Effects of Catnip

are definitely not wide eyes for Bob (he was probably surprised by me taking a photo of him as he didn't show much reaction to the toy)


and also does not lull Angel to sleep (as it was his usual nap time and earlier Angel did act a bit strange by hugging his head with his front paws for a short while)


I used my pair of old stocks and put some stuffing in with the dried catnip.

Turning 30

I spent my birthday last Fri at home most of the time, other than feeding the community cats in the morning and in the evening. In between, I busied myself by cleaning the cat litter trays for Angel and Bob and also played with them.

Since we kind of celebrated the day before by going out and having lunch, I was happy to enjoy Mom's home cooked meals of stir fried instant noodles with veggies and meatballs (lunch) and fried rice and soup (dinner).

Oops. I don't have no camera with me.

This is the response I have been giving to my family and friends when I was out with them last weekend and today. Somehow I have lost that something... to capture the moment when the yummy dish sat in front of me before I tucked in.... the candid shots of my family or my friends laughing or goofing around. But it's not that I have been feeling unhappy. Somehow I think it's linked to less time spent in front of my PC to blog and surf and I want to spend more time with my family and cats when I'm home. Or it could be I have been taking too much photos and now I'm just contented to soak up the moment and enjoy my food immediately or look at my family and friends and just tuck those happy moments instead of snapping them using my camera.

I guess when I'm thirsty for some photos, I'll remember to carry the camera with me.

Simply Peaceable's photo contest

I love Simply Peaceable's natural skin remedies:

• Bugged Outdoor Balm (I apply every night when feeding the cats to prevent being bitten by mozzies)
  
• Botty Balm (it's for baby's nappy rash and it works well for rashes I get during this hot weather and it's great as a body moisturiser too)
• Calm Balm (a nice smelling solid perfume that is soothing)
• White Clay Mask (to detox my skin gently)
• Polishing scrub (as a face and body scrub that smells deliciously like oats)

If you are interested in getting such stuff for yourself, you may wish to visit Simple Peaceable's website to check out the products or even join in the contest if you are inspired :)

Furry foot reflexologist

Angel likes me to give him a massage using my feet and also nuzzle his face against my toes.

Gifts from Japan

My cousin went to Tokyo recently with his friend and he helped sis to buy 4 tubes of mascara and on his mom's instruction, bought some lightweight sturdy brolly for her and me. He is also very sweet to get Sis and I handphone straps with cat cartoons. I choose the one with the eyes opened and I'm going to keep the paper wrappers (with cat stickers) :)

Angel, his new toy and the books

Angel also didn't take much notice to the toy initially and I had to make it bob in front of him.


He was more interested in checking out the 2 books I borrowed from the library. One book is "Cat vs Cat" that Sis said it is a recommended book by some online site on how to introduce a new cat to the resident cat. Another is "Meow Chow" - I want to find out if there is any good recipe that I could introduce to the cats if it's simple and nutritious. So far I have only been feeding them dry food and occasional wet food as a treat.

Bob in my bedroom

Bob seems quite comfortable in my room and also putting on weight.

He looked a bit cock eyed here.

and he was curious in the camera.


YesterdayI bought him and Angel some new toys (like a roly poly) so that he will have something to entertain himself when we are not in the room with him.

At first Bob wasn't too interested in the toy. He actually overturned it, so that it can't bob anymore. He was more interested in following me around the room.

Then I played with it myself and he noticed the new object and bit the felt material.


Then he went stoning after playing with it for a short while.

Busy

With Bob at home with us, I find myself less time to blog and surf the internet as I want to spend them with Angel and Bob after feeding the community cats with Mom. Bob is usually in my bedroom and we would let him out sometimes in the kitchen or around the house when Angel is sleeping in the other bedroom. Angel is still hissing at Bob, so we are trying to be patient and wait for the right time to introduce the 2 cats face-to face.

Work has not been exactly fulfilling but I'm fortunate to have bosses who are not nasty and nice colleagues. Come May 22, I will have been working in the same office building for 8 years. I have been thinking what else I can do but part of me enjoy the familarity of the work environment and also the pace of work that doesn't require me to work late often. I can then exercise with my good friend once a week, feed the community cats with Mom almost every evening, plan for outings with my family, squeeze in some time to catch up with friends or with things I want to do (like reading a good book) and also help a few other caregivers to trap their community cats to sterilise or handle occasional complaint cases about cats in our areas.

At the moment, I'll just go with the flow and see where it will lead me to.

Health check

I have recently received my medical screening results and was shocked to find out that my bad cholesterol is borderline high (used to be low) and my Rheumatoid Factor (RF) is 23 (acceptable range is 0 to 14)! Otherwise, I'm in the healthy/good range for good cholesterol, blood triglycerides, BMI.

I'm now waiting for my organisation to organise a post-briefing and I will ask the doctor present about my results. No point jumping about the information I have read about RF (eg. high RF could possibly mean risk of rheumatoid arthritis - scary).

However, I realise I have been eating less actively and exercising less. It's time to watch my diet and start exercise.