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This morning it was -19C outside the kitchen window, and it the wind is gusting to 40 kmh, bringing the wind chill factor in at -26C. Attila works outside all day, so these cold days are not very pleasant for him. The good news is that the temperate is supposed to rise dramatically today and hover around zero for the next few days.
Mist was in a cranky mood this morning. She is stone deaf, so she probably doesn’t realize we can still hear her, even though she is yowling at the top of her lungs. She had everything she needs, attention, fresh milk, fresh food and water, a warm fire burning in the hearth. What! Of course, eventually I discovered the problem. As I sat working not he laptop she came over to me and sat very still, staring at me. When I looked up she began to yowl. So I set aside my work, and followed her. She stopped several times, looked back to make sure I was behind her, and then continued across the living room and down the hall. Part way down the hall she sat down and quietly stared at a door. It was shut. Mist objects strongly, very, very strongly, to shut doors. I opened the door and she silently passed through, ignoring me completely. She communicates a lot better than some humans; I wonder if sometimes verbal language complicates our lives.
The dehydrator did a very nice job on three red peppers. They are be stored in a mason jar, which will be kept in the cupboard, out of the light. We checked on the jars containing the previous project, green peppers and mushrooms, and happily they remain crisp and dry.
The dehydrator is run overnight to take advantage of off-peak hydro billing, which is almost half the cost of using electricity during the daylight hours.
The next experiment will be a lime slices. We found a bag of acceptable looking limes on a discount rack, dozens for under a dollar. Most of the limes have now been sliced, spread on the dehydrator racks and set near the masonry heater for an initial period of drying, which will take place while the hydro rates are high during the day. This evening, when the price of hydro drops, the drying racks will be moved to the dehydrator and left to dry overnight. The same process will be repeated if the initial overnight drying period doesn’t do the job thoroughly.
The ends of the limes, leftover from preparing the slices for drying, were squeezed to yield about 1/4 cup of lime juice. The ends are now placed to soak in filtered water, which will be drained and saved for cooking and topping up tall cold glasses of fruit juice.
I have decided to focus entirely on what is attainable, and immediate, and to ignore the rest. Food preparation is a necessary pleasure, the journey and the destination are desirable. Working on my book and my web sites is attainable, and pleasant. I have lots to keep me interested and active.
Those issues I have been dealing with have been intensely unpleasant. One issue has been addressed as best it can, although the results were not satisfactory for anyone involved; I was proven correct, but it is a hollow victory. The other is likely to continue into 2014, and I cannot see how it will be resolved. This too shall pass. Sometimes we just have to deal with what, and who, the universe puts before us.
This journal entry, to this point, was written yesterday, Thursday. Today is Friday. I am looking forward to completing the compilation of my reference materials, which has turned out to be a very big job. When that is finished the actual database references can be updated and edited to achieve a consistent format. The project began in 1996, so there have been a lot of changes and developments in source types, and the way in which to deal with new kinds of sources.
The limes did not completely dry overnight, so they will go into the dehydrator for a second night, then we will see about them. The lime discards were soaked in water overnight, and the water was used to cook rice, and it smells delicious!
Mist is sleeping quietly in a nearby chair. I remarked to her, and to Attila who was home for lunch, that every day is a quiet day for a deaf cat! Mist slept on, blissfully ignoring my comment.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-19 °C
Condition: Mostly Cloud
Pressure: 102.4 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: -19.0°C
Dewpoint: -21.6°C
Humidity: 80 %
Wind: WNW 11 km/h
Wind Chill: -26
Quote
“I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.”
John Locke
1632 – 1704
or more simply put by Forest Gump,
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
My 1st husband and I had a deaf cat but we didn’t realize he was deaf at first. We got him from a roadside child with a sign saying “Free kittens” in rural Maryland. He was all white, with pink nose and pink ears, a telltale sign but we were young and didn’t know then. For some months we thought he was fine and normal, just “independent”. He never seemed phased by us, but cats are aloof, let’s face it. Then one day it dawned on me… white, pink…. albino??? I snuck up behind Waco one day when he was sunning on the large windowsill and clapped my hands together just inches away from his ears… he did not move a muscle. That cinched it. Turned out he was stone deaf, born that way. We didn’t have him too long as we moved away and gave him to a new home, but they loved him anyway…his new folks…
Ah, yes, the rudeness of the closed door. We’ve had a few furred folk over the years who shared Mist’s opinion. Glad you were able to catch on so quickly.
Independent! LOL I can understand that Bex. Mist has gone deaf slowly over the last five years or so, and is getting more ndependent all the time. I don’t think she knows she is deaf!
Wendy, Mist is getting very good at teaching us how to “listen” to cat language, and I am a quick learner. Hmm… I call myself a quick learner but Mist may not really agree with that assessment!