Aby-a-Day – 29 Augusti: Thai tuna salad (Silly Singapura Sunday)

I have an awesome recipe for Thai tuna salad from the Wei Chuan cooking books I learned to cook Asian food with back in the late 90’s.

The books had been boxed up since I moved out of my Somerville apartment in 2009. I rediscovered them earlier this year, and one thing I wanted to make again was my Thai tuna salad. Canned tuna isn’t a staple in Sweden the way it is in the States, so when I found canned tuna on sale at the supermarket, I was all over that action.

It’s such a great salad because it doesn’t involve mayonnaise. The version I make has fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, lime juice, mint leaves, celery, lemongrass, and scallions; I also add cucumber and Romaine lettuce. But you can also include cilantro (coriander), tomatoes, crushed peanuts, Thai basil, carrots…well basically anything Thai and salady.

Alfred was quite interested in my empty container, as you might expect.

Izaak can express so many feels in one look.

Aby-a-Day – 26 Augusto: Izaak and his new rat (Thursday Things).

Björn rented a car, and we went to Fallköping and Jonköping today.

One of the things we do when we go to Jonköping is to go to IKEA.

IKEA may have discontinued their mice, but they still have rats.

There’s only one colour now, a sort of shiny beige, but Izaak doesn’t care. It’s an IKEA rodent plush…he loves it.

And Zak violently loves his IKEA rodents.

Even though we have about a dozen of these things around the house, this is now his favourite.

Aby-a-Day – 25 Augusti: Wordless Wednesday (Some cats have NEVER had tuna water before…)

Aby-a-Day – 24 Augusti: Salta Katter (Cartoon Tuesday

Back when I was in SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) classes, they had a really cool poster of the Salta Lakritsfigurer cat. It was created by Tommy Hallgren, a Swedish graphic artist who designed several Swedish candy brands, among other things.

A couple of weeks ago, Björn found a framed print of the same poster at the second-hand store – signed by the artist!

Izaak, of course, had to “help” me take a photo of our poster.

This is how the Salty Cat looks on the actual candy boxes. But take a close look at the box on the right.

See the holes? Yep…Alfred, with his fierce belief that anything in plastic is food, bit the box.

Of course, Zak had to “help” me with the candy boxes, too.

Aby-a-Day – 23 Augusti: “When you put the whole picture together, recycling is the right thing to do” (Hipstamatic Monday)

Sweden is well-known for its recycling system. We used to have to go to several different places to recycle (paper and cardboard were in our område, but metal, glass and plastic were in other areas around town.

But two years ago, we got two consolidated underground recycling stations in our område. It is so much more convenient!

And, we can take the cats with us, turning a mundane chore into a fun outing.

The stations have kiosks for regular household trash, food garbage (which is turned into fuel for buses and home heating), coloured glass, clear glass, metal, cardboard, paper, and plastic.

It’s also an amazingly clean and odourless place, too, considering it’s a place people bring their trash.

The stations also don’t attract scavenging corvids, seagulls, or rats. Just Abyssinians and Singapuras.

One other nice thing about the recycling stations is that you can meet your neighbours. I think the whole concept of these tidy little stations is brilliant.

Aby-a-Day – 22 Augusti: “You cannot handle my swag” (Cinema Singapura Sunday)

As you might recall, I have been trying to document Izaak’s swagger for a while now.

Yesterday, when we took the cats outside for a walk, I think I finally managed to get it.

You can really see his bum swing in this series of photos.

Compare the way Zak walks compared to the way Alfred walks. Freddy’s back stays straight and he bends his wrists and ankles more.

Here’s a short video showing Zak’s Singa swagger on YouTube.

Aby-a-Day – 21 Augusti: “The lion crouches in the tall grass. The gazelle sniffs the air. The awful stillness before the strike” (Swedish Saturday)

This afternoon, we took the cats outside. The grass on the hill is really tall right now, and Izaak was looking at it longingly.

Because he always follows me everywhere, I went down the hill myself to give him a little push.

And, of course, Zak marched down the hill to meet me.

I love watching him move through the grass. It’s almost like he’s swimming through it.

Meanwhile, Alfred was coming back up the hill.

The grass where Freddy was is even taller than the grass Zak was in.

Lorelai was in the tall grass, too. Even though she was restricted by her leash, her joy at being outside after a week of rain was undiminished.

Everytime I see the cats in the tall grass, I wonder what it must be like to be a small cat in the big world, where walking through tall grass is like strolling through a jungle.

Aby-a-Day – 20 Augusti: Aby and Singa Stickers by Cloris Creates (Fashion Friday)

Last month, a member posted this in my Singapura Facebook group: ⭐️ Looking for models! ⭐️ Hi, thanks for the add! I’m Cloris, a cat mom, animal artist, and small biz owner! I’m looking for people who’d be interested in taking a photo of their cat with their matching sticker (see photos) in exchange for a Singapura sticker bundle ❤️ Bonus points if you can post to social media since I’ll be sharing the photos there too! Preferably US-based but open to shipping worldwide too. Comment/message for more info and thanks for your time!

Well, of course I contacted her! The envelope arrived on Wednesday. As soon as I opened it, Izaak had to see what I was doing.

And…of course he had to play with his Singa sticker.

Zak likes to bite paper things, and I worried he would try to bite his sticker…

…but he couldn’t manage to pick it up.

Zak is so adorable when he’s frustrated.

Dashiell, however, was not as excited about his Aby sticker.

He wouldn’t even jump up on the sofa to look at it.

I put it on the coffee table, and Lorelai took an interest.

She managed to knock it onto the floor, where Dash finally took some interest. They are nice, thick, shiny stickers, and cats like shiny things.

With the stickers, she sent me a little thank you card for helping her with her sticker promotion.

Cloris has stickers of almost every breed of cat (and dog, and some other animals) available in her Cloris Creates Etsy shop, and if she doesn’t, she can make it for you. They are very awesome and very cut.

Aby-a-Day – 15 Augusti: The boys on the bed (Singapura Sunday)

This is a scene that happens most days.

The three boys love to hang out together on our bed.

Dashiell and Izaak have always been best friends since Dash came to live with us. Zak was Dash’s first friend, and they eat all their meals together, especially since we haven’t been going to cat shows. Dash hasn’t been without Zak in his life in Sweden.

Alfred often joins them, but he doesn’t always cuddle with them.

Freddy does cuddle with Zak and Dash in the morning when we’re all in bed, but for some reason, he gives the younger boys their space in the afternoon and evening.

Maybe he remembers his best friend Logan, and he doesn’t want to intrude. I really do wonder if Freddy thinks about Logan.

Aby-a-Day – 13 Augusti: I joined the Navy to see the world, but what did I see? I saw the sea (Photoshop Friday)

When Emma was here, we rented a car and took a trip around Skaraborg, the area between the two lakes in Västra Gotaland. One town we visited was Hjo, a little lakeside town that is over 600 years old.

As we were walking around the harbour, we noticed a sailboat with a red flag on it. Curious, we took a closer look, and realised that the boat was from Singapore! so of course I had to put Izaak on board.

Aby-a-Day – 5 Augusti: Necks-level logistics (Thursday Things)

The only downside to having Emma stay with us was the fact that she occupied the spare bedroom, where Alfred and Lorelai eat their daily chicken necks.

There is a very good reason for this.

Rory and Freddy eat their necks wicked fast. Sometimes, Freddy will be finished with his neck before I can get the door shut!

Dashiell and Izaak, however, eat their necks at a more leisurely pace.

Which is somewhat ironic, considering Zak is the entire reason we have the evening neck ritual at all. But he’ll look at his neck, and then try to follow me out of the room. It’s like, dude…eat your damn neck! You wait all day for it and yell at me until I give it to you!

It’s arrangement that works well. Freddy and Rory scarf their necks down, growl at each other if one tries to steal the other’s neck, and can pretty much defend their necks from one another. Dash and Zak respect each other’s boundaries and generally don’t try to poach the other’s neck (although sometimes they do trade).

So you can see the problem. Dash and Zak aren’t accustomed to competition. Meanwhile, Rory…

…and Freddy are hovering like vultures, just waiting for an opening to swoop in and snatch a neck away from one of the boys.

Rory…NO!

“Whattaya mean, ‘no,’ Mom? He’s not eating it!”

Finally, Dash ate about half his neck, and I gave up and let Rory have the rest. Better her than Freddy; she needs the calories more than he does. And I needed to go eat dinner with Björn, Kalle and Emma.

<

"Thanks, Mom!"

Yeah, I'm glad we can go back to the two-room system.

Aby-a-Day – 2 Augusti: Alfred is such a ham! (Hipstamatic Monday)

Yesterday when Björn and Emma were making breakfast, they gave the cats a little bit of ham…and a piece fell on Alfred’s back.

He could smell it, but couldn’t figure out where the delicious ham was.

Meanwhile, here it is.

Meanwhile, Izaak is wondering why we are all giggling and taking photos.

“Mooooommmmmm…where’s the haaammmmm..?”

“Wait? There’s ham? I thought I smelled ham…”

I thought for sure Izaak would clock the ham on Freddy’s back.

Because I am a meanie, I tried to get Zak to notice the ham on Freddy’s back.

I almost thought he was going to see it.

But in the end, Freddy managed to knock the ham off of his back and eat it. Sorry, Zak.

Aby-a-Day – 1 Augusti: Emma and the cats outside (Swedish Cinema Sunday)

Today we took the cats out with us to take out the recycling. Emma got to handle Lorelai’s leash.

It’s been raining most of the week, so the cats haven’t been outside in a while.

While we usually let Izaak and Alfred follow us at their own pace, Emma wanted to try and keep them all with us.

When we first saw this little Yorkie, I was afraid it was going to start yapping and being annoying, but it actually seemed curious about the cats.

Rory was curious, too. We let them say hello.

Rory and I continued to the garbage bin whilst Björn and Emma tried to get Zak to follow us (he had been spooked by the neighbour boys and was hiding from them). On the way we passed one of the rug racks being used for its actual purpose.

In the end, Björn and decided Zak would be fine until we got back, and finally made it to the bins. When we got there, we met an adult Vallhund!

At first, the dog was a little too eager for Rory’s liking.

But don’t worry. Although she be small, Rory is mighty fierce. She can hold her own.

Eventually, the Vallhund settled down, and they and Rory had a nice little meeting.

Freddy got to meet the Vallhund, too.

When Björn went to Stockholm yesterday to collect Emma, he’d left his bicycle next to the bus stop. It was very convenient to fetch it on the way back from the bins. As Björn was wheeling it up the path, Rory did something surprising: she jumped up on the chain guard!

The thing is…she didn’t jump off even when Björn continued to move the bike!

She rode on that chain guard for a while, too.

Long enough, in fact, that I was able to make a little video. Click on the image to watch it in a new window on Flickr.

Aby-a-Day – 31 Juli: Emma Hellqvist is in the house! (Swedish Sunday)

Björn’s daughter Emma is visiting us this weekend! She’s here for her birthday, which was last Friday, but as Björn’s holiday started today, here’s here from today until Wednesday morning.

Tonight, we had options for dinner, and Emma chose ribs.

So, we had ribs.

And when we had finished, we let the cats gnaw the meat of said ribs.

Emma doesn’t have a cat at home in Stockholm, so she was quite amused to watch the feeding frenzy that ensued.

After the cats had their ribs, Emma had her cake.

She also mentioned that she didn’t like wearing a mask, so I gave her my two cat-face masks. I mean, if you don’t like wearing a mask, it’s easier to wear a fun one, amirite?

Aby-a-Day – 29 Juli: “And what is a foam after all, but a big collection of bubbles?” (Thursday Things)

Björn is working on a project, and he needed a piece of foam. He’s working on the project in the living room, and he set the foam down on his laptop and books.

Of course, Izaak had to investigate this new and fascinating object in his territory.

He tried to walk on it or sit on it, but it was unstable and kept teeter-tottering. I admit, it: I laughed at him a little.

“What?”

“I would greatly appreciate you not judging me.”

Zak then spent a great deal of time examining the situation. He seemed determined to conquer the foam.

Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain. Zak ended up settling for sitting next to the piece of foam.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

Aby-a-Day – 28 Juli: Wordless Wednesday (Sometimes, Izaak just stares at me for no reason)

Aby-a-Day – 22 Juli: I think Angel secretly likes him (Thursday Things)

This is starting to be a regular thing.

Angel’s napping in a bed…

…and Izaak decides he just has to be there, too.

But look at Angel’s body language.

She seems totes okay with his intrusion!

It’s kind of funny, because she’s never really been much of a social cuddler. She did sleep with Jacoby when he was young, but that stopped as he matured. Of course Singapuras never take no for an answer, so maybe she’s just given up. Himbs doin a heckin assimilate. No resistance. So much futile.

Aby-a-Day – 21 Juli: Wordless Wednesday (I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I feel like I’m intruding)

Aby-a-Day – 18 Juli: My sweet summer child (Swedish Singapura Sunday)

You may recall, I have been working on a Four Seasons of Izaak project and a couple of weeks ago I took some Summer photos.

I wasn’t completely happy with them compared to the Winter and Spring photos.

Also, the tree looks more “summery” now than it did last month because now, the cherries are ripening.

So, when we went outside yesterday, I put Zak up in his tree and took some more photos.

Just like last time, he climbed up the branch, used it like a scratching post, and tried to eat the lichen.

Zak is pretty good at moving around up in the branches.

I think he really enjoys his tree time.

In the end, this shot is the one I’ll use as Summer in the project. And, like the Spring photo, I may have touched it up a teensy bit in Photoshop…but only three layers, no big deal.

Aby-a-Day – 17 Juli: A curious series of events (Serious Saturday)

Okay. Today was…weird. Strange. Mysterious. And not a little bit scary. It has many layers to it. It starts earlier this week, when I bought a used tricycle.

Since Covid, my balance is a bit off and my Dutch bike is getting harder to ride, especially when I am carrying things. But good tricycles are expensive, and cheap ones are…unpredictable. I’d been looking on a Swedish used item selling website, but there was nothing. Then, on Wednesday, I happened to check it again…and there was one listed, in Skövde, for only 2900 kr (about $300 USD – wicked cheap). The trike had been put up the day before, so it really was serendipity. He delivered it Thursday. It’s going to take a bit of practice to get the hand of riding it (bicycles and tricycles handle very differently) and it needs some lights and reflectors.

Another point: Björn is away on a weekend gaming trip, since everyone is vaccinated. Last night, I was on my own, so I ordered those lights and reflectors on Amazon.se. As part of this shopping, I went out twice after sunset to look at the trike to see what I needed and where I could mount things. When I went out, I got a lot of mosquito bites. I also ran into my upstairs neighbours, who told me they were going on a trip in the morning (this becomes important later). I fell asleep watching Hamilton, woke up at 4am, and went to bed. Woke up at 10, itching like crazy, and took some Benedryl. I was reading in the bedroom (it’s cooler there during the day than in the living room) and the Benedryl made me doze off. When I woke up, it was almost 4pm.

Which meant the cats’ breakfast was late. I immediately went to feed them. Izaak and Lorelai weren’t around, but that’s actually kind of normal for them; Zak has been hiding from me when I feed him, especially in the morning because he doesn’t want to be shut up in the bedroom, and Rory likes to hang out on the balcony and eats later.

But it was bothering me. Afternoons, Rory sleeps on the end of the sofa, and Zak eventually comes out of hiding. Kalle and I searched the house; I had started a load of laundry and thought they might be shut in there, but they weren’t. Now I was getting worried. I started thinking they might be outside, but how? They didn’t get out when I went outside last night, because they were here for dinner. Around 5:30pm, I went outside, both to look for them and also to see if I could put the tail light back on the trike. As soon as I got to the trike, Zak appeared, yelling a blue streak!

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? WHY WAS I OUTSIDE? WHERE WERE YOU!?” And I couldn’t answer that, because I have no idea. But that means Rory was probably outside, too. I put Zak back inside and Kalle and I scoured the område. Kalle suggested we check with the Anderssons, and I told him they’d gone on a trip this morning. We looked everywhere, but couldn’t find her…but it occurred to me that late afternoon is Rory’s nap time. WHen I messaged Björn about it, he thought she might be napping under some bushes in one of her favourite spots, like near the sandbox. So, we decided to wait for an hour and try again. Kalle mentioned that the door wasn’t locked when he went shopping; he had forgotten that until after we searched. Alfred, as you know, can open the front door if it’s not locked, and when the Anderssons load their car, they block the door open. Kalle and I started theorising: The door somehow was left unlocked (I don’t remember NOT locking it, but I don’t remember actually locking it, either) and Freddy opened it. Zak, Rory and Freddy go out in the hallway, and the front door is open because of the neighbours’ trip. The Anderssons see Freddy and put him inside, but they don’t see the other two. I also knew no one had found her; she’s pretty well known in the område and all the children know her by name. She has two ID tags and nobody had called or checked the Blanket ID site.

Kalle suggested taking Zak with us when we went out to look for Rory, and I had been thinking the same thing. So, Zak and I go out to find Rory and Kalle was still getting ready…but there Rory was, right at the door, waiting to be let in! I have no idea when they got out, how long they’d been out, where they went…nothing. Just our theory of events, at least until the Anderssons get home. But, this shows that taking them outside often and in all seasons is a VERY good thing, because they know where they live. A lot of indoor cats don’t learn that, so if they do escape, they are easily disoriented and don’t know how to get home.

Epilouge: The Anderssons didn’t see the cats this morning. I just messaged Oksana, and she didn’t see Freddy, Zak or Rory this morning. The mystery continues. So much for all that CSI I’ve watched in my life.