Kattencafe (Cat Cafe)

Have you figured out that my daughter loves cats yet? She's wanted to go to a cat cafe for ages and yesterday she finally got her chance. I suppose all four of us are cat people at heart, so its no surprise that we enjoyed Kattencafe Kopjes. Luckily we'd done our homework and knew we needed reservations (they only allow 20 people inside at a time.) We probably could have gotten in without one yesterday though, since there were not 20 people there, but better safe than sorry. I knew K was excited about our visit because she was worried all day about being late.

Yesterday there were seven cats in residence,

three of which were quite happy to get scritches and play.

The cafe itself is adorable - with eclectic furniture and  cat kitsch everywhere. We ordered "ginger tea" and were thrilled to receive slices of fresh ginger steeping in boiling water; it was delicious. We sipped as we shared a slice of red velvet cake and taught Grandma how to play Exploding Kittens - one of our favorite games.

Hollandsche Manege

Today we explored the Hollandsche Manege - the Dutch Riding School. My mom was keen on stopping since a friend of hers suggested we pop in for a cup of tea. My mom was thrilled that we arrived just in time to watch a riding lesson. All the instructions were in Dutch, but it was still fun to sip our tea and marvel at the history of the school. (It is the oldest riding school in the Netherlands - dating back to 1744.)

Every time someone walked past the stall of the horse above, he would stick his nose out. Of course, we had to oblige and scratch his nose - every time one of us walked by. Which of course became a very fun game. Though I'm not sure who enjoyed it more - the kids or the horse.

The Riding school is one of those places that if you weren't looking for it, you'd never know it was there. If it hadn't been  suggested that we visit, we never would have thought a ring like the one below was hiding behind that building facade. 

Apparently we were supposed to pay €8.00 each to get in, but there was no sign and the door was open so we just walked in. As we were leaving we noticed a sign had been put out directing visitors through a specific door. Luckily no one seemed too concerned about us; the only other people there were parents watching lessons and a small group of children who appeared to be celebrating a birthday. 

Photo of the horse ring courtesy of Amsterdam Municipal Department for the Preservation and Restoration of Historic Buildings and Sites (bMA.)  

Body Worlds Amsterdam

Yesterday afternoon we spent a few hours at Body Worlds.  I've read about plastination, but I've never seen an exhibit before. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.  The six story exhibit focused on a different body system on each floor and each had numerous preserved specimens, called plastinates. Each level also explained how stress affected that particular system and included quotes on living a contented life.

Anyone who knows me, knows this kind of exhibit was right up my alley! It was amazing to see the different body systems. The kids and I noticed that the creators did a few things to keep the bodies looking more human (at least that's what we thought.) Although each full body typically had all of its skin removed, the creators left the eyebrows, eyelashes and lips in tact. 

The geek in me wished they explained more abut how the bodies were preserved. Luckily a quick trip to Wikipedia was all it took to fill me in.

Just in case your as curious as I was, it's a four step process:

1. Bodies are preserved with formaldehyde so they are rigid and can be dissected.
2. Next, they are placed into an acetone bath. Under extremely cold temperatures the acetone replaces the water in the cells.
3. Then, the bodies are put in a bath of liquid polymer and placed in a vacuum. The decreased air pressure causes the acetone to boil off at a fairly low temperature. As the acetone leaves the cells, the polymer is pulled in filling the cells with liquid plastic.
4. Finally, the plastic is cured so it hardens.

So very interesting...

De Poezenboot

We spent part of today at De Poezenboot - known in English as The Catboat. It was at the top of my daughter's list of places in Amsterdam she wanted to visit. (She kind of has a thing for cats.)

It's essentially a floating cat rescue. People bring cats to the Poezenboot, they care for them and work to find the cats new homes. Along the way, visitors come to play with the kitties and hopefully donate a few Euros o help pay for it all (believe it or not, there was no fee to get in.)

Not all the cats were up for snuggles, but this sweet boy soaked up all the scritches he could get. I'm not sure if you can tell, but he lost both of his eyes to an infection. One of the volunteers said he was brought to the boat all the way from Turkey. 

We really enjoyed our time there; in fact K asked if we could go back again before we leave town. 

Safe and Sound in Amsterdam!

Yup - my mom, the kids and I are traveling. We left Sault Ste. Marie yesterday afternoon and landed in Amsterdam this morning.

Our home for the next two weeks is lovely. It's a typical canal house - about as wide as one room and four stories tall. The kids took the bedrooms up on the fourth floor, my mom and I have spots on the third floor, the living room is on the second floor, while the kitchen and dining room are on the first floor.

 

And the location is amazing - right on a canal, with a tram stop about 200 feet away on the corner.  My mom couldn't have found a more perfect location.

Right now, however, I am completely exhausted and need to go collapse. Hopefully we'll all wake up tomorrow full of energy, ready to start exploring the city.

Look Familiar?

As we were walking down Mission Hill the other day we noticed this interesting hole in the pavement. Does it look just a tiny bit familiar to you?

Here's a hint:

Seeing Things?

Am I seeing things? Or, is this post trying to tell me he isn't thrilled about people walking the trails along the Black River. I would have thought he'd appreciate a little company.

Hanging Out

I'm not quite sure what he (or she) was interested in, but this barred owl spent a couple of hours just hanging out in our backyard yesterday.

New Friends

A few weeks ago we adopted a few new friends.

OK, seven new friends...

Seven adorable little fluff balls who are currently living

in the house until it warms up a bit.

Allen isn't thrilled with the idea of having a crate full of chicks in the house, but the kids and I are loving every minute of it. They're just so stinkin' cute!

Delicious

 

At least once a summer we have to stop;

 stop for burgers, onions rings and milk shakes.

Mmmmmmmmmmm,  milk shakes.

And a bit of silliness. Because, with a 13 year-old in the

car, we get lots of silliness.

If you're passing through St. Ignace (between spring and the end of deer season)  and you happen to be hungry, drive in to Clyde's. It's delicious.

Opening day is tomorrow!

Spicy Ginger Cookies

These ginger cookies are sooooooo good. They have a strong gingery bite to them due to the addition of crystallized ginger. They're delicious, especially because they are nice and chewy...

3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar (+ a bit more for chopping ginger)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
A handful of crystallized ginger pieces - finely chopped

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Chop ginger pieces. You can do this by hand, but it is much easier to use your food processor, chopper, etc. Just be sure to add a little sugar as you go. The insides of the ginger is very sticky - adding the sugar helps the pieces not stick together in a big gloppy mess. Set these aside.

Mix softened butter, sugar, molasses and egg. Beat well.

Stir dry ingredients together into a bowl. Mix well and then slowly add to the wet mixture. Last, but not least, add the ginger pieces. I must admit that I never do this. I throw the spices into the wet mixture and then add in the flour and they always turn out just fine.

Chill the dough for about an hour to make it easier to work with. (Trust me - otherwise it is way too soft.) Scoop out one inch balls and then roll  them in sugar - turbinado sugar is wonderful, but white sugar works fine, too. Place on cookie sheet about two inches apart and bake about 10 minutes if you like a chewy cookie, but a couple of minutes longer if you prefer a bit of crunch. Make sure you try one while it's still warm!

Boats?

Star Line has had the Huron back up and running for a few weeks now, and it's been wonderful. Except today. This morning they weren't able to get out of the harbor due to a buildup of ice. Hopefully they'll be able to get out tomorrow - the kids both have doctors appointments on the mainland on Wednesday.

Every time I look at that boat it looks wrong to me. It's been two winters now and I have yet to get use to that blue stripe. Probably because the boat looked like this for most of my time on Mackinac:

It wasn't a big change, it is the same boat after all. All Star Line did was change that one stripe. Maybe one of these years I'll get use to it. I suppose it really doesn't matter - I'm just thankful we have  boats...

Mystery Visitor

I'm not exactly sure who stopped by the school this

weekend, but he (or she) made quite a mess.

Happy Valentine's Day

I came into school today and found this lovely little surprise waiting for me in the Teacher's Lounge. I hope your day is off to as nice of a start as mine.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Birthday

I'm celebrating today, because this weekend The Quilted Turtle turned 10. I'm thankful my friend Maggie suggested I start blogging, and that my husband encouraged me by giving me a DSLR camera that year for Valentine's Day. I love how I can go back through all those posts and reminisce. Of all the 779 posts, the most popular one, hands down, has been Homemade Superhero. Apparently the cape pattern I created, back in 2011 to transform my daughter in to Jaguar Girl, has helped a few people - which makes me smile.

 

So here's to ten more years...

Waste Not, Want Not

 Do you know Mackinac Island has beavers?

We do! Down at the cove the beaver lodge is home to a Mama and her two kits.  They're quite popular among Island residents, and Nancy May does a great job of keeping everyone posted about how they're doing. (I'm not sure if there's a Papa beaver in the neighborhood.)

As I drove home the other day, I noticed my neighbor trimming his trees. As is typical on Mackinac, I stopped to chat. 

"Can't talk now," he said, "we're just about ready to take another load down to feed the beavers."  What a perfect solution to the problem of what to do with tree trimmings - beaver food!

Bright Spot

After the dreadful day I had (completely unrelated to my students) I found this happy little flower on my bed.

My thoughtful  daughter left him for me to find, knowing how badly I needed a bright spot in my day...

Mackinac Problems

A week or so ago we invited a few friends over to celebrate Allen's 50th birthday. I planned the food, I planned the beverages, I planned the entertainment. However, I forgot to think about where I could stash all the snowmobile helmets. It really surprised me - I am a total planner and I don't usually forget details like that. Plus, this is my 25th Mackinac winter, so you'd think I would have encountered this before. Apparently not.

My takeaway from the evening - we really need to have people over more often!

Breakout

The day before winter break my co-teacher and I treated the 4th, 5th and 6th graders to a Breakout Activity. If you aren't familiar with BreakoutEDU, in a nutshell they're activities that require kids to think critically and creatively, while working as a team to solve a series of  puzzles.

The teams did a great job finding the clues,

 solving the puzzles,

 and finally freeing the elf.

I owe my good friend, Kelaine, a big shout out for introducing me to BreakoutEDU, and another to our school custodian, Mike; he kindly added hasps onto six old cash boxes so we could lock them. You guys rock!

Screen Free

This picture perfectly sums up all of the crafting going on at my house lately. Knitting and stuffed critters, in all shapes and sizes, are the current favorite projects.

It's amazing what happens when screens aren't an option...