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Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts

Friday, September 27, 2019

Hooray for Fall!

Hi everyone! Monday was the autumnal equinox, so it’s officially fall now, hooray! I had some salted pumpkin seeds for a snack this week… 


Made some peanut butter noodles and veggies… 


Finally tried the carrot-cucumber salad from Food for Dissertating, which was super delicious… 

Served with white rice and Gardein’s mandarin orange crispy chick’n

And improvised a green bean casserole with pole beans from my garden. It turned out alright, but I used too much creamy mushroom soup, so I’ll probably cook some pasta tonight to add to the leftovers… 


Leela was not happy about going back to the vet so soon after her wellness exam, but she was having mouth pain and not eating as much as she usually does, so we brought her in yesterday morning. The vet found a sore in her mouth at the back of her upper left jaw, so she was given antibiotic and steroid injections.


We have to give her prednisolone for two weeks and she’s scheduled for a recheck on October 10, but she’s already eating a lot better and seems to be experiencing less discomfort, so we’re optimistic! She joined me for some meditating this morning… 


The praying mantis decided to switch it up, moving to hang out with my pepper plant and the kale…


And the little bun says hello… 



Here are two pictures I took of the French Creek in Phoenixville, the first from the low bridge (Main Street), the second from the high bridge (Gay Street), both looking west… 



A squirrel sketch I did this week… 


And sweet Daisy, taking a selfie, hehe… 


Peace. :)

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Bookmarked Recipe: Roasted Apples (Tea and Sympatico)

Hi everyone, and happy first day of fall! Today I made a simple recipe that’s perfect for the season – the roasted apples shared by Tea and Sympatico in Vegan MoFo 2016. After they finished baking, Zach and I went kayaking up the canal and then down the Schuylkill River; it was such a fun adventure! When we got home, I enjoyed a cup of roasted apples as dinner cooked; it was a perfect treat, like apple pie without the crust! 


Here’s Cringer being cute; she likes looking out the window – being between the window and the curtain – and then letting the curtain rest over her head when she turns back… 


Peace. :)

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Tea & Oatmeal

Hi everyone! Today's Vegan MoFo prompt is: Autumn/Fall Traditions – Are there any foods you traditionally make in this season? Back in October, I tried two new fall recipes: Chickpeas and Dumplings and Coconut Pumpkin Bread, but I guess my main tradition is that when fall begins, I start drinking tea in the morning and having oatmeal instead of cereal. I prefer Numi's rooibos chai this time of year, and I make my oatmeal with a bit of water, some soy milk, a spoonful each of chia seeds and coconut oil, a handful of raisins, several pinches of salt, and a few shakes of cinnamon. It's a nice, warm, fortifying breakfast. 


Here's Leela; her current fall tradition is that she joins me in the morning when I meditate...




Peace. :)

Saturday, October 15, 2016

MiniMoFo #3: Welcoming Fall

Hello everyone! For the third MiniMoFo challenge, I made Coconut Pumpkin Bread, another recipe from House Vegan: Fall FoMo No More. It turned out really well; coconut and pumpkin are such a perfect combination! This is sure to become a traditional fall recipe for me!



I realized the other day that I haven't shared any of my sketches here recently, so here's the fall-themed art I did on Tuesday night when I went out with Zach and some of his soccer friends. The "tablecloths" were brown paper and they provided colored pencils in a jar on the table, so I decided to art the night away...



gourd

sunflower

pumpkin

corn

And now for some major cuteness...


As fall settles in and the nights grow colder, cuddles are certainly called for, so Cringer has been diligently working on softening Buttons up to the idea. One night she was bold and pressed her nose into Buttons' side, but that didn't last long (I tried to get a picture but Buttons moved before I could). So, on Wednesday night, Cringer settled for just resting her head on the corner of the purple blanket...



...but by Thursday night, something clicked, and they finally they settled in, side by side!








Daisy, on the other paw, works on getting close to Leela during the day. This endeavor is going to be more of a challenge because Leela really only likes to cuddle humans, not fellow kitties. But Daisy can be patient...



P.S. Less than one week left to sign up for Vegan MoFo! I signed up last night; have you?


Peace. :)

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Fall Vegetable Plate with Sausage

Hello everyone! Today's prompt is "Autumn equinox eats," and while it would have been awesome to put together a harvest meal, my garden didn't work out this year. (I planted too late, and it looks like all I'm getting from it is a tiny, oddly shaped cucumber.) Not to be discouraged, I simply put together a meal featuring the veggies I'd hoped to grow in my garden... 


Here we have broccoli and carrots (oven-roasted with garlic salt, along with one of the leftover sausages from yesterday), kale and snow peas (steamed), and tomato and cucumber slices.



All in all, it was pretty delicious, and I hope next year I'll be able to recreate this dish, but with veggies I grew myself!



Oh, and look what I'm going to have for tea time tonight!



In today's kitty news, Leela got to the sunshine first, and Buttons was jealous.




Meanwhile, Cringer and Daisy played together.



Peace. :)

Thursday, November 7, 2013

NaNoWriMo, Turkey Sketches, and More!

Hello everyone! I'm currently in the midst of my fourth NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), wherein participants attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I've been keeping myself on track (writing at least 1,667, if not a bit more, words per day). Yesterday, I passed the 10,000-word mark, so I am already a fifth of the way done (I still have to get my writing done for today, though; writing this post is a bit of procrastination on my end).


My story's still coming together, and I'm always hesitant to share what I am writing, but here goes: My story is about a girl (a senior in high school) who decides one day to leave home, setting off on foot for the city, determined to walk to her new life and never look back. Shortly after she leaves, however, her family's cat is attacked by some neighborhood boys. The girl learns that her parents intend to have the cat euthanized (disabled, the cat is now useless to her parents for the purpose of "pest control"), so she returns to rescue her friend, and the two continue the journey, together.

Also, in these days leading up to Thanksgiving, I have been doing sketches of turkeys, which I have been posting to Facebook, accompanied by some turkey facts. Each post ends with: "Respect turkeys. Go vegan." Here are the sketches I have done so far; all the quoted facts in the captions are from the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.

"Turkeys like to eat breakfast and dinner together as a family. They have two main meal times, one mid-morning, the other mid-afternoon."
"Young turkeys under four weeks of age, known as poults, learn crucial survival skills and information from their mother, including what to eat, how to avoid predators, the geographical layout of the home range, and important social behaviors."
[sketch based off of this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/etaddei/5267958686/]
"Mother turkeys are fiercely protective of their young, and will risk their lives to save their babies. If she senses a threat, a mother turkey sounds a specific warning cry to her brood that means only one thing: run for cover. She may also attack, or pretend to be wounded to distract the predator from her offspring."
"Turkey hens are devoted mothers who care diligently for their young, with broods staying together for 4-5 months and male siblings maintaining a social bond for life."
[sketch based off of first photo from here: http://www.dennisgoulet.us/2009/08/turkey-and-poults/]
"Turkeys are sensitive, social individuals, and in conditions where they are permitted to thrive, they are seen for the complex, adaptive, and intelligent animals that they are."
[sketch based off of photo from here: http://www.ourhenhouse.org/2013/08/tilley-the-turkey-at-cedar-row-farm-sanctuary/]
"When trust has been established, turkeys love to be stroked, snuggled and petted for long periods of time. When receiving such affection, many turkeys make a sound that can only be described as 'purring.'"
[sketch based off of photo from here: http://www.woodstocksanctuary.org/learn-3/factory-farmed-animals/turkeys/]

I've also gotten my Thanksgiving decorations set up...







In the spirit of fall, I've made my pumpkin brownies. I didn't even use the full can of pumpkin this time, but they still turned out super mushy, so I cut them up as best I could and froze them. I've been enjoying one each night with my tea (just warm it up in the microwave for about 45 seconds). 


Also, as you may have noticed, my background design has been updated to reflect the lovely sights of fall!


Finally, here's a picture I took about a week ago of Mystery enjoying the sun; today she's grumpy because it's cloudy and rainy.


Peace. :)