and an ability to watch the setting sun form inside a cosy house.

Monday 19 October 2009

Showing Kitty to the World

The cat that we "catnapped" last week, Kitty Emerald is getting a bit better: she’s eating more, doesn’t hiss at the other animals and is cleaning here fur! When we got her she was a bit smelly, but now she seems to pay a lot more attention to her personal hygiene. I’m sure she won’t ask us to get her a tooth brush, but if she continues her rituals, she might even avoid a bath!

Sadly a vet had to be involved, but it seems that the injections, that we will have to give her for a couple more days, are helping. Syringes and needles, as you can imagine, aren't our best friends, but antibiotics and vitamins are certainly doing their job. And as Kitty seems to be more confident in the house I took some photos.

Sorry about the quality – we have an immensely jealous dog, who can’t understand why someone else gets a bit more attention than her… So one sniffs, the other moves and here’s what comes out:

Here you can see my slipper and extremely cute bent Kitty's whiskers!

Here's a better one. But she looks a bit worried... The dog must have stood just behind me.

Lovely green eyes.

Friday 16 October 2009

At the Right Time

Today in the morning we had our first frost this autumn - it's a bit early, but still very exciting.

I woke up thinking it will be another wet and miserable day, but the sun was rising in a clear blue sky, so I looked out of the window and the fields around the house were white! It was so pretty... I admired the sight for a few minutes and then decided to grab my camera and take some photos, while walking the dog. (By the way, when we left the house the dog looked like she had just won the lottery - show a husky something what looks at least a bit like snow and they go mad!)


Walking in the garden I realised that so many jobs haven't been done - still need to put turf on roses, lavender and other plants that are likely to suffer during the winter period, need to dig out dahlias, rake the leaves, and gather walnuts... Well, I think you are getting the idea of what I'll be busy with this weekend… But I shouldn’t complain, as there are certain things that HAVE been done at the right time.

First of all I've nearly finished my extremely warm mohair scarf - a few more evenings and I'll be ready for the coming winter, and more importantly - I think we've saved life to a cat. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but our Kitty Emerald (yes, she’s got a very posh name!) is so thin at the moment… She doesn’t do much, just stays in her new cosy bed, doesn’t eat much and seems a bit miserable, but I hope she will survive. Well, she wouldn’t have much of a chance if she had stayed on the street in this weather… I’ll keep you informed.

Monday 5 October 2009

Colours of the Passing Storm

Yesterday we had a nasty storm – the wind was blowing so hard that it was knocking the trees over! It kept raining all day long and a few times the rain turned into hail. The harbour was closed, so several ships had to stay rocking on the waves before the wind dropped down a bit and it was finally safe to enter the port. I must admit I was tempted to go out just to see what it looked like on the beach, but in the end it was decided that it might be a bit dangerous to leave the house.

Today, when the wind isn’t so strong, I managed to take some photos of the Baltic – so have a look at the colours of the passing storm.




Sunday 4 October 2009

Rustic Apple Pie

I can’t believe that it’s October! Already!?

Well, if I look out of the window… I suppose it really is. The wind is very strong and it keeps raining non stop. I raked all the leaves yesterday, but the grass is covered in them again today… Don’t want to go out! And I don’t think I will, although I’m tempted to see the waves in the Baltic… Anyway, till it stops raining I will sit in our warm house, read my book and enjoy the so called rustic apple pie that I made last night.

If your or your friends’ orchard is full of apples, don’t be lazy and make one as well!


Rustic Apple Pie

125g melted butter
125g sugar
2 big eggs
375g flour
2 tea spoons of baking powder
¼ tea spoon of salt
70ml milk
4 biggish apples
2 spoons of any jam

Use food processor to mix sugar and eggs, add butter and mix till sugar dissolves completely. Flour, baking powder and salt should be mixed separately and then this mix should be gradually added to the sugar, eggs and butter mix. Keep pouring milk, so that your dough wouldn’t go hard.

Prepare a round baking tin – cover it in butter and then coat it with flour. Once your dough is solid place it in the baking tin. The top of your dough should be then covered in sliced apple without the skin.

Bake your pie for about 40-50 minutes, your oven should be preheated to 180C.

When you take your pie out of the oven cover the top in jam. Eat it while it’s hot! as autumn is all about colours and hot food :)