Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

Coloring Sheets for Adults (or anyone!)

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Creativity is a marvelous thing in my opinion and I think we can all be creative in one way or another.  A very popular way of celebrating our personal creativity is a coloring book.  Now adults get their own, instead of shoving the kids out of the way and nicking their favorite pencils, we can officially have our own book and choose our own pencil case and fill it with abandon (or pens, whichever you prefer). I love to doodle and draw and I will often color in my own pictures, but I don’t color in official books.  Having said that there are lots of amazing coloring books to be had, featuring everything from patterns to seasonal pictures via mandalas and animal kingdoms. As I was doodling around and coloring in my sheets of drawings, I thought maybe you might like a coloring sheet to print off and get stuck in, right now!  Grab those pens/pencils/paints/crayons and print one of my coloring sheets.  I made two for you.  Just click on either image to get …

Four + One = Life. Weekly Photos 45/52.

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1. Blue sky and orange leaves, one of the best things about this time of year. 2. I snagged some hydrangeas this week and even thought they are kind of past their prime, they are still so striking.  This book is my new favorite cookbook and I was happy to see that there are more books by the same lady which I have ordered from the library.  Hurrah for libraries! 3. These mica powders arrived this week which I am excited to be able to add to lip balms and maybe a gentle blush with a hint of shimmer.  I will be sure to let you know how they turn out. 4. It is not tennis weather  I know, but my youngest and I decided this weekend was the time to channel our inner Wimbledon.  I thought I  would wear alternative tennis attire as you can see and jeans and boots worked just fine in our friendly knock about.  We found this ball at the tennis courts which has a valuable message – Practice. Yes …

Through The Lens Thursday #45. Bright.

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We have a teeny tiny Dogwood tree in our front garden which I have nearly mowed down to the ground on more than one occasion! Thankfully I missed it every time and it is growing slowly but surely.  This year it has a little collection of leaves which have turned a fabulous orange pink for the autumn. A little bright beacon shining from my front lawn, some trees in the autumn see to be their own light source and this is one of them. A perfect example of ‘bright’ for this week’s Through The Lens Thursday.  Next week is ‘Smile’. Happy Thursday!

Bharta. Aubergine/Eggplant curry.

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I have had a bumper crop of aubergines this year and when they started to grow, my first thoughts were ‘great, the aubergines are growing, but I don’t even like to eat them!’ I gave some away, made some recipes I didn’t like and then my friend Tracie at Beets and Birch blog suggested making Bharta. I did and I loved it! So my final batch of aubergines and chili peppers are all going into the curry. This meal will use up the last of the coriander in the garden too I think. Bharta or Aubergine Curry. (adapted from Madhur Jaffery’s book – ‘Madhur Jaffery’s World Vegetarian’ 1 large or a few smaller aubergines 4-6 tomatoes 1 onion Fresh chili(es) 1 tsp ground cumin 1 inch grated fresh ginger Prick  the aubergines,  tomatoes and chilis with a fork a couple of times each, then roast on a foil lined tray at 425 degrees for 40-60 mins until the aubergines are soft and have started to flatten.  Meanwhile chop the onion and fry in olive oil …

One+Four=Life. Weekly Photos 44/52.

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1. I went to see Twenty One Pilots in concert this weekend with my teen.  They are so good live, they put on an amazing show and they are funny and chatty too.  I do like some entertaining chat when I see bands live, nothing more boring than a band who just warbles through their back catalogue then leaves.  There is nothing boring about a Twenty One Pilots concert, and not to sound like a middle aged mama, but I just love that they don’t swear every other word.  Most bands seem to think they have to ‘f and blind’ (now I sound like a right old fart) the whole way through their set. Not true!  I took this photo using the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. 2. On Sunday morning there was a bit of fog hanging about so I went out for a little walk into the woods to see if the fog was worth a photo.  No fog to speak of, it was all in the tops of the trees, but the …

‘I like’ Fridays. The Happy Edition.

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Things that have made me happy this week are- Making green tomato pickles. That my kids like the pickles I have already made. Rock cakes. Cutting the branches into a stick pile in the garden. Watching my last four aubergines grow. Playing with Zentangle and finding cool posts like this one from Craftwhack. Looking forward to the November Tinkerlab sketching challenge. Halloween treats from Grandma in England (chocolate eyeballs!). Successful school Halloween parties. Scoring some great bargains at Goodwill, in this weeks haul, we got a 1960’s baby blue typewriter (which was very heavy to carry home!), some milk glass mugs and a ‘Tornado’ maker! Playing Cluedo with the kids. Watching the Great British Baking Show on PBS. The chilly weather and crunchy leaves. Power Yoga at Core 3 Fitness. What has been making you happy?  Lots of things I hope. I have included this week’s Through The Lens Thursday in today’s post as I missed it yesterday (oopsie).  This week’s prompt is ‘Happy’, pop over to Greta’s blog to see her photos too.  She …

Plugged + Unplugged

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Plugged and unplugged, words which have added new meanings to their definition in recent years.  Gone are the days when only an electrical item was plugged in or unplugged.  Now music is unplugged, art is unplugged, ears are plugged and of course our topic for today, social media is most definitely plugged and makes us all feel as if we are also plugged in.  Fingers on the pulse, don’t miss a thing, fear of missing out (I am not young enough to say FOMO…), keeping up with the plugged in Joneses.  We all like to know what is happening, but do we really need to know every microcosm of information available to us? Neighbours used to chat over the garden fence or at the butchers about last night’s TV or what Mrs So and So is up to, now we seem to want to actively create our own gossip.  We put it out there, of our own accord and we put our family gossip out too.  Posts on Facebook, endless photos which used to be …

One+Four=Life. Weekly Photos 43/52.

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1. A fire pit with (veggie) sausages and s’mores on a Autumn evening is the best!  I picked this fab vintage fire pit up from a yard sale and it is the perfect size. 2. As I walked through the park past the same bridge I see almost every day, I was drawn to the bright red tree.  I am sure the leaves have turned brown and dropped off by now, which makes me grateful to see the trees everyday so that I don’t miss their glorious colour change at this time of year. 3. I picked this giant two tone tomato this week and it is ripening nicely, I might get a few more red tomatoes and the rest are heading for pickles.  Most of the ripe tomatoes are being chopped with a chili from one of my plants and some coriander to make a salsa, I am eating fresh salsa at every opportunity. 4. We had our annual Halloween street party this weekend and everyone had a lovely time meeting each other and …

Six Word Saturday

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I got this idea from Pinterest (of course) and I think it worked rather well!  These are for the kids on our street and I am going to make them for the school Halloween party next week.  I want to add some plastic spiders or bugs to the school ones – extra creepy! Are you a big Halloween fan?  There is no getting away from it over here, so you might as well embrace it! Happy weekend!

‘I Like’ Friday.

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It has been ages since I wrote an ‘I like’ Friday post.  I have been liking lots of ace things, but I haven’t shared, how rude! So I plan to put that right and keep the ‘I like’s coming on a regular Friday basis.  A little gratitude sharing as well as things I like , it is important to look back and remember the good things from a week or a day isn’t it. My lovely neighbour brought me a piece of freshly made coffee cake this morning, it was delicious and I was very happy to have been the lucky recipient. What else have I been liking this week? I have been gathering some Christmas presents in earnest, I like to get organised for Christmas pretty early, so I don’t run out of time to mail it all back to the UK.  I enjoy buying gifts for people, it is so nice to think about what they might like (and hopefully get it right). The weather has been a dream this week, cooler mornings …