Zen Cat Art

Asian Bok Choy & Noodles...

My favorite new lunch...

I got these tiny bok choy at the Asian Market "A Dong" in West Hartford.  It's a fabulous place for all things Asian.  Everything from Peeking Duck, to whole fish, incredible vegetables, bread, candy, dishes, at least a thousand kinds of noodles - almost everything is labeled in oriental script with very little English.  Most things I can recognize and make decisions from that.  Sometimes I just take a shot and give new things a try.
I had never seen bok choy this tiny - the bag was actually labled "toy."

I cut them in half and sauteed them with lots of chopped garlic and ginger in a bit of vegatable oil.

While the bok choy is sauteing in the pan, I boil up the noodles.  It only takes a few minutes.

You have to rince the noodles with cool water when they are done.  I let them drain.  If the bok choy is not quite done, I'll splash in a bit of water and put the lid on the frying pan and let them soften just a bit.

The first time I made the dish I made my own sauce with soy sauce, chicken broth, fish sauce, and a few other things but the second time I was in a rush and used "Soy Vay Island Teriyaki."  It was delicious!  I have to say I love this stuff!  I use it on salmon, chicken, fried rice and lots of other things.  It has a citrus base and mixed with a light soy sauce and sesame seeds (plus other ingredients, of course) and besides, I love the story.  Jewish boy meets and falls in love with Asian girl and they start a company.

That's it.  Put the noodles in a bowl, spoon the bok choy on top, pour on a bit of Island Teriyaki and enjoy!  

Sir Charlie of the Pink Tongue

Sir Charlie is out like a light!  He is one of the sweetest cats I've ever had the pleasure to know.  For a blind cat who wasn't treated well he is so trusting it's amazing. 

I should be so good...

"As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of human kind."  Cleveland Amory

My Omnipod Insulin Pump

I got insulin pump today!  Yea! 

This is an Omnipod insulin pump.  I should have put a quarter in the picture so that you could see how small it is.  About the size of 2 quarters or think about a golf ball sliced in half.  It attaches to me where ever I would normally give an injection and I can ware if for up to three days before I have change it.  The pod is programed to deliver insulin on a schedule and I can increase the amount to cover the carbs when I have a meal.  It operates wirelessly and is an incredible new technology. 

I am truly my father's daughter.  He took everything apart, too.  This is the inside of the pump.  It has a second part that looks a bit like a cross between a glucose meter and a cell phone that programs it. 

I was trained to use it today by their lovely rep, Pat who walked me though it patiently for several hours.  She really knew her stuff and you could tell that she enjoyed her job.  How nice is that?!  So I have to check in regularly with my endrocrinologists office for the next week or two while I get used to it (and it gets used to me).  But it feels better already so I have high hopes that it will keep my blood sugar in a better range and hold off the nasty complications of being diabetic. 

I'll keep you posted!

 
Below is a link to an article about Omnipod if anyone wants to read more about it...

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FDA Approves Insulet's New OmniPod Diabetes Management System

It's time to catch up...

Beth brought me these sunflowers day after Holly's memorial service and I took them outside to photograph in the sun.  You can see there is still snow on the ground in the back ground.  I'm still so sad about losing Holly but there have been good things going on as well and they need their space here, too.  For one thing, MOST of the snow is gone.  Most... the mounds the plow piled up are still melting on the rare day it is above freezing long enough to notice.  It's the coldest start to spring I can remember.

There were some warm days when I could open the window just to let the stale winter air out.  Charlie loved it!  His nose was going and his ears twitched as he followed every scent and sound.

The trees were undeniably beautiful.

Shoveling out was a different matter.

Leading to spontaneous joy at finally digging out our car.

We had some nigh-time visitors.  Sammy and Maggie were fascinated.

He seems to be saying "Bird feeder?  What bird feeder?"  Since he couldn't really get his nose in the mesh he would shake the feeder and then eat the seeds off the ground.  So smart!  A few days later we found the feeder pole bent over and the feeder a few feet away - empty.  The bears are awake.  So we are now taking the feeders in at dark.  Sorry Rocky.

But there is hope for warmer weather!  Hopefully soon. 

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.  The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits.  People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” 
― Ernest Hemmingway, A Moveable Feast