Introducing: Cleo and Patch (aka. Patra)!

Patch is the bolder one standing to the left.  Cleo is the lazier calmer one lying to the right… I’m told that the calmness (in addition to her propensity to jumping to the highest heights in the apartment) mean that she is the boss.

And no, despite the fact that we have named them, they haven’t been baptised, despite my best efforts…

Funny… I thought they’d rather like Father Grackle’s vestments.  They certainly seemed to like them enough last night when the vestments were prized from some hidden corner and left on top of JJs shoes for nuzzling purposes!

In fact, despite the fact that we have purchased every cat toy known to… ahem.. catkind… they prefer old human favourites for play.  For example:  God(dess) bless IKEA…

… or, if it’s too heavy to hang on your wall, don’t worry – you haven’t wasted $19.99.  Just put it on the floor for the cats instead.  Hours (and hours, and hours) of amusement.

But if $19.99 seems too steep, here is another kitty favourite:

Ye Olde Paper Bagge.  A very fun toy for kitties, apparently.  As was this variation which was left on the floor somewhere in the house inadvertently…

The “green” grocery store bag.  You know, the one that they sell you for 99 cents now that the City of Toronto has told them to start taxing us 5 cents for plastic bags.  I have about 5 million of these bags as I keep forgetting to take them to the store.  Now that the new tax has kicked in, I’ve been made to feel like a criminal asking for plastic bags.  Hello?!?!  I’m PAYING for it.  But I digress.  The kitties love this bag and in fact fight for dominance over it:

They also seem to love these knitted items:

(And no, they didn’t destroy this rug.  I did so myself by freaking out and putting a hot saucepan on it some time back)…and this one:

(my Liquorice Allsorts sweater.  It never fit properly, so I felted it.  At that time, I thought it would make a funky handbag.  However, Cleo and Patch have now claimed it as their own.).

They have been very busy exploring, and have even found a separate level on our dining room table that we had forgotten existed:

They have also been sunning themselves out on our patio:

… and enjoying the hell out of another blankie of mine:

In fact, they have inspired me to start knitting again!  And no, no, no, not cute little outfits.  Just cute little blankies:

This one was made from some Fleece Artist acrylic blend I had left over.  Funky shape, eh?  I wish I had a photo of one of the kitties on it, but they were too busy celebrating by themselves when I brought it out…

So, I’ve started another blankie, given their excitement level:

This one is, again, courtesy of Fleece Artist – their “Curlylocks” blend.  I think that the above will be for Patch, who very much appreciates fuzziness.  So that Cleo does not feel left out, I’ve started her a sleeker Twilley denim log cabin:

And, just in case you wondered whether I’ve become so obsessed with the kitties that I’ve given up everything else – fear not. I’ve also been canning!

I saw an interesting and easy recipe for barbecue sauce the other evening on “Chuck’s Night Off”. Chuck is a very endearing french-canadian chef who has a show on the Food Network up here. He offered up the following very simple recipe for BBQ sauce: 1 cup each of apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and ketchup. I of course had to add a few things… and also to can some of it because there is no way that JJ and I can polish off 2 litres of BBQ sauce in the near future.

So, how am I, you ask?  Well, I’ve had a couple of days off work now… going back on Thursday.  In the meantime, I’ve been doing a LOT of this:

Happy summer!!!

PS. Thanks to all of you for your kind comments. I will be in touch personally in due course. 🙂