Guillermo

It has been almost two months since we returned from our anniversary trip in Canada to discover that Gui, our precious fluff-ball of a cat, had passed away.  We had found out 5 or 6 weeks before that that he had cancer and there was nothing we could really do, but we were fairly confident that he would be around for a couple more months at least.  Unfortunately, that was not to be.

I am thankful that he went quickly and that he was with my sister and brother-in-law when he passed, because I know he felt loved...but I wish I could have been there to say goodbye.  I know that in many ways that would have possibly made it infinitely harder, it might have also made it more real.  Not to say that it doesn't feel real that Gui is gone, but sometimes I still think he's going to come pounding down the steps (he was not graceful) or that I will hear him meowing to himself in the basement (while he rolled around on the ground) at any moment.  I feel slightly haunted by the ghost of him and I don't know when or if that will go away.  I only know that I miss him and he was the best, most chill, sweetest, and prettiest cat I've ever met in my life...

I miss his sweet purring.  I miss scratching under his chin.  I miss our cuddles in bed, the only place in the house that was all his and he didn't have to fight with the dogs for my attention.  I just plain miss him.  Everyday.

Project 365: Days 13-28

Hi there!  It's been awhile, I know.  Life has been a little crazy lately and editing photos has been the last thing on my mind.  Here's my second installment from the photo-a-day project I started at the beginning of the year, which unfortunately I've already abandoned.  While taking a photo a day was a good challenge in that it pushed me to take photos and get more familiar with my camera settings, I wasn't finding it very enjoyable.  Instead, it was mainly just stressing me out and I really wasn't into what I was taking photos of, so the photos themselves felt disingenuous. Also, since I'm really struggling to keep up with editing the photos I take of things I actually enjoy taking photos of (the woods, flowers, fun stuff, etc) having even more photos that technically need to go to the front of the line even though I really don't feel like editing them is not ideal.  So, yeah, mid February I gave up.  Oh well, at least I gave it a shot and found out it was just not for me.

Day 13:  Our dining room curtains, which might look slightly familiar since they used to live in our guest bedroom.  Guillermo has been scratching at this window perch in the dining room and scratched up the existing curtains in the process, so I thought these would look nice in the room (plus I was never really in love with them in the guest bedroom).

Day 14:  Silly Cheese rolling around on the floor and then he and Mabel playing around.

 

Day 15:  Guillermo on his window perch, as the sun is starting to set.

Day 16:  Pioneer Woman's chicken piccata with angel hair pasta for dinner.  It's one of our favorite dishes that's in my personal recipe book, but I hadn't made it in a long time.  This wasn't my best version of it, but still very lemony, which is all that matters.

Day 17:  Pretty flowers from Antoine, because he's a sweetheart!

 
Day 18:  Cheese actually tolerating Mable AND posing for a picture, unheard of!

Day 19:  Antoine is known for the delicious breakfasts that he makes.  Seriously, they are amazing.  Occasionally I will make a fruit salad to go along with it.  This particular one had apples, pears, nectarines, strawberries, blackberries, mango, and starfruit.  Mmm!

Day 20:  One of the things currently on our chalkboard wall in the dining room is a list of some of the places we want to travel to in the near future.  This year for our anniversary we'll be crossing off Banff, and I so excited about it because it's been on my personal list for a long time!

Day 21:  The makings of Antoine's famous hash during on of our "breakfast for dinner" nights.

Day 22:  The mini-gnome that lives in front of our house underneath one of our forsythia.

Day 23:  Throughout all the work on our gas lines that went on for months, the construction guys dug several holes in our front yard.  While some were filled with soil and topped with grass seed and straw, this one, which is right next to our driveway, was filled with sand.  So it's basically a giant litter box in our front yard for all the neighborhood strays.

Day 24:  Some of the glasses on our open shelves in the dining room.

Day 25:  Some sweet white sangria wine from Cooper Hawk with some tasty strawberries as a little nightcap.

Day 26:  Vicious little basset baby teeth!

Day 27:  It's dangerous that I have a husband who brings home tasty treats when he knows that I've had a bad day.  So very dangerous!

Day 28:  Random shots from our backyard, featuring the trace amounts of snow that we had gotten and hadn't managed to melt yet.

I think I've still got another round of these Project 365 photos, but who knows if I'll ever get around to uploading them and editing them, seeing as how I still have photos to edit from November and December of last year.  Oh and I still have a ton of photos I haven't even uploaded yet, let alone even thought of editing.  Anyway, until next time...

Project 365: Days 1-12

Here's the first post of many for my 365 project I'll be attempting this year, where I'll be taking a photo every day in 2015.  I'm trying to push myself to use my camera for this, instead of my phone, not because it's better or anything but because there's still a lot I need to learn about my camera and its settings.  And about photography and lighting, in general.  I'll go ahead and admit, that the first 12 days were a challenge.  Remembering to take a photo everyday is tricky.  Not to mention the fact that it's freezing and gloomy outside so I've been pretty much limited to indoor photography.  And not just that, many most days I find myself taking photos at night, indoors, which is about the worst time to take photos.  During the work week, when I leave the house in the morning it's still dark outside.  Then by the time I get home and feed/care for the animals, it's dark again.  I look forward to the days when I don't have to go home for lunch everyday to let Mabel and I can use my lunch-break to take photos.

I've noticed that one of the things I'm going to struggle most with is not getting a photo everyday, but posting just one photo for every day.  Well, I might as well just admit defeat now...I can't do it!  I'm going to post more than one photo per day, that's just who I am.  I've accepted it, now you have to.  Anyway, here's the first 12 days, hope you enjoy.

Day 1:  What better way to start off the new year than by frying up some homemade donuts!  No?  I hadn't made donuts since high school and had been aching to whip up a batch during my time off, so I decided January 1st was the perfect day to do it!  Actually, it might have to become an annual tradition.

Day 2:  Mabel

Day 3:  I think I was feeling bad for Cheesy, like he was feeling neglected because of the new puppy, so I apparently decided to dedicate several days to Cheese! 

Day4:  Doing what our family does best...being lazy.  That's my hip/thigh covered in the quilt and Cheese is cozily nestled in behind my legs on the sofa.

Day 5:  Cheese loves all food, but his favorite veggies and fruits (which are the majority of the human-foods we give him) are probably carrots, bananas, and clementines.  Every time I eat clementines I have to share some with Cheese.

Naturally, Mabel wanted in on the actions so she proceeded to lick Cheese's jowls!

Day 6:

Day 7:  Our street is currently a work-zone (and has been for about a month now) while they work on the gas lines.

Day 8:  Cheese has learned that if I'm in the kitchen then there's probably some sort of food being made or chopped.  In this case, he's checking out the cake I was making for my boss' birthday.

Day 9:  Pistachio cream cake (with a pistachio mascarpone filling and chocolate ganache).

Day 10:  Tiki mask we got while in Hawaii!

Day 11:  For Christmas my mom made us a basket filled with all kinds of goodies (from homemade treats to a cool cutting board to bulk food store goodies).  One of the things in the basket was this bag of peanut butter cookie mix, which you just add water to, scoop and bake!  So easy and so tasty!

Day 12:  Continuing the fur-kid trend:  a picture of Gui looking down disapprovingly from his perch at Mabel.  And Cheese being a total ham!

Mabel: The Newest Addition to Our Family

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram then you already know that Antoine and I added a new member to our fur-family just before Christmas.  Her name is Mabel and she's a 9 week old basset hound.  We've been thinking about getting another basset puppy for years, but the timing was never right.  But since I have all of this week off  from work we thought Xmas might be the perfect time to get a puppy so I can be home to train her and get her adjusted to our household and her new family.

Our little stocking-stuffer!  We just couldn't resist the urge to put her in a stocking and take pictures...it's just too cute!

Me and a very sleepy Mabel.

After we took her out of the stocking she immediately fell asleep (with back legs crossed like a proper lady) and then we noticed this was stuck to her butt! 

We've had her for almost a week now and I'll admit it hasn't been the easiest week.  The first couple days were really rough: tons of accidents, nonstop crying/whining, and very, very little sleep for Antoine and I.  When we got Cheese he was the last of the litter and was almost a month older than Mable.  He slept all the time and potty training him was a breeze.  Since Mabel was weened only a week or two before we got her she obviously had some separation anxiety from her mother.  But each day gets better, she sleeps more and more during the night, she's stopped whining and whimpering for the most part, and her potty training has greatly improved.  She is very smart and a very quick learner, so I don't doubt that she'll progress even more this week!  She already knows her name, knows to go to the door if she wants to go potty, that she has to wait for me to put on/take off her leash, and how to go up and down our front steps!

It's been a definite adjustment for Cheese and Guillermo, as well.  We expected Guillermo to hide at first and be standoffish, which he has been, but I expected Cheese to be more excited.  He has been cautious and even a little grumpy about the new addition, though each day does seem to get better and better.  He'll even lay with her on the couch now, as long as she doesn't lay on him...he's not a fan of that yet.   I don't doubt that with time he'll come to love his little sister and the two will become inseparable.  At least we're already half way there, she's crazy about him and follows him everywhere!  Baby steps, I guess.  Literally!

Until the next Mabel update, happy Monday everyone!

Glamour Shots (featuring Antoine & Gui)

I don't know about you, but whenever I have a long holiday weekend off from work it either goes one of two ways: 1.) I waste most of the weekend doing nothing relaxing and the weekend feels like it flies by or 2.) I am super productive and get a lot done/do a lot of fun stuff and the weekend seems like it's actually 4 days long...until the last day when I say to myself, "Where did the weekend go!?".  This past weekend was definitely the later.  We celebrated Thanksgiving, did way too much shopping, saw Horrible Bosses 2 (hilarious!), went to Crafty Supermarket, participated in Small Business Saturday, watched What If (I highly recommend it), and went for a walk in French Park.  I also made the best gravy I've ever made, baked 3 pies, and edited some photos!  That's a pretty productive and fun holiday weekend for me!

One other feat that I accomplished this weekend was to order our holiday cards.  Every year we do the sappy/corny/ lame, etc. holiday cards with pictures of us and usually pictures of our fur-kids.  We've been doing it for about 4 years now.  This year for the card I had a perfect picture of Cheese and I (that Antoine took this summer), but no good pictures of Gui.  I decided what would be absolutely perfect is if I could get a picture of Antoine and Gui together.  So, on Friday I forced Antoine into what can best be described as Jessica's Glamour Shots and Fun!  I got several cut shots and then a lot of silly ones and outtakes.  Enjoy!

 Awe!  I think this one is my favorite.

 Gui loves the chin rubs.  Antoine looks absolutely adorable in this one!

Now for the silly shots and outtakes...

There were quite a few like this.

 The "grumpy" shot.

 The "like father, like son" shot.

 The "sad" shot?

 The "what do I do with my hands?" shot.

 The "why I oughta" shot.

 The "wild beast" shot.

 The "Gui has had enough!" shot.

I'm so lucky Antoine puts up with my shenanigans...and in cases like this, makes them even more fun with antics of his own!