Victory Smarties

Hi everyone! Today's Vegan MoFo prompt is: Silly food – What are some silly food traditions/memories you have? This is a timely prompt because I've been enjoying my "Victory Smarties" this month...

On Halloween night, I set aside some of the leftover candy (specifically, the Smarties). And then, each day in November when I complete my daily writing goal for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I have one of the rolls of Smarties as a reward. 

I've been writing at least 2,000 words a day (it's 1,667 words/day to stay on track), and I'm at 44,654 words so far. I have a nice buffer built up, so I'll get to skip some days of writing for Thanksgiving and the weekend!

Here's a close-up of a sleepy Buttons...

Peace. :)

NaNoWriMo, Turkey Sketches, and Mystery!

Hello everyone! Just another quick writing update, more sketches, and of course, Mystery!

With NaNoWriMo, I passed the 2/3 mark last night and am currently at a total of 34,508 words (I haven't written today yet). I'm going to buckle down and start writing more each day because I want to build up enough of a buffer so I won't have to write on Thanksgiving. If all goes well, I might even finish NaNoWriMo early (I've never done it before, though, so we shall see). 

Here are the most recent turkey sketches I've done.

"It is difficult to sneak up on a turkey. They have excellent vision and hearing, even though they have no external ears." (http://www.woodstocksanctuary.org/learn-3/factory-farmed-animals/turkeys/)

"Male turkeys, called toms, love to feel noticed and admired. Toms on sanctuaries are known to follow busy human caretakers from chore to chore, standing off to the side, puffing out their exquisite feathers in a blast of scalloped ruffles, quietly and patiently waiting for the prospect of attention." (http://www.woodstocksanctuary.org/learn-3/factory-farmed-animals/turkeys/)
[sketch based off of second photo from the above link]

"A male turkey is called a tom or a gobbler, a female turkey a hen, and a baby turkey a poult or chick. A young male turkey is called a jake and a young female is called a jenny. A group of turkeys is called a flock." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of first photo from here: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/the-sanctuaries/rescued-animals/2011-rescues/a-safe-thanksgiving-for-25-baby-turkeys/]

"Wild turkeys spend most of the day searching for food like seeds, wild berries, small insects and acorns." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)

"Wild turkeys have dark feathers which help them blend in with their habitats." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of this photo: http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Pictures/Turkey3.jpg]

"Domesticated turkeys have been bred to have white feathers." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of this photo: http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Pictures/Turkey4.jpg]

"Male turkeys will start making their gobbling sound before sunrise and continue through most of the morning. Hens make a clicking sound." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)

On Tuesday, I had to bring Mystery to the vet for some blood work. As a senior cat, her kidneys aren't so great, so the vet has her on special prescription food and she gets blood tests done every now and then so we can make sure that she's doing OK. The vet called me yesterday with the results: Mystery's blood work came back showing improvements in her BUN (blood urea nitrogen), creatinine, and hematocrit levels. Yay for Mystery and her old kitty kidneys! (She's also gained weight; she's at 6 lbs. now!)

And finally, a cute Mystery story: Yesterday while I was putting away laundry, Mystery climbed onto the nightstand from the bed and from there climbed into the third drawer of our dresser, but it was filled too high for her to snuggle in. I picked her up and pulled out the next drawer instead, which had more room, and set her in it. She soon curled up and took a little cat nap; when she was done, she climbed out, using the little step-stool (laundry basket turned upside down) I'd put there for her. And she went in and out on her own two more times that night to enjoy additional naps. 

Peace. :)

NaNoWriMo Update, More Turkey Sketches

Hello everyone! I'm nearly to the halfway point for NaNoWriMo; I'm currently at 22,578 words (still need to do my writing for today). 

I've been continuing with my turkey sketches as well, so here's the next batch for you to enjoy!

"Wild turkeys can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. On the ground they can reach speeds of 25 miles per hour. Domesticated turkeys usually weigh too much to be able to fly. Their weight is about twice the weight of a wild turkey." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)

"Turkeys like to listen to music, especially classical, and will often sing along!" (http://www.woodstocksanctuary.org/learn-3/factory-farmed-animals/turkeys/)

"[Turkeys] have a field of vision of about 270 degrees and are able to see in color. They can see movement almost a hundred yards away. They don't see well at night." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of first photo from here: http://littlebitsofgreen.com/article/a_new_thanksgiving_tradition/]

"[Turkeys] have a poor sense of smell, but a good sense of taste." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of this photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151966007245569&set=a.10151965989580569.1073741857.25267825568&type=3&theater]

"Male turkeys have black, hairlike feathers on their breast called beards. Some female turkeys have them too." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of this photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151966007230569&set=pb.25267825568.-2207520000.1384316201.&type=3&theater]

"The bare skin on the throat and head can change color from flat gray to shades of red, white and blue when the turkey becomes distressed or excited." (http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Turkeys.htm)
[sketch based off of this photo: http://www.woodstocksanctuary.org/2013/05/nutmeg-the-turkey/]

And to bring this short post to an end, here's a little photoset which I like to call "Mystery and the Art of the Blurry Close-Up."

Peace. :)

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. :)