Category Archives: casa azahar

cat scratch fever

21 Thursday May 2020

Posted by in animals & pets, casa azahar, cats, home

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WTF. I bought this cat scratch tower thingy last September and now look at it. Eight months later and it’s been totally ripped to shreds (mostly by Luna; Loki still prefers the back of the sofa and Morcilla has all but destroyed my office chair). But as you can see, it’s only the posts that have been shredded. The rest of the stand still stands and is in more or less good condition. I wish these companies would sell replacement posts for these things because they’re not cheap to replace. It’s a shame to throw this whole thing away, and in any case I can’t afford to replace it. But posts at, say 10€ each, would be a reasonable option and would also mean less waste.

Probably the only one who will miss it would be Luna, so it’s not exactly “essencial”, but Luna has so few things she loves (she’s such a weirdo) that I will leave it here until she actually destroys the cardboard posts themselves (which she did with the previous tower) and the whole thing collapses. But at least the previous one lasted a year and a half. Cats, eh?

 

caturday may 16 2020

16 Saturday May 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, cats, caturday, home

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This is my dude. I wake up to this big guy stretched out next to me with his head on my pillow, like he owns the bed. The other two come and visit me while I’m in bed, but Loki is the only one who spends the entire night. It’s his time to get in ALL the cuddles.

When I had the first trio of cats they all slept with me, in my single bed, which I have to admit was a bit challenging. I’d often wake up in some sort of pretzel position with cats filling in the gaps. Then I moved and got a bigger bed, and so that was a bit more comfortable.

But there was a definite heirarchy. Lua got to sleep on my head, her son Sunny slept at my feet, and Azar would curl up along my side. When Lua died Azar wasted no time taking over the coveted pillow position, and Sunny moved up to the middle of the bed. But after Sunny left us and I found Loki as a companion for Azar… well, Azar was having none of that. I was his human, that was HIS pillow, and his bed.

So Loki never had a chance to sleep in my bed. Until Azar passed away. By that time Luna had also joined the family, but of course Azar totally ruled the bed by then, so the other two had to find somewhere else to sleep. But as soon as Loki realised Azar was gone, this was his chance. He started visiting during the night, the visits started lasting longer… finally he was IN.

Luna has always been a bit of a weirdo loner, but she does like bed visits. On her terms, when she wants them. But she has never spent the whole night with me. And Morcilla? It kills me but that this little girl, my heart of hearts, refuses to sleep in my bed. I blame Loki. I reckon if it was just me and Morcilla she’d be cuddling up with me every night. Especially as she spends every night curled up on either my comfy chair or my office chair, you know, the ones that are mine and smell like me. And she’s very possessive about me during the day. I think she is biding her time. She doesn’t like to share.

So yes, there is a whole other Sharing The Human routine for daytime, but we can talk about that another time.

lockdown day 60

12 Tuesday May 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, home, hope, sevilla

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So yesterday was the first day of Phase 1, part of our government’s poco á poco getting back to work sorta-kinda plan. As of May 11th certain other non-essential businesses were allowed to open (retail shops, hairdressers, etc) as well as bars/restaurants that have outdoor terraces. The ruling was that bars could use 50% capacity of the terrace, that safe distancing must be provided, and that only people who live together can sit together. WELL JUST CHECK OUT THAT PHOTO. One of many pics I saw yesterday online. WTAF.

I don’t even know what to think anymore. Although we were given the green light to go out for individual exercise (walking, running, cycling) on May 2nd, during specific hours, I continued doing my rooftop walks BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED. And although people yesterday seemed focused on that one bar in Nervión pictured above, there were actually many that had flouted the basic rules. My friend Esteban @vermuteriayosoytupadre took the photo below yesterday afternoon in the Alameda de Hércules while he was out delivering his vermouth. And he told me he had called the police on about half a dozen other places he passed.

I even saw a couple of places with my own eyes when I took out the rubbish around 2pm after my rooftop walk. One neighbourhood bar seemed to be doing things properly. Half their normal number of tables were set out with the appropriate spacing between them, staff were gloved and masked. Then I turned the corner and saw another bar with ALL its tables out, no safe spacing, even two tables had been put together to accommodate a larger group (right, they all live together?) and my heart crumpled up a bit. Why are people so bloody stupid and selfish???

Anyhow, that settles it. I’m not going anywhere until the end of the month, other than rubbish runs and very occasional quick supermarket visits. Because even doing those two things put me at risk as too many people are still not wearing masks, and they approach in the street not even half a hockey stick away (often there’s not time or space to get out of their way) so then I get home and have to not only wash my hands but also my clothes (shoes are left outside my apartment door now) and take a long hot soapy shower. Every short outing feels like I’m dodging bullets.

It both scares and angers me, because dammit, I am doing everything right. Is it frustrating being in lockdown? Sure it is. Do I miss “the old life”? More than anything. But am I going to put other people and myself at risk because I want what I want? Because let’s face it, I may also be an asymptomatic carrier. Answer: no fucking way. This is how we’ll die. Not with a bang but a complainy snivelling whiny bleating whimper from those who think they are privileged and immune.

I’m reminded of that particularly stupid line in Braveheart when Mel screams out to his followers… “They may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!”

Dude… really? How does that work?

lemony

11 Monday May 2020

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Got a supermarket delivery on Saturday and discovered that instead of sending me the 3 lemons I’d ordered they sent 3 KILOS of lemons (!!!). Well I mean, what on earth does someone quarantined on their own do with 3 fucking kilos of lemons? So of course I did the wise thing and asked Twitter, specifically requesting that no one mention lemonade.

Gotta say there were some very interesting ideas, mostly for lemony baked goods, preserves and jams, and lots of mentions of gin. Sadly or otherwise I hardly ever eat sweet things and, ever since The Unfortunate Incident with gin when I was a teenager, I can barely be in the same room with a gin and tonic. Then someone suggested freezing the lemon juice in ice cube trays for future use, but I don’t actually own any ice cube trays (something that must be remedied, along with getting a potato masher, a rolling garlic press and a muffin tin for making yorkshire puddings).

Anyhow… that same someone also said I could freeze sliced lemon and just add them to drinks as required. Bingo! Because since the warm weather hit I’ve gone back to my usual 1 litre of lemon water per day, which is why I’d ordered those damn 3 lemons in the first place (good thing I didn’t order 6!). Frozen lemon slices are perfect for my needs, but of course there isn’t space in my freezer for 3 (fucking) kilos of sliced lemons.

As luck would have it, my friend Lucy is having her hair done at a place around the corner from me today, so when I take out the rubbish I will drop off a bag of lemons for her. Apparently her Bakewell Tart is famous and lemon curd is the magic ingredient. Win-win.

Glad that’s sorted! And I’m sure this has all been just as exhausting for you as it was for me. 🙂