Whenever there is something new for the shop, I have to take a photo of it... for which I have a photo tent that gets a blue (indigo-dyed) background. Everything gets placed in there, pictures get taken, and then I can put the photobox-tent-thingie away again.

Except this time... it did not unfold as well as it should have. It had probably been stored a tad too long, or twisted somehow differently than normal - it did unfold, but not completely. So I decided to let it sit open for a while longer than it takes to photo the new things.

Which, naturally, led to this:


The cat, however, will not get a place in the shop... even if she tried her best to be a photogenic cuddly model.

You mean you did not want to look at cat pictures? You can look at the Codex Manesse instead - it's completely online and downloadable, all 871 pages of it - here. There's a big and a small version for the download, and it's free. Or, if you just want to browse the pictures, click on the link Bilderschließung in HeidICON which brings you to just the pics, and all of them. All praise the Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg who made this possible!

I have what feels like about a gazillion of possible blogging topics or links or pages on hold in the readmelater-thingie, but haven't gotten around to looking at even one of them closely enough to decide (much less blog) about it.

So here's a sweet stopgap: Carlisle Castle recreated in... biscuits.

And here is a food history timeline - I will not vouch for its accuracy, though (since I have not had time to check it out in detail). Obviously, there's more detail on the later times than the earlier - makes for an interesting scroll through, and it might give you (like me) one or two ideas on what to cook - or try cooking.

That's it for today. Now I'll enjoy a cup of coffee (blessings of modern times) and try to get that list of things that need to be done shortened to a reasonable length!

Thing I learned in the last weeks: Our little cat seems to have interesting things to do outside, and possibly some territorial/territory time-sharing related issues. At least she spends a lot of time outside, sometimes including the night, and can be too busy to eat even if she declared enormous hunger just minutes ago.

Also, cortisone really (and quite strongly) changes fur colour in cats, giving the fur a reddish tinge. When we adopted her, she had dark fur all over. After getting first a depot shot, and later cortisone pills, the fur on her shoulders and upper back turned really reddish - like a sort of saddle. Now that she's on inhaled meds, it has re-darkened almost completely. Instead, she now has reddish spots at the front paws, where she licks her paws to wash. I had read about this, but it's really fascinating to see for oneself.

I have also found out that it is a bad idea to only have one contact possibility for a given person, at least if it may become crucial to contact that person within a given timespan. This is linked to email etiquette, the very basic level: If the only contact information you hand out to somebody is your email address, you should make sure that a) that person's emails will reach you, b) actually read your email, and c) answer it.

In cases of unpleasantness springing from such problems, even a combination of liberally applied chocolate, coffee and tea (the go-to methods for alleviating life's little itches and pains, at least here)  will not help much. Or, after a certain while, at all.

If you are going for the chocolate therapy, here's a chocolate you might want to try out: Die Gute Schokolade. This is chocolate which has been produced under fair trade standards, and trees were planted to make its production, packaging and transport carbon neutral. Behind this thing is a children's initiative called Plant-for-the-Planet. It's a light milk chocolate, and I really like it. Plus it's absolutely affordable for a fair trade chocolate, and comes without the bad conscience that much of the other choc has attached to it. If you are in Germany, give it a try!

If you are part of a cat's staff (someone needs a can opener, after all), chances are you will have wondered what your furry friend is up to when outside, and what adventures he or she has. Or how far the territory stretches out.

There has been a recent study made with 50 domestic cats, tracked over several 24h-periods, to reveal the secret life of the common house cat. You can get a first impression of the feline roaming and adventures via the BBC and a little bit more about the background here.

Our cat, by the way, is currently sleeping in a cat bed less than a metre away from me - so I know exactly what she's up to: her post-breakfast nap, which usually lasts until about 5 pm. Then she has important cat stuff to do outside before returning at about 7 for dinner. Such a hard life a cat has!

It's absolutely amazing what a long weekend (extended by one puny little day!) can do to one's email inbox. Possibly the timing of the long weekend, just after the opening of the Forum registration, has a tiny little bit to do with that... but it's still amazing.

While I had hoped to get a lot more stuff done during the past three days, at least it was very nice and relaxing. Plus a good bit of gardening has been accomplished, including transplanting some green guys who were not doing well in the place they sat, and potting all the rest of the seedlings who needed potting. We now have a little chili plant parade, and I'm very curious to see what will grow out of the seeds of last year's odd chili with the black fruits. It should have been an "Ecuador Purple" just like the others, but it was definitely not.

If you are looking for a decorative chili, by the way, I can recommend that kind - they grow violet fruits that turn to yellow, orange, and finally red. And are quite spicy. (Full disclosure? We give most of the fruits away - they taste nice, especially the purple stage, but I grow them mostly for their looks since we don't eat very spicy foods.)

Our willow fence is also coming along nicely these days, and I hope we'll have the full height that we want (and thus finished the pattern of the fence/hedge) by the end of the summer. The way the shoots are growing, we will definitely have a harvest of basket-making material in winter!

Somehow, these last few hours of the morning have slipped by without me really noticing it. If you saw the person who stole them, please let me know so I can get them back!

And now for your more-or-less random news: The cat is lying right beside me, sleeping. She has a slighly higher need for cuddles and closeness to her humans since we spent the last weekend away, so she wanted her nap close to me.

The garden is exploding into spring growth, with the roses sprouting stems and leaves. The tulips are nearing the end of their bloom cycle, but the lily-of-the-valley is taking up the baton, joining the forget-me-nots and strawberries. The pansies have been blooming for ages anyways, as have the dead-nettles... so the garden is looking quite full of flowers. So full, in fact, that I had to clear space to plant the tomatoes that I set out yesterday!

The internet has also been exploding into spring growth, or so it seems to me. There's lots of stuff to spend some time watching or reading, for example this:



Or, if you prefer reading, Sarah Goslee of the stringpage blogged a link to out-of-print publications put online by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, freely available to read and download. There's 371 publications available as of today, and Sarah has picked out a few of interest already, so visit her place for direct links.

And finally, if you are tired after all this reading and watching, here is something guaranteed to shock you awake: Google Earth pictures used to record looting at Apamaea, Syria, over the course of less than one year. Looting, my friends, is evil. EVIL.

Back in March, I posted about videos with yoga exercises to help relax tense neck and shoulders. I did actually manage to keep doing good things like that for my shoulders - and not only them. These and related videos have resulted in my personal discovery of yoga.

Which has led to the inevitable: a yoga mat.

Yoga mats, essentially, are a non-slip surface with a little cushioning effect thrown in for good measure. Their main job, physically, is to keep hands and feet from slipping (thus making some poses much easier). In addition, they usually provide a bit of insulation against cold and said cushioning effect. The desired amount of non-slip, cushioning and insulation varies depending on the form of practice, the surroundings and personal preferences.

Yoga is not just about the physical, though - it also means going for a certain state of mind, awareness, however you would like to call it, with the practice. And entering any special state of mind tied to any activity is always made easier by using certain rituals - such as putting on special dress, or unrolling a mat - and ritual props tied by association to the procedure and the mind-set. Which is another (though less discussed) function of the yoga mat.

And finally, there is also the eco conundrum thingie - since many of those practicing yoga are inclined to be of the greenish persuasion (at least slightly greenish). And as you might know, I am fitting in right well with that.

There's gazillions of mats out there, from many different companies, manufactured in different places and from a multitude of materials. There is also quite a few these days that label themselves "eco" or "green". Well. To put it very bluntly, and going just for the most environmentally friendly, the best yoga mat? No mat at all. Nothing made, transported, and sold. No materials and no energy used. Second best is something serving as a mat that does not fuel the industry and incite them to make more mats (because they are obviously getting bought). That could be a rug or other substitute, or an old mat that is not used by its original owner anymore. (Not buying a new mat if the old one still serves, but continuing to use the old one, would also fall into that category.)

Buying a new mat, even if made from natural materials and produced (and transported) in the most environmentally-friendly way possible, preferably also with fair prices and wages paid for every one and every thing involved in the whole production process? That is third-best. At best. Because every thing that is produced... has an impact.

(Now is the point where I could ramble on about the "no-impact" and "no harm" thingie. There is no such thing as no impact, we each of us live and breathe and that alone makes a difference and an impact on the world. Not regarding that we eat, too.)

You can do worse by the environment, however: There's enough choices out there that use PVC or processes involving toxins, made in factories with not very good conditions. Those are usually cheap mats - which is not saying that pricier is always better in that respect.

I did, by the way, buy a new mat. One of those labelled "eco". Which smells, strongly, of rubber (dissipating only very slowly - it smells less than at the beginning now, though); which is very nicely non-slip, a pleasing colour, and gives me the feeling that I did something to treat myself to a little luxury...