Sheer effrontery

Things have been busy at la maison PhysicsGirl. We're all moved in and (mostly) unpacked. The new apartment is amazing. There is so much light and space. And kittens.


Note: the kittens did not come with the apartment. I miss my Lucy a lot and she was irreplaceable, but we had a big spot in our hearts for kitties that needed to be filled. Meet Hector (the gentleman with the white mask) and Cassie (the elegant lady in grey). Follow me on Instagram (@aem2_) if you want to be utterly spammed with kitten pix.We got them just over a week ago from Toronto Cat Rescue and they've already wormed their way into our hearts.

Before we could let them worm their way into the apartment, however, I needed to get the sewing room/study unpacked. It was fantastic impetus to get it done. As was the @SewWeekly The White Stuff challenge. Which means I have finally checked off something from my #2017makenine list: a white Tilly and the Buttons Mathilde blouse^*.

The most precious cat in the world

I came home from work today to find my beautiful cat Lucy had passed away. She was nearly 18 years old. I'm devastated.

I have no words, so I'll just dump a tonne of photos here.



Bye, bye, my baby girl.

It's baaaack: Errandonnée 2017

It is that time of year again. To see the month of March out, the chasing mailboxes biking challenge I usually manage to finish (if not to finish blogging): the Errandonnée.

There are rules, because rules make it more fun. I will probably be mainly Instagramming this one (did I mention of course I haven't mentioned because I haven't blogged in forever, so now I will say that I finally got a smartphone and an Instagram account. Not in that order.) Perhaps coincidentally, this year's Errandonnée begins on Jour du Macaron. Because that works out nicely.

As a pre-Errandonnée errand in the category of "You carried WHAT on your bike", I had to take Lucy to the vet because she's ... not well. I promise that the carrier was level when we were actually moving, and the tilt is only from getting the phone out of the purse after we got home.

I was framed. Framed, I tell ya! #sickkitty #youcarriedwhatonyourbike?

A post shared by Andrea M (@aem2_) on Mar 16, 2017 at 12:23pm PDT

I hearby claim this blog...

on behalf of Bloglovin. And physics, math, adventures, and tea.

And so this isn't a total loss as a post, here is a random picture of Lucy.

It's a good thing she's cute: Utilitaire-12 #11

Utilitaire-12 task #11: Bike to any store that is not a grocery store = Pet Valu

The weather has been its usual weird March self. We had an extreme cold alert on Monday, then by today the temperature had gone up 20 degrees to 16! People were out on patios. Tomorrow it will go back down to "normal" March temperatures, with the possibility of snow on Friday. But today was glorious -- I got to cycle in a light jacket and a pair of shoes. Shoes, not boots! So freeing for the feet.

The wind was completely unnecessary. I'm tired of the wind. Literally.

I had to get all manner of cat food and litter, so I took myself to the local Pet Valu after work. The sun had set by the time I left, and there were more ninja cyclists out due to the warmth. I passed a guy decked out in reflectors from head to toe, but no lights. Nice try, but no cigar. Guess what, dude? I still couldn't see you because reflectors are designed to shine light straight back (e.g. headlights), and ambient street light won't cut it. Become a luminous object!

I was extremely surprised to see how much the cat food cost; I am certain the price jumped by $10 for the bag of kibble, but the cashiers seemed to think it was the same price as always. I'm going to have to check it against past receipts. So expensive, this eating habit my kitty has.

Fortunately the wind was at my back on the way home. Hauling bags of cat litter and food is the main reason I had the wide front basket installed on the Opus. The heavy front load does make the steering a little unwieldy at first, but I always get used to it. Besides, it frees up the back rack for things like big bags of potting soil, as in this picture from last summer:

Total mileage: From my apartment to Dufferin & Dupont and back = 4.6 km/2.8 miles

While I don't recommend this as a diet...

Lucy is a one-kitty-household kind of girl. When my brother's cat Crazy first came to stay with us in my tiny bachelor apartment, Lucy was unimpressed. She made noises like the Chamberlain in The Dark Crystal. There was much squabbling. And for Lucy, there was eating far too much food. Despite the fact that Crazy never ate a lot to begin with and the bowls always magically replenished themselves, Lucy was afraid that Crazy would eat more than her fair share and so she'd store away extra calories against the day that the interloper would... I don't know, set up camp in front of the food bowl and deny access or something. Obviously Crazy was planning something during those intense bouts of napping, right?

RIP Crazy

We interrupt the regular blog for a sad announcement.

I got to Paris this evening and checked my email.  There was one waiting from my cat-sitter saying that my pretty, sweet, furry, six-toed, elderly kitty Crazy had died.  She was 17, which is a very good age, and after the big scare last September, the vet said she probably only had two or three months left.  She managed a few more than that, and I hope they were good ones. 

It was not entirely unexpected, although I hoped it wouldn't happen while I was away. To tell the truth, it doesn't really feel real yet. It will be a bit of a sad homecoming in June.

I hope my other girl, Lucy, will be okay. She and Crazy never really hit it off, but I hope she won't be too lonely when the cat-sitter isn't there. And that she comes out of hiding to get some cuddles. Well, I doubt she'll allow cuddles. Quick pets on the head, then.

She was a fine cat, a very fine cat indeed. I hope her kitty-cat soul finds lots of tea to drink.

The near-perfect blog post

I was talking to a friend of mine a while back and he mentioned John Scalzi's blog post which includes a description of what most existing blogs look like, and I realize I have been totally remiss.

Here are pictures of my cats.








But I don't know what I'm going to have for lunch.