Sad news...

Spinsters and cats.  A cliche to be sure, but it is one that fits this self proclaimed spinster.  I have three felines that I share my life with.  Two are 15 years old and the other is a rambunctious 2 year old.  I do call them my fur babies and they are indeed spoiled.

We all know that when an animal becomes a part of your life it will mean that one day you will have to say good bye.  When you share your life with older cats you come to a point where you know that one of these times a visit to the vet for your cat being out of sorts isn't going to result in being sent home with some sort of pill and an "oh don't worry, in a few days he'll be back to his old self."

Today I had the visit I've been expecting one day but hoping wouldn't happen anytime soon.  One of my kitties, the male 15 year old who I've had since he was a kitten, has a tumor.  It is one that can't be removed.  Though there is treatment to make him more comfortable and maybe even extend his time here with me, it is expected that I will still only have his company for another two to four months.

In fitting with the theme of this months NaBloPoMo, the next few months will be a between time.  A time when I'll be hoping for the best, working to make sure he is happy and comfortable, and watching for those signs that will mean that final trip to the veterinarians office.  

Single and NOT hating it...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Perverted misanthropes, crazy cat ladies, dating-obsessed shoe shoppers, etc.—all of them some form of terribly lonely." - Kate Bolick

The above quote is from  All the Single Ladies, an article by Kate Bolick published in this months issue of the Atlantic.   It is getting enough attention that this morning she was a guest on the Today show in the above feature about the rise of the single woman.  She was joined by Dr. Janet Taylor, a psychologist. 

The quote above is referring to how, for most of recent history, single women have been seen in our culture.  I have not yet read the entire article, but I have watched the video on the MSNBC website.   For the most part the piece is a positive one.  Though at first MSNBC seems to be pushing the idea that the reason so many women are single is because the men that are are available are just simply not good enough and thus we are all settling for being alone.  Thankfully both Ms. Bolick and Dr. Taylor correct this assumption. 

Ms. Bolick mentions being able to "provide my own security, " and that marriage is no longer something that is required for financial stability.  In addition, Dr. Taylor adds that women are choosing being single "with emotional contentment" and not because they are simply being forced to get comfortable with being alone.    Both stress that being single can be as valid a choice as marriage, and one that is made not because they can't find a mate, but because they like their lives the way they are. 

It is nice to see single women being talked about in a positive light.  After all, those of us on the edge of becoming crazy cat ladies (as long as I don't go over three, I'm okay right?) are not lonely in the least...we are simply crazy about cats. 

The Process

This image has been making its way around Facebook lately.  Most of my creative type friends have shared it; I’ve passed it along as well.   Nearly each person has added their own personal comment when passing it along adding things like:  frustrated screaming, dates with Jack Daniels, breaking things and spontaneous house cleaning.   The reason we find it amusing is because each of us has had direct experience with how much of a struggle the creative process can be.  

I think of the times I’ve spent staring at a blank page waiting for the words to tell the story that is in my mind and they simply won’t come or the frustration of listening to the same section of music over and over again hoping that this time the choreography that conveys the emotion I hear in the music will make itself known to me.  And once the words are written or the choreography is laid out there are still hours of editing or rehearsals to come before the piece is presented to its intended audience.  Behind all of this the possibility that the story or dance piece might not ever be seen by eyes other than those of its creator.

The creative process is work.  It is at times frustrating work and I can’t think of anyone who has not had the best and worst of themselves brought out by it.   We are uplifted and laid low, but thankfully somewhere along the way we’ve learned to laugh at ourselves.  

Shhhhhhhhhhh!

Last night I had a dream that I packed up myself and the kitties and ran off to a silent retreat in the middle of some distant mountains.  I told no one where I was going.   It was a very peaceful dream, but it did end with someone who was worried seeking me out and finally finding me in my mountain hide away.  I actually tried to hide behind a tree when they showed up, but they found me anyway. 

The most appealing thing about the dream was not being alone, and actually I wasn’t really alone anyway as the retreat had several other guests as well as the people who ran the place, and it wasn’t the break from having to do anything, besides all guests had to help out with preparing meals and keeping things clean.  The most appealing part of the dream was the silence.   It was the not speaking that I enjoyed.

The silence in the dream could have been a literal wish to not speak, but I think it went beyond not having verbal interaction.  Most everything I do whether it’s work, school or art, involves communicating in some way.  Many are verbal, like phone calls and direct conversation, but there is also this blog, emails, text messages and online social media.  I also communicate through my performances, with music and dance.   It is constant and aside from sleeping I can’t think of the last time even an hour passed in my day without some kind of exchange taking place.  

All of which is my own doing of course and I’ve no doubt my subconscious is telling me I need to take some sort of time off.  Right now, as appealing as the idea is, I couldn’t pack up my life and head for the mountains (and I promise, I would tell someone where I was going) and in looking at my calendar I’m not sure I could even find a whole day I could set aside to unplug from the world.   

So I’m going to make an effort to introduce a little bit of silence into my life every day.  Turning off the phone and computer for a set period of time.  A half hour?  An hour?   Much more than that and I’d likely begin to suffer withdrawal;  I’d be found in a dark corner of my apartment clutching my laptop and iPhone to my chest, muttering that I won’t let anyone take a ways my preciouses ever again.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Two for one...

I missed posting yesterday.  I don’t have an excuse, I just forgot until suddenly it was 11:30 PM.  I was out at a club at the time and there just was not any way I was going to make it back to my apartment, write a blog and post it before midnight.  So, today I’m writing two posts to make up for it.  The Great Hairball Incident was post number one and now, guess what?  It’s 11:30 PM and I’ve not written my second post.  This time I am at home, watching Hulu and working on a costume for a show I’m in next weekend.  The only problem is that I’m totally drawing a blank on what to write about.

But do not fear dear readers for the folks at NaBloPoMo are prepared for such things.  Since they assume we may one day during our 30 days of writing suffer from a case of blogger’s block they are kind enough to provide some prompts during the week.  I’m making use of this handy feature…

Friday’s blog prompt (apparently they assume that blogger’s block takes the weekend off so they only provide prompts on weekdays):

“Talk about one important thing that happened between last Friday and today.”

It is difficult to choose one important thing because a lot of important stuff happened this week. Not only that but I’m down to 21 minutes to get this written and posted before it becomes Sunday and then I will still technically be a day behind in my blogging.  And besides, how to decide what important thing to write about?  I mean, I woke up every morning and I still existed.  THAT’s pretty darn important right?

Today the alarm clock went off promptly at 6:30, it only took me a moment to realize I wasn’t dead.

Of course I am being a little self centered about this.   It doesn’t say talk about something important that happened in your life between last Friday and today.  No.  It says just something important.  Which of course blows my options WIDE open.

Today the alarm clock went off promptly at 6:30, it only took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t dead and that the world still existed.

I suppose this is a pretty important thing too. Knowing that the sun will rise and set each day is rather reassuring when it comes to thinking about life, goals and lunch plans for the next week.   Waking up and realizing that you are still breathing means that you just might be around for the next time the sun comes up. 

So that is it then.  The important thing that happened this past week is that I’m alive and well. Hopefully, the same goes for all of you too. 

Sometimes you can only laugh...really

I was just writing a blog post about how a sequence of minor disappointing events led up to my weeping next to the sweater rack in the middle of a second hand store.  I had a few paragraphs down about how my day was going really well until about an hour ago.  I wrote about lunch and a crochet lesson with my mother, and the flock of starlings I had the chance to observe while on my walk home from the train station.

I’d also written about a receiving a phone call that has put a bit of a glitch into my rehearsal plans for an upcoming show.  I mentioned that it was an inconvenient but manageable change of events and the reasons for it occurring were reasonable.     I shared how at the hardware store I discovered that they were sold out of the vacuum cleaner belt I needed and that they no longer carried the brand of filter I needed for my air purifier.   I talked about being frustrated as my rug is on the edge of disgusting and my allergies are going a bit nuts lately but again, these are small things.  I can get the belt and filter elsewhere at a later time.

I wrote that to cheer myself a bit I ventured into the second hand shop to seek out some items for a costume for another show only to find that they had none of the items I needed.  And then I wrote about the moment The Song came on.  A song I’d heard 100 times before without ill effect but when added the combination of the string of minor frustrations and my feeling a bit over tired and (zoom!) I went from annoyed to feeling sorry for myself.  Cue the tears…

I added in how foolish I felt about this.  That I left the store as soon as possible telling myself I was being totally stupid and that what I really needed was a cup of tea and nap.  On arriving home I decided that the situation would make an amusing anecdote for this blog, and that sharing how silly and foolish I felt would likely make me laugh at the situation. 

I wrote all about the events leading up to it and how I must have looked like a crazy person by appearing in the store heading over to the clothing section, bursting into tears and leaving as quickly as I’d arrived.  I was just finishing a line about how in the grand scheme of things, none of this really mattered…

…and then…

… one of my cats decided to move the story from amusing to hilarious by vomiting a hairball into the middle of my lap. 

The End

Spinster in the Kitchen: Scones and sweet, sweet butter

I’ve been promising another Spinster in the Kitchen post for months now.   Well, hoot, holler and hurrah I’m finally getting around to actually posting it.

Anyone who has been reading my blog of late knows that right now I am in the midst of an extremely busy time.  My evenings have been particularly busy with school, work and rehearsals and so my social life has been nearly nonexistent.  What does this have to do with food?  Well the only time I seem to have free at all is in the early mornings and so I’ve been having friends over for breakfast with some amount of regularity. 

I love my friends dearly but one of the problems has been finding foods to cook that, if any is leftover, will not only keep but I’ll actually want to eat it.  This recipe proved a great solution for the problem.  Not only is this is just about the easiest scone recipe you will ever make, any leftovers will keep very well.  I put a couple in the freezer and ate the rest over the next few days.  I also made a very simple honey and herb butter to go with them.

Unlike a lot of scone recipes this one uses melted instead of chilled butter so one doesn’t need a pastry cutter (though being the prepared spinster that I am I have one) and it can be easily modified by changing out the raisins for other dried fruit and you could also use nuts or other seeds in place of the flax seed. 

Spinster Jane’s Golden Raisin Oatmeal Scones

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and have ready a large ungreased cookie sheet.

Wisk together:

1 ½ cups all purpose unbleached white flour

¼ cup brown sugar

½ tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

Stir in:

1 ¼ rolled oats

¾ cup golden raisins

½ cup flax seed

 In a separate bowl whisk together:

1 egg

10 (yup TEN) warm melted butter

1/3 cup milk (I used low fat to make me feel better about the butter)

Finally, add this to the dry ingredients and mix only until everything is just blended.   It should stick together quite well. 

Next flour your hands and form the dough into a large ball.  Set it on a floured surface and using your hands (no rolling pins allowed and you shouldn’t need it anyway) flatten the dough into in an 8 inch round.  It should be about ¾ of an inch thick.  With a sharp knife cut the dough into 8 wedges. 

Transfer to the cookie sheet (if they stick use a spatula) and bake until just turning golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Allow to cool on a rack or serve warm.  

Honey Thyme Butter

This should be done the night before to give the flavor of the herb time (oh ha ha) to blend with the honey and butter. 

Blend until smooth:

1 stick of butter at room temperature

3 table spoons of honey

Add:

One tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or herb of choice (if using dried use about ¾ of a tablespoon)

Mix until well blended that put into a butter mold or small dish and chill in the fridge over night.  Allow about 15 minutes for it to sit out to soften before serving.  This will keep for a long time in the fridge so if you have some left over, you can eat on toast, or English muffins or well, on just about anything. 

And that is it.  The scones could be made fresh or, as I did, the night before.  I warmed them for about five minutes in the preheated oven at 350 degrees before serving.   They were a hit with my friends and with me over the next few days.  I’m planning to make them again this weekend!

Enjoy!