Cat tree trauma

Truffle is a playful cat. Being only 6 months old, she loves to explore and play with everything in the house. One of her favorite spot was the newly purchased cat tree. It has dangling elements which she loves to paw and bite. We were glad she loves to play on the cat tree until one evening when her paw was caught tangled with one of the dangling elements. It must have hurt terribly as she hissed and meowed in agony! Thankfully, we were able to free her with a pair of scissors and she has avoided the cat tree ever since. I'm grateful that the incident took place when T and I were at home and we were able to help her. This incident taught us to be more cautious when choosing fixtures and toys for our furkids.

Truffle on the cat tree

New appliance - Stand Mixer!

Stand mixers don't come cheap. One with a strong motor and sturdy attachments typically cost SGD 500 - 1000+. We deliberated on which to purchase for 4 months! Many evenings were occupied with reading reviews about mixers, visiting departmental shops to watch live demonstrations and checking out prices and deals. I was totally mesmerized with the design of a Kitchenaid and bowled over by the functions of a Kenwood K-mix. One moment I preferred the Kitchenaid, the next, I was swayed by the specs of the K-mix. Factoring in the cost, we even considered a hand-held mixer. I remember watching a few episodes of Frenchguycooking, Rachel Khoo's, Jamie Oliver's and Raymond Blanc's videos to see which one is best suited for our needs. Finally... we purchased the K-mix because of the bigger capacity of the bowl and a stronger motor. Garlic herb bread was the first item we made with the K-mix. The dough hook was superb! It kneaded the dough perfectly with minimum effort. Subsequent experiments include cranberry brownies with Bailey's whipped cream, cranberry bread and more to come.

Kenwood - K-mix

Adoption story

Since a young age, I always wanted to keep a pet. My parents never warmed up to the idea. Eventually, they kept a fish tank with a variety of ornamental fishes (on their own accord). I remember rushing to the front of the tank to feed the fishes after school, but I never did felt any sense of attachment to the fishes. This Aug, after T and I moved in to our own place, we decided to adopt a dog and a cat. (just like Garfield and Odie) Purchasing pets from a pet shop was never an option for us as we always wanted to give rescued animals a forever home.

Like anxious parents, we devoted many evenings preparing the house, making it as pet-friendly as possible and reading about animal care and behavior. We deliberated over which to adopt first, a cat or a dog and spent a few weeks visiting animal shelters. Finally, we adopted a white-black domestic short-fur cat, Ronny. Soon, we discovered that he has a timid personality and would do well with a cat companion rather than a dog. Hence, we took in his best mate from the same shelter - Truffle.
They have settled well in our home and we look forward to share more about them in future posts.

Truffle and Ronny