Goatcheese salad with pinenuts and apple and cat-stories
Goatcheese salad
Today was supposed to be a schoolday, but when I finally arrived in Amsterdam it turns out that our teacher was ill and no replacement. Pfftt… I hate it when that happens! We are in the last phase which means that we each have to complete a project and write a personal development plan which will also be used for the next phase of the specialization part. But that also means that it is quite important to not miss any part of school and to keep the momentum going. We tried to find another schoolday but school is also moving to a new location, so not possible.
Instead we went to the Foam museum where there was a Richard Avedon exhibition, so at least we still did something useful with our day. Ofcourse with the weather being as gorgeous as it is today, it’s not really a punishment to have an additional day of, but it’s always better when you know that before you get up and not after. O well, what can you do?
On my way back from the museum I bought some stuff to make lunch. I felt like a goatcheese salad with some honey mustard on top and it was delicious!
Tom and I had been walking in Amsterdam for most of the afternoon yesterday and now I did the same for this morning, so I was quite hungry but the goatcheese gives it just enough filling that it feels like a proper meal.
Coming home I opened the garden doors and let the cats out. Now they are all very very old. We have three cats; the youngest is 17 years old (Gizmo), then we have Witje who is 19 years old and last but not least we have Joepie who is 21 years old! People often wonder what we do with our cats that they become so ridiculously old. ..:) Good food and loving care? No idea really. I think we have just been lucky.
Witje enjoying the sunshine
There are quite a few disadvantages of having such elderly cats I have to confess and if you’re not a cat-lover then you should probably stop reading or you will be seriously repulsed…:)
One of the problems is the rather frequent throwing up. Witje you see here is very good in throwing up on the most inconvenient places (anything which is difficult to clean basically) and I have become a master in reacting with lighting speed whenever I hear the warning signs of her about to puke. I even react in the middle of the night (yes, they sleep on the bed too…) when I hear the dreaded sound, jump up, throw cat a, b or c of the bed, watch where they are going, clean up and go back to sleep. Tom doesn’t even notice ANY of it, can you believe it? He swears that he is not pretending to stay asleep but I have my doubts sometimes. lol…
Other than that minor (and sometimes major) headache, they are and have been quite healthy over the years. Joepie, the oldest one, is deaf, half blind and slightly demented, but other then that she is a happy senile little cat. Witje used to be quite a nervous cat when she was younger as I also think she is slightly mentally disabled. She is very sweet and wouldn’t harm a fly. In fact she ‘adopted’ Gizmo when she was little and they are still best buddies….
Gizmo is the one that is ill as she needs to have a pill everyday. She has a thyroid gland problem and is therefore rather thin. The pills keep it under control but she is never going to be heavy like she used to be.
Joepie a few years ago
Anyway, I didn’t start out by wanting to write about our cats, but that is just what happened. I also found out – while searching for the photos I have of Gizmo and Witje together, that I really need to improve on my archiving…. It takes way to much time to find anything and I haven’t found the photo I was looking for either.. Anyway, sorry to bore you with cat-tales!
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Goat cheese is one of my weaknesses… YUM!
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Apart from the goat’s cheese salad looking delicious, I think it’s wonderful that you show such incredible love to your animals. I too am amazed at their ages!
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This cat is so cute!
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You are such a good cat mother. I hope I have someone to take such good care of me when I become an elderly “cat.” Seriously, they are so lucky!!
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Simone (junglefrog) — April 15th, 2009 at 07:34
That’s what I keep telling them Nicole…
Especially when they are in complaining mode..lol
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Oh my this salad look so delicious. I love goat cheese.
Cheers,
elra
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I love stories bout cats, even if they are puking! Once every couple of months Coco climbs up on the headboard of my bed at four in the morning and throws up right beside my head. I’m not sure if it’s intentional… but I’m starting to think it is.
School?! I didn’t know you were in school, other than cooking classes. The exams that I am doing now are 4 physics, one chemistry and one french. I somehow got through a whole genetics degree without doing my prereq. physics and calculus so now that I am about to graduate I have to do these horrible first year courses. It stinks because I usually get good grades but I don’t understand calculus or physics so this semester has been garbage. But it’s almost over and soon I will be getting paied to work in a field that I love!
I didn’t know that you had been to Canada! Did you have a good time? Yes, they do sell maple syrup at EVERY tourist store. The best is from the farmers markets though because they come from family run farms. I can’t imagine life without maple syrup… what do you put on your pancakes?
Oh yeah, that pic of the forget me not’s… amazing! They are my favorite flower and everyone used to plant them when I was young, now you don’t see them anywhere. It’s sad.
Another long comment… sorry!
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Simone (junglefrog) — April 15th, 2009 at 07:34
Haha…. puking next to year head… hmmm, sounds intentional to me! They can be such little devils!
Yes, I’m studying at the fotovakschool (photography degree) It’s a parttime school and really only once every two weeks, so doesn’t take a lot of time. I just figured it made sense to get a diploma even if I was already working in photography full time. It’s one more year and then I’m done!
Your exams sound terrible… I used to hate french, although I did like chemistry…
We went to Whistler for skiing. We’re still planning on going back in the summer at some point to tour around, as I think Canada is absolutely beautiful!
We have something similar to maple syrup on our pancakes which is called “stroop” (syrup) and has just a slightly different taste. Bit more caramelly I think… But I love my pancakes with sugar mainly….
I love your long comments, so keep ‘m coming….:)
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I’m so glad you found my blog Simone! Your pictures are amazing, the lighting is incredible. I’ve already added you to my google reader! I love cats and I can’t believe yours are that old! That’s fantastic.
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MMMMMMM…This salad looks great! Yum! Lovely cats too!
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I have an older cat that pukes more often than I’d like, but he’s the sweetest thing ever otherwise.
The goat cheese and pine nuts look delicious on your salad!
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