Nayu's Craft Time #266 A Stubborn Cat

My adorable kitty! (Yes I'm very biased)

Those of you who follow me on  Twitter know that during the last week my cat has been reluctant to eat her dry food. She has 2 types of biscuits at the moment, one is a high protein variety, both she's happily eaten before. Okay, so she usually has a 3rd type (one with multicoloured biscuits), but even with that she's eaten the rest. 

Multicoloured cat kibble! I use natural coloured food (I think it's natural...it definitely has green bits in).

My family went on holiday last week and Belle decided to stop eating the dry food. I wasn't able to go out and get the 3rd type to create  her perfect mix. I didn't worry that much because she does this from time to time - she hates a change in routine and family being out is a change. This is the cat who picks up a few biscuits in her mouth and purposefully drops them on the floor for fun. Not eating dry food isn't unheard of, just annoying.

This, an empty cat bowl, is what I'd wanted to see over the last few days.

It meant that she kept asking for food, and I'm mean so didn't give in to the mega cute eyes and pleading cries. Some of my family may give in, some definitely won't. I don't because she has eaten the biscuits before, she's just being fussy! 

On Sunday there was a bit of progress, she actually ate some! No empty plate, but it was less full. It only lasted one meal though. 

So this morning my family return...and Belle finally starts eating a few biscuits. Cats! They may not be able to talk (unfortunately), but they know how to protest against things they don't like. I'd love to hear if your pet does something similar. 

I'd planned to post last week, but I wasn't feeling well so took it easy ^o^  Plan on posting around the weekend so long as nothing else crops up! I will be posting about the mocha cupcakes I made yesterday.  See the follow up post A Not Entirely Stubborn Cat for details on whether she ate her food or not after new biscuits were added!

Nayu's Craft Time #245 Not quite a cat post

Time does fly by sometimes

I know I promised the next post would be about my cat, but while I can show you how cute she's been on my bed this week, this post isn't all about her, no matter what she says! 

Sorry for having a 10 day break without posts, which sounds like forever, so let's say it's been a week and a bit. I'm still recovering from my trip to Norfolk (mega long trip for me ordinarily, plus went out while there & trip back = very much over extended my body's capabilities. Plus the trip to London,, and the routine pain appointment trip to London, which I couldn't reschedule as I'd already rescheduled once (for some appointments if you reschedule too many times you have to be re-referred which I do not want happening).

That trip was unexpectedly a bit stressful, which I may have already mentioned. I'm not going into details, but I do want to give the advice I was given that where medical issues are concerned you are always allowed to get a second opinion. Always. I knew that but had forgotten it. The issue is being sorted, and all should be fine for next year's appointment. 

I'm a proud kitty carer of this adorable fluffball! No one ever owns a cat, less so my family as technicaltly she still belongs to the rescue centre we got her from.

If you want the latest on what I'm up to I'm usually on Twitter several times a day as @Nayuleska , chatting about my adorable cat (who really does practice cute poses), I chat about books I'm reading, general other stuff, oh and l chat an awful lot about gaming.

This is You, got her special card this weekend!

FYI gaming talk will be reduced during Ramadan (starting next week, yay! I don't fast for health reasons but will do a post or 2 about what I do do) so if you aren't into Love Live School Idol Festival rhythm game, have no idea why an SSR card is special or why it can be transformed aka Idolized into a usually cuter version of the girl,  there is respite for 1 month! After that, no promises can be made.I love gaming!

Regardless of whether you want to know this, this is what the previous You card transforms into after certain criteria are met.  She's cute, which is saying something as she is one of my least favourite characters in Aqours team (9 girls, also 9 girls in Muse team).

This weekend I possibly had a virus as someone in my family had similar symptoms (extreme exhaustion & feeling bleh), which didn't help my recovery from my holiday. I've mostly been gaming as it's a great distraction for me, and requires little effort. Lying flat was a necessity, something my cat is a pro at, and she sometimes stayed with me. I read a bit too, which was also fun once I had the energy for it.

My bag won't be this full today, but I will have salad bits in it!

Yesterday I managed a short errand, today I'm doing another short-ish errand, slightly further. I'd wanted to do groceries today, but I'm still not 100%, so I'll pick up essentials today & do the rest on Saturday. Yes it means 2 trips to Sainsbury's, but I've got 2 unavoidable errands (picking up medicine and supplies for my birds) so I don't want to get all I need on my shopping list today as it is going to be too much. It's all about balance! 

Tomorrow will be a restful day, filled with reading and (hopefully & finally) some craft if I'm up for it. We'll see. I'm looking forward to being back to what equates to normality for me hopefully in a few weeks of taking things easy. Don't worry, I hope to blog every few days from now on! 

Anyway, time for quick rest before I head out on errands. I hope you're having a great week, and are making sure to balance out your life to your needs! 

Nayu's Craft Time #247 Where did the week go?

I truly had planned to blog earlier than this, but that didn't happen. My pain clinic appointment was fine, I got what I need (more of my mega strong meds). There was a bit of a stressful incident that day which I'm not going into here. It may explain (along with the exhaustion from my Norfolk trip the previous week) why I didn't blog the Wednesday, then the Thursday I had my mega strong meds so have been in Lala Land until today. 

I've mostly been lying down the past week as it's the easiest way to get through the symptoms I have. I've caught up with TV, done a lot of gaming - although it must be noted it's my tablet gaming, rather than any consoles. This is because most tablet gaming takes place on one screen, and the visual transition between menus and games is less frequent and it doesn't zoom in and out. I'm probably explaining this poorly, but on Animal Crossing New Leaf on my 3DS, the screen transition isn't agreeable with when I'm in Lala Land. It makes me feel weirder. 

These games are a cute style!

Yesterday I gamed a little on my 3DS and today I'll be back on ACNL to see what my townfolk have been up to. My tablet games are mostly cooking and farming related: in the name of time saving I won't post pictures from my game, but here 2 main ones I'm enjoying in case you want to try them. Bakery Story 2 and Restaurant Story 2 are both Storm 8 games which are free to play and are not that tricky to level up in. 

Bakery Story 2 means you can have your own bakery. You start off small but it's not long until you can create fresh mocha coffee & lemon & honey tea. There's pastries to perfect, muffins and cookies to bake, kiwi and pineapple plants to grow so you can make exotic fruit bakes (as well as regular fruit bakes. 

Restaurant Story 2 is similar to Bakery Story 2, only you are serving more savoury dishes than sweet ones. In both games I love the aspect of making your bakery/restaurant exactly as you want, from walls to floor, which tables and counters you use, and decorations too. They are time related games, so you have to wait for ingredients to become available and for recipes to be cooked, but you can do it at your own pace. 

Both games do have in-app purchases, but I'm a free to play player and while it can sometimes be frustrating having to wait so long before cream is available from the butcher, the upgrades (increasing stock available to me and how much I can store in my pantry) are worth the wait. To get upgrades you have to have so much of a certain building item which take time to appear but do appear eventually. You can visit other players' restaurants for ideas (you can't quite do the same in Bakery Story 2 but it is a coming soon feature)

 I've yet to find a craft game like this simulation games, so if you know any please let me know! I hope to do a bit of craft this week when I'm up for it. 

In the next post I'll explain why my cute cat is being a bit of a madam (for those following me on Twitter she is all better now)

Nayu's Craft Time #246 Back from holiday!

Making a cat bed out of a suitcase sounds a great idea! (Not my cat or suitcase).

I'm so sorry I didn't blog on holiday! I had hoped to, as you know, but I slightly underestimated the exhaustion side of the trip. I knew I'd be tired as it was an epic drive into the unknown for me, and I don't travel distances that well. Factor in doing more than I usually do most days & socialising for longer most days, well, you know what didn't happen! 

Poor body feeling a bit like it's been squashed like an elephant - unlike these yummy looking pancakes I spotted online!

I hope to fill you in over the next few weeks on my holiday adventures. I've got a routine hospital appointment in London on Tuesday so I'm resting as much as I can before that (so not really any time for anything but essential blog work). 

It was an incredible trip! I hope you enjoy the extra day off if you're in the UK this weekend, and if you are working that it's not too busy for you. 

Nayu's Craft Time #245 The Packing Mountain

Taking more than just 1 bag! (which isn't mine...)

When staying with my friend in Devon I can pack pretty fast as I know what to take. In theory Norfolk should be similar, with more clothes etc. In practice I'm taking a bit more, including my laptop, so have to factor in where to put everything in my car. Bear in mind I sleep like Princess and the Pea (several duvets to make any bed soft), so that's most of the back seat taken. . Going away for a week is somehow different to 5 days! I'm loading what I can today, and the rest tomorrow. Getting there slowly.

Nayu's Crafts Time #241 Back from my travels

A sign of summer for some, or an all year round treat if you're like me. My ice cream looked a bit like this, sadly without a waffle cone & with an extra scoop on top!

Hi all! I'm back from my semi-unplanned trip to Devon. I had fun catching up with my friend, watching dvds, doing an insane amount of gaming, and very little craft, just a bit of crochet which I haven't taken a photo of yet. I was on holiday!

There are English versions of these incredible Disney life simulation games!

 I took advantage of the free time to play the Disney series Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life 1 & 2 (The English version has a different title, I think, than the Japanese one). I'll be chatting more about them on my other blog, Nayu's Reading Corner soon. The week away was filled with sunshine after a bit of torrential rain on the drive down. I took a trip to the chocolate shop which I'd visited last time, and in that area was able to have bubblegum ice cream along with blackcurrant and clotted cream ice cream. There was only just enough of the bubblegum for a scoop, but I had it! 

I'm still recovering from the trip, as I wasn't able to rest all day on Friday: I'd (probably stupidly) agreed earlier in the week to have my 24 hour heart monitor fitted Friday morning, Discovered the tiny monitor is worth £2500 - will be glad when it's returned! Thankfully as my family work in the same hospital building they are returning it for me (the clinic isn't open on a Saturday when it should be returned but there's a special drop off box to put it in) so I didn't have to go there yesterday, but I did have to get groceries. Spent the rest of the day gaming and watching dvds while I rested. Managing a bit of blogging and other online stuff today, but as I'm out all day tomorrow with a friend, so will rest the remainder of today plus on Tuesday. 

My family saw lot of her back while I was away!

Predictably my cat was extremely grumpy most of the time I was away, not understand why I was away so soon after the previous trip or for a bit longer. Hopefully it will make the week long Norfolk trip at the end of this month easier for her. I do come back to her, just not for a several days. Family are with her, so she's not on her own, but she does like me a lot and hates her routine mucked up.

I made these! Bottom one not yet finished...

Craft news: Cute bookmarks created

Anyway, I need to head offline shortly so as not to overdo things. Will post again hopefully on Tuesday with an update of what craft I do tomorrow. Or should that be did tomorrow? 

Nayu's Craft Time #237 Fantastic time in Devon!

All unpacked! (mine aren't this pretty)

Sorry I'm later than expected in posting - it's taken longer than expected to recover from my busy but fun Devon trip. Still not quite back to what counts as normality for me, but getting there slowly. Managing a small bit of blogging and checking emails today, hoping to do a bit more tomorrow. Today's the first day of doing online stuff and I didn't want to leave in you in limbo any longer. 

Entire phrase should read 'Thank you for looking after the cat" It uses the same chocolate mould I've used for a cat in the past!

I had a brilliant trip, it was so fun seeing my friend again. I made it to a chocolate shop, full of chocolate & they made chocolate on site (none being made when I went). I got this chocolate for my family - I live with them, but our cat is rather attached to me and becomes an Extremely Grumpy Madam whenever I'm away. I saw a rose garden (minus roses as they weren't blooming yet), had a yummy ice cream (blue bubblegum and blackcurrent with clotted cream), found an elusive M&S cafe (the store is huge!), watched lots of dvds and chatted lots too. 

I'm hoping to start craft again today, not been up for it, but it depends how I am once I've done today's chores (sorting laundry is a large effort activity for me and I usually do it over 2 days (sort 1 day, put away the next). 

Hope you have a good one!

Nayu's Craft Time #236 Holiday time!

It's that time again! (Sadly not my suitcase...)

Today I'm leaving to stay with my friend in Devon for a few days! We are planning on watching a lot of DVDs so I'll be finishing this cute sewing while I'm over at hers, 

Not much left to do...

and working on some other sewing which I'll show you when I get back. I'll put a cute picture up while I'm away for you to see (not the one below) ^o^ 

The buttons add a craft theme to Pooh Bear!

Nayu's Craft Time #199 Easing back in

I'm finishing unpacking today! I didn't take that much away with me, but haven't had the energy to sort non-essential bits.

Hello! I'm back from Devon, and slowly getting back to what counts as normality round here. Had an amazing time, did underestimate the exhaustion of it all though. Then had mega meds ketamine on Weds & yeah, it's been an interesting few days, full of an insane amount of DVDs, gaming, & a little reading (craft isn't an easy thing to do when lying down). 

Today I'm working through a week of emails, I'm out tomorrow, and hope to do a little blog work Weds. So it'll be a few more days until I'm back to normal online. Thank you for your patience! 

Nayu's Craft Time #198 Holiday time!

Am I here yet?

I'm leaving hopefully around 9am, so you may be reading this as I drive into the depths of Devon, England. I didn't quite finish what I'd wanted to on Thursday, so I finished blog work on Friday morning, leaving the afternoon to relax with anime in preparation for the long journey today. I'll let you know how much I yell at my sat nav when I'm back! 

Nayu's Craft Time #161 My mini vacation

A novel way of reusing a suitcase - make it into a pet bed! Sadly not my cat...

Hi all! I'm back ^o^ Had a super time with a friend in Bristol. Had traffic issues on Friday, so it took me a good 4 hours to get there. On the way home it took about 2 hours, that was including nearly ending up in Wales (which borders England).

Definitely was going the wrong way by going into Wales!!!

Yes, roads with more than 3 lanes are confusing, especially when sat nav takes time to tell me which lane to get into, so by the time I need to keep right I'm in a left lane and can't switch. Nearly ended up at a toll bridge but thankfully managed to turn off and go back the way I was meant to. Was so glad to be home on Saturday!

Possibly the toll bridge I nearly ended up on. I'm not a bridge person so I'm glad I didn't have to cross it!

We chatted a lot, visited a horse my friend helps look after, and watched almost all of the opening ceremony to the Rio Olympics.

I'm not a sport person, but for the first time I did watch some of the Olympics: gymnastics...
and shooting (two rather different disciplines). I'm hoping to watch some of the synchronised swimming too.

Rio Olympic pool!

Not being a sport enthusiastic I'd had my fill after about 20 minutes, but that was enough to keep me happy. Hope to watch a bit more today - I want to, and the Olympics only happens every 4 years (Winter Olympics in 2 years - can't wait as I adore ice skating and will be watching it for the first time ^o^)

So pretty!

I'm resting lots as the trip took a lot out of me (which I expected). Hence only the blog post today - hope to catch up over on Nayu's Reading Corner blog posts tomorrow. I've caught up with all my emails (I think).

My phone looks like this (only in black)

I've had an amusing 40 minutes with EE trying to sort a phone issues. Mine will only send 1 page of texts at a time, not the 3-7 page long texts it usually does. I'm getting a callback tomorrow to see if some updates have worked. I hope so as I send long texts to a friend several times a day, so having to send lots of short ones. Will keep you posted on the result of that incident.

Managed a little bit of crochet, but not enough to show you yet (as in I did 2 rows, which doesn't sound much but the blanket is growing larger). I may do some more later today, I don't know. Need a rest now ^o^

Not literally true, but I hope to have a smidge more energy by resting lots - I love this sewing! Not mine, sadly.

On my way home

A rather sweet front door which isn't my own.

Today I'll be travelling back home! My cat will be pleased to see me, as she hasn't been left on her own before. As she is a rescue cat I'm expecting there some out of the ordinary behaviour, but I hope she forgives me soon. Hope to let you all know tomorrow how my weekend went! 

Here's what I'm eating today...

These are experimental truffles, I didn't make lots decorated as I ran out of time.

It's the main event day of my weekend getaway: this is why I've been making so many chocolate delights! Will need them to keep me going ^o^ 

These are my own invention, lemon meringue white chocolate truffles!