I'm fostering a kitten right now, taking care of him for a while until his people can find a furr-ever home for him. His name is Rupert, he's about 3 1/2 months old, and is a marble ginger tabby. I suspect he may have some Bengal in him. He's a sweet thing--hugely energetic, but also very affectionate. (I took pictures, but they're all too big to upload.)
I'd take him permanently, but not having a job right now I don't feel it would be responsible to do so. (Although I've had several interviews lately, so knock wood!)
Part of me, though, is feeling a little guilty for letting myself get involved with another cat so soon after Zane; like a widower dating when grass isn't grown on his late wife's grave.
Hi Elkhound. Rupert sounds like a perfect kitten. I love marble tabbys. My sister's cat is grey striped with tan edging on the grey. Is this what you mean by Ginger tabby? May be I'm stepping too far into the future here, but something in your words makes me think Rupert has already found a Furr-ever home. That little notion sounds absolutely marvelous to me. A purring, playful kitten in the house should be well worth the extra expense of kitten food. Besides how much can a tiny kitten eat? Shrink a picture and upload it, I would love to see Rupert.
Also, I just knocked on some wood about those interviews. Good luck!
Hi, Laurna~The kitten food isn't my concern. What if he gets sick and I can't afford the vet bills? And what if I get foreclosed on? I have friends/relatives who might take me in, but I couldn't ask them to take Rupert in, too.
Even it you can't keep him, he sounds like a very cute kitty and you can enjoy him for the while he is with you.
Hoping the job interviews go very well. *knocks wood*
When Rupert grows up, he'll probably look like this: (https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmessybeast.com%2Fimages%2Ftabby-ginger.jpg&hash=e60bb55c1a943637a8791f3c363c86f70865aa88)
Rupert is one lucky puddy tat!!
Rupert sounds adorable. My Luke is a ginger tabby too. Most of the ginger tabbies I have met have tended to be very sweet natured. I hope you find a job soon and that you're able to keep your new feline buddy.
Thanks, Evie.
The interview last week was as a Cultural Programming Coordinator for the State Department of History, Archives, & Culture. That is *right* up my ally.
Oh Elkhound, please don't feel guilty about getting involved with another cat. Zane will always have a special place in your heart, but it really is okay to make other commitments now, even if they are only short term. Taking care of Rupert in his time of need will not diminish what you shared with Zane, but rather carries on the legacy of love and affection you once shared with your beloved fur-friend.
I have two interviews next week--one as a Paralegal with the state tax department, and another as a docket clerk with the office of administrative hearings. Neither is quite as up my alley as the Cultural Programming position, but still, a job is a job and it WILL get me back into the State system.
Good luck, Elkhound!
Fingers crossed. :)
Good luck Elkhound.
I hope that works out for you!
Good luck on all of your interviews!!
Something set Rupert off last night. About midnight he started dashing all over the apartment as though all the demons of Hell were after him, yowling like a banshee. Including on the bed. Right over the lump in the blankets that was me.
Then, after about 10 minutes, he jumped up on the bed, curled up under my chin, and went to sleep.
Cats are insane.
Congratulations, you've experienced Crazy Kitteh Time. Happens at my house usually somewhere between 9:30 and 11:00 pm. ;D
I've had cats that got the Zips, but usually it was in the early evening, not late at night.
He spent about 1/2 hour asleep on my lap, just as though he'd NEVER. . . .lets see what happens after I get to bed.
A cat fit! :o
This evokes images of Koko and Yum-yum from The Cat Who... books. (Sure, they're brain candy, but my mom enjoys them and it's something we can share.)
Sounds like Rupert is a normal, healthy kitty!
It has nothing to do with you're cute little Rupert having a run around, but last night at about 1:00 am we had a tiny earthquake. A 3.1 fairly close to home. It was barely noticeable. Mostly just a sound of rumbling and than a small shake. But my little Jessa started howling and crying and carrying on like the world was about to end. I had to pick her up, cuddle her, and tell her it was all right. I have to laugh, I guess that was her first experience with an earthquake. I and the rest of the dogs would have slept through it if she had not made such a fuss.
Earthquakes...yeah, that's one thing I don't miss since leaving California.... :D
Yeah, we get an occasional tremor up here sometimes, too. I'm glad it wasn't serious, Laurna.
What I don't miss from living in the Midwest are the tornadoes. Oddly enough, though, an EF1 tornado touched down just a few miles from us a few weeks ago, but nothing like the ones we experienced back east.
Cat fits, on the other hand, are not limited by region, and are nearly impossible to predict!
Back in the early 80's, there was a 5 earthquake in Ohio. I was sitting on the couch and it started shaking. I thought my sister was shaking it, but no one was there. She and our dog were upstairs and they were experiencing more shaking than me. Our mom was in the basement and felt nothing.
I remember that! I lived in Michigan at the time, and we felt it there, too.
DH and I experienced the Ash Wednesday Earthquake that hit Seattle in 2001. DH was in a parking lot, and thought someone was jumping on his work truck. Then he saw the plate glass store windows wobbling back and forth like jello, and realized what was happening.
Pulled a couple of squirrels out of the freezer--courtesy of a hunting friend; made squirrel curry, served over wild rice. (To keep this somehow on topic, I wonder how our Gwynneddian friends would react to that?) I set the livers and hearts aside and cooked them separately for Rupert.
First a sniff, then a nibble, then MEERRAOW!---he INHALED them. I guess something about them called to his Inner Lynx.
The blend of spices used in curry would probably be quite unfamiliar; however, the taste of squirrel itself would not be. :)
They wouldn't have rice, much less wild rice, would they?
Probably not, as both rice and wild rice are warm-climate plants. :)
Quote from: DesertRose on November 13, 2013, 10:05:32 PM
Probably not, as both rice and wild rice are warm-climate plants. :)
Wild rice isn't. It is native to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Canada. . . . (I grew up in Minnesota, and have seen the Native Americans harvesting it in the traditional way.)
Huh. Learn something new every day.
I still doubt Gwyneddans would know wild rice, though. :)
Rupert caught his first mouse last night!
No, they wouldn't very likely as it is a New World plant. (Although I vaguely remember a couple of references to flora and fauna which in our universe are New World.)
Congratulations to the little predator! ;D
A lot of what we consider "traditional" Old World cuisine is only actually "traditional" to the last few centuries since the discovery of the New World. We tend to think of Italian pizzas and pastas with tomato based sauces, and associate Ireland with potatoes, but during the medieval period those countries wouldn't have had access to either of those dietary "staples." Though yes, the mileage in KK's fantasy world could very well vary. That's one of the perqs of having a fantasy universe to play in. And after all, the Codex talks about Gwynedd having chipmunks, not to mention those antelope roaming the plains near Llyndruth Meadows, though both of those animal "import" mentions could well be "Robisms" rather than anything KK came up with herself.
Quote from: Evie on November 14, 2013, 08:51:00 AM
A lot of what we consider "traditional" Old World cuisine is only actually "traditional" to the last few centuries since the discovery of the New World. We tend to think of Italian pizzas and pastas with tomato based sauces, and associate Ireland with potatoes, but during the medieval period those countries wouldn't have had access to either of those dietary "staples."
For potatoes, substitute turnips, parsnips, or rutabagas. And, leaving aside the tomato sauce, trencher bread isn't that different from pizza. There is a passage in one of Virgil's eclogues describing the making of what is, essentially, pesto sauce.
Thank you, you've just made me hungry for a homemade pizza with pesto sauce, topped with grilled or roasted chicken, roasted red peppers, bacon, feta cheese & mozzarella. And I'm stuck at work all day. I could cry now....
;D
Quote from: Elkhound on November 14, 2013, 07:22:47 AM
Rupert caught his first mouse last night!
Well done, Rupert! I don't know much about cats, never having owned (or been owned) by one, but is 3 and 1/2 months early for such an accomplishment?
Quote from: Jerusha on November 14, 2013, 11:19:55 AM
Well done, Rupert! I don't know much about cats, never having owned (or been owned) by one, but is 3 and 1/2 months early for such an accomplishment?
Growing up, we were adopted by a beautiful white Persian, who immediately established herself by having kittens. (Though we ran several ads, no one claimed her.) She had already been declawed, but was the most amazing huntress we'd ever seen. She passed this skill on to her kittens, who, at just two or three months old, were roaming our 5 acres and catching mice, ground squirrels, and other rodents.
Great news about Rupert. If they get a taste for rodent that young, they'll be good mousers, though the females tend to hunt more than the males, I've found.
Quote from: Aerlys on November 14, 2013, 11:29:28 AM
Great news about Rupert. If they get a taste for rodent that young, they'll be good mousers, though the females tend to hunt more than the males, I've found.
Shhh, don't tell Luke that! He's our family mouser. Gigi's predatory instincts are limited to furry toys. ;D
I had a dog named Cuddles (someone else named her) that was good at catching rodents, too. She was a Collie/German Shepherd mix. Smartest and sweetest dog I ever owned.
Later, we had another dog named Lucky. (We didn't give her that moniker, either. NEVER name a dog Lucky, for it sorely tempts the Fates.) She just sat in the kitchen and casually watched a mouse run around in circles in front of her, and then looked at me like, "What? I'm not a cat. You catch it."
I swear that mouse was snickering at me, saying, "Nyaah nyaah na nyaaaaah nayaah!" :P
(Squeeee! I'm a Baroness!)
Had to Google rutabagas!
That would be swedes, people! ;)
The only "Swedes" we have over here are people visiting from Sweden; that name for the vegetable is almost unknown here. For that matter, a lot of people in the US don't even know what rutabagas are by any name. (I'm wondering if they'd be called "swedes" in Gwynedd, given that they don't have a nearby kingdom of Sweden, or if the veggie has a different etymology and isn't named for Sweden at all?)
We do, however, keep "kiwis" in the produce section of the grocery store, much to the consternation of people from New Zealand who would prefer not to be chucked into a fruit bin.... ;) The fruit is known as kiwifruit in other parts of the world, yes? And the color "auburgine" is known here (at least by some folk), but we usually call that veggie an eggplant.
A Dutch friend once told me about a Burger King sandwich he'd enjoyed which had grilled chicken, auburgine, courgette, and paprika on it, and I had to look those three veggies up, because they all go by different names over here. (We have "paprika," but it refers to something else.) And even after I got the meanings sorted, I was still a bit befuddled, because Burger Kings over on this side of the world don't even offer that sandwich! This has led to several years' worth of amusement in comparing menus from fast food restaurants with franchises on opposite sides of the Pond.... ;D
Thanks, Annie! So that's what swedes are. You also have such delicacies as "bubble and squeak" and "toad in a hole." (Yes, I know what they are.) And here, my kids enjoy pigs in a blanket.
Mmmm...Rutabagas, cooked and mashed with fresh butter! "Auburgine" has a special place in may heart, too. (**WINK** to those few who know why.)
In high school, I lived with students from all over the word, and it was fun discovering the differences in food, especially when the care packages came. I remember that Mars bars from Malaysia had hazelnuts, and something else in New Zealand (but I forget what.) Friends from Mexico shared suckers with small bits of jalapeno in them (quite tasty!). They also detested American versions of "Mexican" food (of course, this was in Kansas, and I am sure it is much better in the border states). Anyone else here ever sample kangaroo jerky? How many Americans out there like Vegemite?
Hm, Burger King, curry, pesto, wild rice, pizza... How the thread does drift from a kitty enjoying a fresh repast of mouse!
Yes, it's from Sweden, as they are Swedish turnips. Hence why I grew up calling them neeps, or turnip, and was very confused that English people called them swedes. (No, not even the English and Scots can agree on vegetable names!)
And a vegetable called paprika? Paprika is a spice, no?
Yes, we have bubble and squeak, and toad in the hole. We also have pigs in blankets, devils on horseback, and Welsh rabbit, amongst other fun food names. And in school we used to have suet pastry, spread with jam, rolled up like a Swiss roll and baked, and it was known as dead man's leg. I always thought it was a nickname peculiar to our school, but apparently it's a legit name.
Good on Rupert for his mousing prowess. :D
It's funny, on the topic of foods and places, earlier today I was in a discussion on another website about snickerdoodles, which cookie (biscuit to you across the Pond) I had to explain to a British friend of mine a few years ago. She thought they sounded delicious and wanted to break out her spice grinder to grind up some cinnamon and make some, but until I mentioned them to her (and then had to explain and share a recipe), she had never heard of them.
Quote from: Evie on November 14, 2013, 10:53:03 AM
Thank you, you've just made me hungry for a homemade pizza with pesto sauce, topped with grilled or roasted chicken, roasted red peppers, bacon, feta cheese & mozzarella. And I'm stuck at work all day. I could cry now....
;D
That does sound good.
When I was about 10 we went to England for a summer and stayed mostly in B&Bs; my mother taught several of our landladies how to make American-style Deviled Eggs.
Quote from: AnnieUK on November 14, 2013, 03:07:35 PM
And a vegetable called paprika? Paprika is a spice, no?
We have paprika the spice here, but evidently in the Netherlands, that name refers to what we would call bell pepper over here. Or at least that's the sort of "paprika" that was on my friend's BK chicken sandwich.
Quote
Yes, we have bubble and squeak, and toad in the hole. We also have pigs in blankets, devils on horseback, and Welsh rabbit, amongst other fun food names. And in school we used to have suet pastry, spread with jam, rolled up like a Swiss roll and baked, and it was known as dead man's leg. I always thought it was a nickname peculiar to our school, but apparently it's a legit name.
I love the colorful names! The UK imported foods section of my local Publix grocery store also has a few cans of "Spotted Dick" on the shelf, which elicits the same sort of snickers from American shoppers that the movie title "Free Willy" probably did to UK moviegoers. I'll confess I've not gone out of my way to buy a can and try it, though I've almost managed to master the urge to smirk whenever I browse that aisle. ;D
Snickerdoodles are absolute yum! <3
And yes, Aerlys, threads on this forum can end up veering off in very random and unexpected directions. That's half the fun, IMO! I remember going away for a long weekend once and returning to read pages of comments on one of my story chapters about which opera singers might portray which Deryni characters if there were ever an operatic version of the Deryni Chronicles. And no, my story chapter had absolutely
nothing to do with opera! ;D (Though I didn't mind the discussion straying off course; it was quite educational, and led to me listening to several YouTube clips to figure out what everyone was going on about.)
Oh, I take no issue with straying off-topic. It's fun and amusing! That's one of the many things I like about this forum.
So now that I'm craving snickerdoodles, I am also reminded that I need bring the (grumble, grumble) fundraising pamphlet for orchestra to (grumble) sell cookie dough.
Hey, trivia question: as a kid, we grew and ate something called a cucuzzi. Now that's something probably less known than "auburgene." Any guess as to what it is, without any help from Google? :D
And this particular section of the forum is specifically for straying off-topic. :D
Quote from: Aerlys on November 14, 2013, 04:07:06 PM
Hey, trivia question: as a kid, we grew and ate something called a cucuzzi. Now that's something probably less known than "auburgene." Any guess as to what it is, without any help from Google? :D
Ummmm... let's see... "cu-" comes from the Middle English word for "cow" (our humble cucumber was alternately called a cowcumber in earlier times), and "-cuzzi" is obviously related to "jacuzzi," so a "cucuzzi" must be a jacuzzi for cows! Though why one would eat such a thing, I have no clue. You must have very strong teeth! ;D
Quote from: Evie on November 14, 2013, 04:45:20 PM
Ummmm... let's see... "cu-" comes from the Middle English word for "cow" (our humble cucumber was alternately called a cowcumber in earlier times), and "-cuzzi" is obviously related to "jacuzzi," so a "cucuzzi" must be a jacuzzi for cows! Though why one would eat such a thing, I have no clue. You must have very strong teeth! ;D
ROTFLMBO!
It's pronounced ku-koo-za, or "goo-gootz" (abbreviated speech of Campania, Calabria, Sicily, and all regions of southern Italy.)
My grandmother was Sicilian, so we always called them "goo-GOOTZ."
Quote from: Aerlys on November 14, 2013, 04:07:06 PM
Hey, trivia question: as a kid, we grew and ate something called a cucuzzi. Now that's something probably less known than "auburgene." Any guess as to what it is, without any help from Google? :D
Some sort of squash?
Quote from: Evie on November 14, 2013, 03:56:41 PM
Quote from: AnnieUK on November 14, 2013, 03:07:35 PM
And yes, Aerlys, threads on this forum can end up veering off in very random and unexpected directions. That's half the fun, IMO! I remember going away for a long weekend once and returning to read pages of comments on one of my story chapters about which opera singers might portray which Deryni characters if there were ever an operatic version of the Deryni Chronicles. And no, my story chapter had absolutely nothing to do with opera! ;D (Though I didn't mind the discussion straying off course; it was quite educational, and led to me listening to several YouTube clips to figure out what everyone was going on about.)
Yes, I remember that one. I imagined Charissa as being like Mozart's Queen of the Night, while someone else pictured her more like Puccini's Princess Turandot.
I had to Google snickerdoodles when I came across them. And spotted dick is yummy. You should give it a go!
Hehe I had missed two pages of this thread earlier.
I had to give Wikipedia a lot of attention to figure all this out. here is some of the list: rutabagas=Swedes= neeps(turnips) and tatties(potatoes) (commonly served with haggis), Cucuzzi= a very odd looking ... (Opps hide spoiler), bubble and squeak (which was totally new to me), and spotted dick (which I would have guessed to be canned fish, not a fruit cake like pudding. ;)
At least I know what a snickerdoodle cookie is. :P
The spotted dick reminds me I need to order the family fruit cake to have it by the holiday.
I was looking up broccoli two days ago and I learned that it was originally Italian from 6th century BC. The Romans ate it; although it did not get to England until the 1700's. Knowing this, do you think that broccoli would be found in our Deryni cuisine?
And Elkhound congratulates on your mousier.
And let's not forget clapshot, which is bubble and squeak's less famous cousin.
Aw, man, now I want mince and clapshot!
Quote from: AnnieUK on November 15, 2013, 01:38:09 AM
I had to Google snickerdoodles when I came across them.
Okay, so apparently snickerdoodles are NOT A Thing in the UK. :) That's a damn shame. Snickerdoodles are delicious.
Quote from: Elkhound on November 14, 2013, 11:15:34 PM
Quote from: Aerlys on November 14, 2013, 04:07:06 PM
Hey, trivia question: as a kid, we grew and ate something called a cucuzzi. Now that's something probably less known than "auburgene." Any guess as to what it is, without any help from Google? :D
Some sort of squash?
Ooh, so close! It's an Italian edible gourd that resembles a green bean on steroids. And if you think you're in trouble when you miss a zucchini for a few days, you haven't seen how huge cucuzzi get! I brought one to school to show off when I was 11 that was a big as I was.
(https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F518%252BS5fgZmL._SL500_.jpg&hash=38976243defd95479599254044facd19a200f950)
(https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs.ecrater.com%2Fstores%2F59305%2F4e36a5969ed52_59305n.jpg&hash=dca1ba20da254dccbcae8a87d5b3bb6e0aedd87e)
Cucuzzi are quite mild and tender. My grandmother used to slice them, dip them in egg, bread them in Italian bread crumbs, and fry them. I'm not so crazy about fried foods, but that was tasty. She also made a veggie/tomato stew with it that was my favorite.
I think I only heard of snickerdoodles about ten years ago, and thought they would taste peanut-buttery, like a snickers. It just wasn't a cookie we ever made, for some reason.
Clapshot sounds more like "claptrap" to me than a food. But, since I like bubble and squeak, I'll look it up!
Bubble & Squeak is very like a New England Boiled Dinner, no?
I know that Spotted Dick is a sponge cake with dried fruit in it, although it sounds like a venereal disease.
Old joke: "Have you ever eaten British cooking? Oh, you have. Have you ever tasted English cooking? I thought not." The Italians have a saying, "Nella Inglaterra si mange male." Although I am told that things have gotten better.
In case you missed it:
"There should be a burnished tablet let into the ground on the spot where some courageous man first ate Stilton cheese, and survived."
-G.K. Chesterton, The Poet and the Cheese, A Miscellany of Men
Aerlys, I've gotten the impression somewhere that snickerdoodles are a Southern US thing primarily, but if that's the case, the rest of y'all are missing out. :P
What do cucuzzi taste like? I wonder if you could put it in a stir fry? :)
"It was a brave man who first ate an oyster."--anon.
Elkhound, I'd say it was a brave (or desperate) person who first ate a LOBSTER. I mean, seriously, who looks at those ugly things and thinks, "Yum!"
Disclaimer: I despise seafood, so I'm not being fair to lobster, but I'm sorry, they're ugly as dirt.
DR, cucuzzi taste like a very mild squash. I'm sure you could add it to stir fry if you wanted to, though I'm not sure my Italian relatives would agree.
Snickerdoodles are quite popular up here in the Pac NW, but with the number of transplants (including myself), they could very well be a southern import. I think they are quite scrummy.
And who the heck first looked at a cow or a goat and thought, "I'm going to squeeze those dangly things down there and drink whatever comes out." Never mind squid! And there's a store I frequent where one can buy a whole, frozen octopus. Bleaaaaah! :P
Quote from: DesertRose on November 16, 2013, 12:36:34 PM
Disclaimer: I despise seafood, so I'm not being fair to lobster, but I'm sorry, they're ugly as dirt.
There was a TV show I saw once where the family was going to have a lobster dinner. They had bought the lobster and had put them in the bathtub until it was time to cook them. The kid comes home from school, goes into the bathroom, then comes out screaming, "THE BIGGEST COACKROACHES I'VE EVER SEEN!"
I once roomed with a Chinese guy who, when I asked him if some of the stories I'd read about the bizarre things the Chinese eat, said, "That's the Cantonese; they'll eat anything. I'm from Shanghai."
My DH unwittingly ate rat when he was in Kowloon. :P
Heh, we've gone from a cat eating a mouse, to a man eating a rat...
When I lived in Charlotte, my neighbor's demented Siamese used to kill rats. Wouldn't eat them, though---he'd leave them on the doormat. (The cat put a rat on the mat. :-))
Quote from: Elkhound on November 19, 2013, 12:19:03 PM
When I lived in Charlotte, my neighbor's demented Siamese used to kill rats. Wouldn't eat them, though---he'd leave them on the doormat. (The cat put a rat on the mat. :-))
Was he fat? ;D
I had a cat that would catch a mouse and then drop it in his water dish. Every time the mouse tried to get out, he'd bat it back in until it finally drowned.
"Eekk!" there is a water bowl I don't want to clean.
Twice now, my sweet Kitty Cat has sat at the front door with a rabbit in her mouth making that load whining meow sound. She won't drop the bunny until you open a can of wet cat food. Dry food won't cut it. It is like she is saying "Feed me, or the bunny gets it!" Then the rabbit, seemingly unhurt, leaps away into the bushes.
Quote from: Laurna on November 20, 2013, 03:09:20 PM
Then the rabbit, seemingly unhurt, leaps away into the bushes.
And Kitty Cat says, "I thought you *liked* hassenpfeffer?"
I got Rupert's vet records; turns out he's a couple of months older than I had been led to believe, so my speculation has no foundation.
In case anyone wants to know what Rupert looks like now that he's grown up from a kitten to a CAT, I've posted a picture of him in the gallery. He's supervising me as I type this; he makes a very good supervisor. Not so good when he decides he wants to be an assistant.
Rupert is a very handsome cat! He must be happy and content with you. :)