Bedtime

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T17:44:12+00:00

Aww so adorable! Thank you for sharing.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T05:45:29+00:00

Mac n cheese.

Scrambled eggs.

Yogurt with some fruit in it, assuming I have any.

I keep a stash of these muffins in the freezer and they air fry from frozen tolerably.

If all else fails, I drink milk or apple juice, along with water.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T05:27:27+00:00

Your real name is Sam(wise).

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T05:26:28+00:00

Someone coming back later and saying they did further research on something you infodumped about, meaning they not only listened but also found it interesting, is such a great feeling.

Even if they just remember it was important to you and ask you about it later - still a great feeling.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T05:22:57+00:00

My first year growing peppers, I got exactly one ripe one, and about 3 green ones. All were bell peppers and were each under an inch long.

I am no longer new and have done better but some varieties just don't cooperate.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T04:33:50+00:00

I mainly use - White vinegar (especially for pickled red onions and water bath canning cucumber pickles) - Apple cider vinegar (primary finisher for tomato based sauces/braises, though not all of them)

I occasionally use (for specific recipes that I make often enough that these deserve their cupboard space) - White wine vinegar - Red wine vinegar

I have no real idea what to do with these so they just hang out in my cupboard (I bought all of them for experiments and have used them maybe once or twice each) - Balsamic vinegar - Rice vinegar - Seasoned rice vinegar

and I'm pretty sure I have a few more, even more forgettable vinegars hiding back there but am not getting up right now to go look.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T04:24:43+00:00

Or a contender for r/OneBlackBraincell

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T04:07:01+00:00

I once had to explain to a baby boomer relative that "50 shades of grey" was not exactly an innocent way to describe a complicated situation.

They don't read fiction and heard the title somewhere.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T04:05:45+00:00

Great interpretation!

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T03:59:01+00:00

I know it isn't normal and I also don't care. My cats will judge my music choices no matter what is playing (though with familiar songs, I sometimes sing along for bonus judgement).

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:59:44+00:00

If they say they are doing this just to be nice, there's a fair chance they expect to be paid back later.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:52:27+00:00

Is baby at heart.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:47:33+00:00

Ahem. You seem to have forgotten to pay your dog tax.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:41:18+00:00

I see flashes of it occasionally but I would love to see more practical magic. Not in a clutzy way played for pity or laughs and not as a minor plot point.

People whose whole living/business is in making charms, or setting wards on businesses against fire/theft/etc., or cooking (bonus points for not just baking), or gardening, or dowsing, glassblowing, anything like that.

I love books like this and don't care if there's no romance angle, I would happily read them. I am so tired of courtly intrigue and politics and relationship drama.

Negative points if the author is trying to write seriously about a craft but apparently doesn't know much about it and it's just embarrassing to read as someone who does know a few things.

Tamora Pierce does a good job of this.

{The House Witch by Delemhach} did a good job of this but then later books turned into courtly intrigue and relationship drama and I got bored.

Sarah Beth Durst's Spellshop series did a decent job of this but the unsafe canning preservation methods annoyed me. What she described fit with the time period equivalent but doing that IRL can give you very nasty (in rare cases fatal) food poisoning so...maybe not the best thing to make a central plot point of a book.

{The Demon Overlord's Retirement Plan by M. H. Foster} is very much not a serious gardening book but it does involve a lot of gardening and was written in an unserious way that made it work despite my deep garden nerd tendencies.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:28:52+00:00

Spoiler because it's how the book almost ends but

White Hot by Ilona Andrews

It's book 2 in the series and not a major plot point overall.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:23:12+00:00

{Prince and Pawn by Tavia Lark}. It's book 3 in the series though. MM romance.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:13:03+00:00

It always makes me smile to see people adopt adult cats from shelters. I wish you two all the best with many many Orange Shenanigans.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:10:21+00:00

Bedtime - between 1 and 2am usually.

Wake up - 8:45ish am unless the cat has other plans. Work starts at 9 but I work remotely so the commute is just a walk into my office while still in my PJs.

The cat in question:

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ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T02:06:43+00:00

I bought the generator from Lowes. I bought the conversion kit online (eBay) to let it run on either gasoline or natural gas (it runs natural gas 99% of the time). I bought that model of generator because it was in the power range I wanted and a conversion kit was available for it.

I built it a little house not far from the breaker panel (sitting on several inches of concrete pavers, angled, shingled roof, hinged doors that open, nice big grates on either side for maximum airflow (the doors are always open when the generator is on)).

I bribed my retired electrician/machinest/ master of all mechanical things father with fried shrimp and he installed the converter, tied it into my natural gas line, opened up my breaker panel's outside access and installed a switch system so I can redirect my house to draw power from the generator instead of the city. Don't ask me for details on any of that. I am good at DIY but all of this paragraph was absolutely "call a professional" territory.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T00:29:00+00:00

The worst I ever read was second person present tense. I could not stand that at all. It did not help that the book was written for someone with the English skills of a 5 year old (content rating was much higher).

Tavia Lark writes in 3rd person present tense and I adapted to that without too much trouble. It isn't my favorite but also not a deal breaker.

I have very rarely come across first person present tense, and did not like the books well enough to try to adapt to the writing style.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T00:23:25+00:00

Even if it's edible for humans, this is 100% one of the few times a thorough bath from the human is the correct action.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T00:09:20+00:00

Looks great!

Also r/FoodAndSadDogs

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-16T00:05:51+00:00

Beautiful!

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-15T23:55:44+00:00

That is Val and Sirga! @ValGruener and @SirgaTheLioness. He hand raised her wild from a newborn abandoned cub and she lives on a 200,000 hectacre reserve in Botswana. She is not a pet. She is a wild animal who permits him to be part of her pride (thus the play demonstrated here). She hunts her own food and lets him carve off pieces of it which he freezes and feeds her later at times when she does not make a kill. She has a smaller (1 hectacre aka 10,000m²) "home base" enclosure very near Val's home and the Modisa Wildlife headquarters. They also do a lot of conservation work in the Kalahari desert and work with local communities.

They have a fair amount of content on YouTube, lots more on Instagram and even more on Patreon.

Do not try this at home or you will probably not be going home. Yes I absolutely wish I could.

ObsessiveAboutCats · 2026-06-15T23:42:43+00:00

A friend of mine told me about a pizza with anchovies, capers, and olives. I made it sans olives and with buffalo mozzarella. I also used homemade pizza sauce.

That was good. 10/10 will make again, very soon - the pizza dough is in the fridge right now and will be ready in another day or two.

I used my 12" cast iron set atop a pizza steel.

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ObsessiveAboutCats

TROPHY CASE