I started the day with joyful and thankful remembrance of Auggie … photo is from last Thanksgiving. Thoughts also of all times spent with Bear, Bob, Karl, Gus and Zack … they all came to mind and I enjoyed looking at photos of all of them and remembering their antics and the beautiful times we shared.
When a pet dies, that special place in our hearts feels so empty. But we realize, as time passes, that animals have a way of teaching us about loving, about loyalty, friendship, and joy.
And whatever we’ve shared in their presence can never really be lost.
Writer unknown
From Irving Townsend … these words have helped me when I’ve been in that place of “how/when”…
Another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a wornout coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that have succeeded, but not replaced one another.
And so, this Thanksgiving I remember all that I shared in the presence of Auggie, Bear, Bob, Karl, Gus and Zack … and also embrace a new season of Emmett and Oscar.
Oscar is settling in very well and Emmett and I are adjusting :)
I took over 20 photos to get one of “morning with Oscar” where he was not a complete blur. Emmett is on the floor because Oscar is here, there and everywhere, i.e. a wiggle-worm! I told Emmett that it was payback as in Emmett’s puppy days my vision of him snuggling next to me with Auggie on my lap did NOT happen for a long time … Emmett was the wiggle-worm, then.
I am so pleased that Oscar is now ok with Emmett getting close and even some light play. Emmett would love to play chase, but Oscar is not quite ready for that. They do play hide and seek around the crate and curtains in the office.
Once again, I have to negotiate with a feline for my office chair …
Ha! I got MY chair and Oscar has the spare … but mostly, I was on the spare :(
Last night, we tried a bit of all of us in the “grown up bed”.
More wiggle-worm, but he finally settled and almost went to sleep. I gave Emmett one of the bones he likes, which he only likes to have at bedtime … if I give it to him in the daytime, he will hide it and then get it when we go to bed. Anyway, I thought a treat might help him ignore whatever Oscar got up to and it did … Emmett paid no attention to Oscar’s shenanigans on the pillows.
I decided that we will try overnight this weekend when I don’t need to work the next day.
You can only see 2 of Oscar’s feet, but he does have 4 :)
After 2 aborted appointments at local shelters (I backed out), and numerous times of picking up the phone and then not calling … AND, last Friday being rejected by the adoption organization where I got Auggie, because of Emmett … grggh*!%$& … Thursday, in my normal perusal of the local “Mountain Trader” there was an ad for kittens and the thought immediately came to me: “Oscar”.
Now, I had been rolling names around as I saw cats and kittens, but Oscar was not one of them.
I don’t fool with those kind of thoughts so I called. Vasily, texted me photos … and btw, yes, he is Russian and did not have a lot of English and I asked and he laughed so I had a fun feeling of connection. I am sure that I was not at all politically correct and he was not offended. We arranged that I would see the kittens at 1:00. This was about 10:00 and a 35 minute drive to see them.
Next … kitten stuff: food, toys, itty bitty litter box for the crate to bring him home in, new toy(s) for Emmett also…
There is a newish place in Bigfork, 10 minutes away. I’d never stopped there.
Despite the name, they have stuff for dogs, puppies, cats and kittens – YEA! And I am so glad I finally went there – very nice couple who are owners and they took a lot of time to help me find what I needed. PLUS, you can order online and they deliver … holy cow!
So, I came away with stuff.
I fixed up the small crate that fits in the Jeep: Fleecy blanket and small litter box.
No doubts and off I went at the appointed time to get our Oscar.
Vasily was a friendly man of my vintage with sparkly blue eyes. He brought out a box with the kittens, picked one up and handed it to me … a male … our Oscar. That was that! I went inside and met Mrs. Vasily who looked exactly as you would expect a “Russian” (actually they are from Ukraine) woman who bore 11 children (“only” 11 per Vasily as he was one of 14) to look. No English, but a huge smile and the smell of chicken soup on the stove. I also got to see a family photo of all … taken 22 years ago. The 2 year old youngest in the photo just married and I got to see her wedding photo – lovely! I also got to see a photo of the mama cat, a Siamese. The papa is a ragdoll but I didn’t get to see him. All business completed, Oscar and I headed for home.
All the way home, whenever I could steal a look in the back, Oscar was looking back … calm and almost as if he knew he was going home.
First look for Emmett and Oscar. No panic, but when Emmett moved closer, Oscar growled. Emmett backed away, which is good as Emmett never really backed off from Auggie!
In the house, I closed off the office, opened the crate door and spent some time with Oscar. He started purring when I scratched his chin and his motor is amazingly loud for such a tiny kitten! (8 weeks old, just a bit over 2 pounds).
After a bit, I left him alone and went to get a very late lunch plus spend time with Emmett and take a long walk. I was back and forth the rest of the afternoon and evening, but kept a panel from Emmett’s puppy playpen between office and kitchen. Oscar left the crate and took up residence under the corner chair.
So … he liked a dark cave kind of spot …
I set up Emmett’s XXL crate with a fleecy blanket, Auggie’s laundry room cat cave bed and the small litter box … covered all with a quilt.
Oscar’s room!!
I had been wondering how to do things overnight so that everyone was comfortable, safe and all (ME!) got some sleep.
I have a baby monitor that I have used with Bob and Bear when they were ill/recovering from surgery. I set it up so that I could see and hear Oscar.
Although Oscar had been quiet all afternoon and evening, he decided to be an active kitten about the time I was ready to call it a day :) … so we played and Emmett came in with us for a little bit and finally, I was out of gas. I put the shirt and fleece pants I was wearing into the cat cave and then Oscar. He meowed a bit, but then made himself a nest and settled down.
Emmett and I had our normal last outs and went to bed.
First night success! We followed the same procedure last night, with a last meal about 7 and then some before bed play and snuggles and then into the crate with Oscar, to bed for Emmett and me. No meows at all from Oscar … he settled right into his nest.
After the very quiet first day, Oscar was very active yesterday. He also progressed from hissing every time Emmett looked at him, to allowing Emmett to approach fairly close before hissing. Emmett and I occasionally sat on the floor quietly and Oscar approached from behind me … played around my side and back.
First, I set the panel so that Oscar could get to the rest of the house, but could retreat to the office if he wanted and Emmett couldn’t follow. But as much as Emmett would LOVE to play, he is being very good about approaching slowly and backing off. Occasionally, he kind of groans in frustration and then takes it out on his new toy which is a big fleece ball with a squeaker … well, it did have a squeaker.
At any rate, it is not quite yet 48 hours as I write this and the house is wide open. Oscar is allowing a brief nose touch from Emmett and has explored all of the rooms on his own.
Synchronized chair napping … thankfully, Oscar chose the small chair … he was on it falling asleep and Emmett went to his chair. D’accord!
4 sweet feet added to the house … love, laughter and fun abound!
***I have loads of video, but it will take me awhile to sort it out. I sometimes just set up 2 cameras and let them roll to get the action so there is a lot for me to look through and put together the fun bits.
This week, the Western Larch had their last blast of gold.
Midweek, about half the gold was on the ground … half still in the trees and some amount of the ground gold made its way into the house as usual! But the mess is worth the beauty.
Through the week, we had a lot of morning mist and freezing fog. It is a damp cold that I feel worse than a blizzardy day in the middle of winter, but it is so beautiful!
A little fog, some blue sky, the waning gold … this is Autumn in Northwest Montana!
My favorite photo from the week.
Today, Time change Sunday, it is off and on squally (snow and graupel) with a few brief sun breaks…
I am a complete sucker for any of Maurizo Leo’s recipes on The Perfect Loaf .
His ciabatta, ciabatta rolls and foccacia are my go to recipes for each … all “sourdough”/naturally leavened. He is a software engineer cum baker so sort of speaks my language :)
In addition to his own website, he is the resident sourdough baker at
The dough itself is easily mixed and then needs time and then … as above, cut and cover for a rest before continuing.
Now, I have made doughnuts (sourdough) in the Bombolone style: round and filled with various custard. This dough is very similar.
There were questions about baking options (vs frying) and I had air fried the Bombolone style … at any rate, I offered to post and write about comparison … also about freezing the dough as I don’t need to make 12 doughnuts!!!
Above are air fried and glazed…
Texture and taste are good! Honestly, though, I am not tasting apple or cider … the dough is moderately sweet.
On to deep frying.
Deep fried in rice bran oil, then glaze and then cinnamon sugar. My first tries with just cinnamon sugar … the sugar mix did not stick, even right out of the fry, so I made a light glaze of powdered sugar and cider, then the sugar.
Loverly!
“hole” interior
Doughnut interior.
Deep fry vs Air fry … deep fry definitely has a crisper outer “crust”, but interior crumb is similar with both.
Ultimately, I like the bombolone style better, then the deep fry, then the air fry … BUT, if I want a sweet with my morning coffee and do not want to mess with oil … I would be very happy with air fry.
…. just FYI … I have 7 frozen rings in my freezer … future sweet mornings.
***Tech side note … I updated my laptop to Windows 11 … zero issues and I have not explored all features, but my normal work flow is … NORMAL :)
Throwing caution to the wind, I also updated my iPhone and iPad to iOS15 … also no issues and my head did not explode dealing with new look and feel.
