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WSV bei Zooplus

Kopiert von der Zooplus-Seite:

Ab sofort gibt es auf das gesamte Hunde-, Katzen-, Nager und Vogelsortiment:

 20% Rabatt auf Tierbedarf (ausgenommen Tiernahrung, Heu, Streu und Sand)

Gutschein-Code: WSV-2012
 Gutscheincode einfach in das Aktionsfeld an der Kasse eingeben und "einlösen" klicken. Der 20% WSV-Rabatt wird Ihnen automatisch von Ihrem Rechnungsbetrag abgezogen, gültig bis 02.02.2012.

Das ist doch mal ne Ansage :)
Viel Spass beim shoppen!
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Zwei Jahre Feline Senses

Herzlichen Glückwunsch von der KatzenKultur



Liebe Katzenfreunde,

voller Freude und auch mit ein wenig Stolz dürfen wir heute den zweiten „Geburtstag“ unseres Vereins Feline Senses e.V. feiern!

Inzwischen können wir auf zwei erfolgreiche Jahre zurückblicken. Auch durch unsere Vereinsbotschafterin Sari konnten wir das Thema Ataxie bei Katzen erfolgreich bekannt machen: Angefangen im Internet, später auf Katzenmessen, in Zeitungen und sogar im TV bei VOX in der Sendung HundKatzeMaus war und ist Sari vertreten. Unser Verein ist stetig um neue Mitgliedern gewachsen und wird inzwischen von vielen Katzenfreunden unterstützt. Wir haben neben unserer Hauptwebsite einen Vermittlungsblog für „Notfellchen“ eingerichtet sowie ein Forum etabliert, welches als Austausch und Hilfeplattform hervorragend funktioniert. Ein eigener Kalender, mit wundervollen Momenten der Lebensfreude, begleitete uns durch das Jahr 2011 und nun auch aktuell in 2012. Und nicht zuletzt war unsere erste Ausgabe des „Samtpfötchendruck“ ein großer Erfolg und half uns bei der Bekanntmachung des Themas Ataxie bei Katzen. Eine zweite Ausgabe ist für dieses Jahr bereits in Planung.

Durch all diese Aktivitäten konnten wir unserer Hauptaufgabe, Katzen mit Ataxie eine Chance auf ihr Leben zu geben, erfolgreich gerecht werden.

Wir danken all unseren Unterstützern, Spendern und Freunde – Ohne Euch wäre dies alles nicht möglich gewesen!

In diesem Sinne: Herzlichen Glückwunsch Feline Senses e.V.!

Viele liebe und auch stolze Grüße
Das Feline Senses e.V. Team







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Katzenfotos Januar

Mal wieder ein paar Bildchens :)


Anton, völlig entspannt, wie immer :D
Diese Kuschelfelle sind übrigens von Ikea. Im Online-Shop gibts die nicht, braucht ihr nicht gucken. Aber in den Läden. Ich hab gleich einen ganzen Haufen davon mitgenommen, weil ich schon ewig nach Fake-Fell gesucht habe. Meine Katzen stehen total auf so plüschiges Zeug, tote Schafe wären ihnen als Schlafplätze auch sehr willkommen. Aber mich gruselt es vor echtem Fell. Also bin ich immer auf der Suche nach Kunstfell, das einigermassen gut aussieht. Egal wo ich welches finde, ich muss es zwanghaft kaufen.




Hannes, der im Gegensatz zu Anton sofort verspannt guckt, wenn ich mit der Kamera auftauche :D



Dorle, die auf nix anderem als auf Plüsch liegen mag. Je plüschiger, desto toller.



Der Sonnenhase :D

Kullert auf dem Boden rum und danach muss Linda ihm den Dreck aus dem Fell putzen:



Der ist richtig happy, dass heute mal wieder die Sonne scheint. Ich aber auch ;)
Wenn es nach dem Hasen und mir ginge, könnte der Winter jetzt vorbei sein.
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The Man with the Baltic Stare by James Church

The Man with the Baltic Stare







This is my first time listening to the audio of this series. I am a great fan of Inspector O, and of James Church for imagining this character and his life. It is a truly unique mystery/spy series set in North Korea in the same way that Colin Cotterill’s Di. Siri Paiboun series takes a look at Laos in a different way. The fact that an old man is the center of each of these series gives the reader a long-range perspective and their sense of humor and justice. A young man would be confused and probably angry in countries as difficult to navigate as North Korea and Laos, so an older man has much to offer in terms of philosophy and history.

Part of the wonder of these series is the fact that they are each set in a remote locale in terms of international and social relations. We wonder, but can’t know much about how the populace lives and thinks. The joy of discovering familiar human wants and needs in a culture so distant is remarkably refreshing and reassuring. It makes us laugh all the harder at jokes poking fun at their own national idiosyncracies…after all, aren’t they letting us in on the joke? Of course, each of these books is written by a foreigner (American, British), but that must make it more accessible for those of us who will never travel to these places. The authors have a good sense of the contradictions and frustrations that us outsiders tend to find overwhelming, and reassure us that citizens of these countries also find these things confusing. They just find ways to carry on their lives in spite of the difficulties.

So, because I like the series so much, I am awfully disappointed in Blackstone Audio for not looking harder for an appropriate voice for the series. I’m sure Feodor Chin is a nice person and all that, but making the voice of a 70+ year old Korean spy sound like a 40-something American private eye from the 70s is really a distraction. His hearty voice bats slang with such American maleness that one cannot ignore any longer that this is just an old American spy writing in the voice of a Korean agent. When reading by oneself, a reader might ignore little inconsistencies and put one’s imagination to good use, but never does a reader comes to this series expecting an American private eye or point of view. Trying to make this series sound like a pulp mystery churned out annually by the chart-topping blockbuster novelists is a mistake…nay, a crime.




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Hasen-Update :)

Dem Hasenprinz geht es super. Er ist sehr gelassen geworden und selbst wenn der Postler ein Paket auf der Terrasse abstellt, geht er nur ein paar Meter zur Seite und kommt dann sofort wieder.

Mit Linda ist er ein Herz und eine Seele. Der Superkater und der Superhund verstehen sich ganz prächtig ♥

Fritzi (ein Wildi) und der Hase kommen ganz gut miteinander zurecht. Wenn Fritzi auf die Terrasse kommt, stehen sich die beiden erst mit durchgedrückten Waden in Macho-Pose gegenüber, bleiben aber peacig. Fritzi geht dann zu Hases Napf, macht den leer (weil auf der Terrasse schmeckts besser als in der Werkstatt :D ), der Hase guckt zu, Fritzi schnüffelt noch bissel rum und geht dann wieder in seine Kuschelhöhle im Schuppen. Der Hase stalkt ihm noch ein paar Meter hinterher, aber alles sehr ruhig und keiner von beiden ist aggro.

Darüber bin ich sehr, sehr froh, denn das wäre sonst sowas wie der Kampf der Giganten. Fritzi ist ein gestandener Wildling, ungefähr so gross und schwer wie der Hase. Da würde es richtig rappeln, wenn die beiden Dicken aneinander geraten würden.

Mit den anderen Wildis ist der Hase auch friedlich. Man bestalkt sich quer durch den Garten, hopst ein paar Sätze zusammen rum, hockt zusammen in der Sonne (wenn sie mal scheint) und alles ist sehr unaufgeregt.

Seit Neuestem spielt der Hase. Mit der Spielangel. Das sieht zum brüllen komisch aus :D
Er ist ja nicht der Obersportler, ne. Aber wenn ich mit der Angel rumwedle, dann macht der dicke Bollen Sätze wie ein Kitten. Er wird dann so eifrig, dass er nach einer Weile komplett ausflippt und die Angel nicht mehr los lässt und dabei gackert wie ein Hühnchen :D

Meinen Mann hat er mittlerweile auch im Griff. Zu dem war er erst sehr zurückhaltend. Aber nun kommandiert er ihn mit Begeisterung rum.
"Määäh" (Hunger!) und mein Mann wetzt und füllt den Napf.
"Gaaaah" (kalt!) und mein Mann wetzt und schmeisst einen Snuggle Safe in die Microwelle.
"Gurrrgurrrr" (Knutschen!) und mein Mann hätschelt den Hasen.

Wenn dagegen ich Määääh sage, krieg ich zur Antwort, ich solle halt was Kochen. Das Leben ist ungerecht. Die mit dem Fell im Gesicht kriegen alles hinterher getragen und wer bekocht mich?!?

Hasenfotos:

Mit Linda knutschen ist grosse klasse :) 



Gestreichelt werden ist auch grossartig:



Lieb gucken ist seine Spezialität:


Mit den Drinnenlingen rumdödeln macht auch Spass:

Die Fotos sind mal wieder 1-A Qualität :-/
Tut mir leid, aber die Kamera und ich werden niemals dicke Freunde werden. Ihr werdet also mit meinen Gnaddel-Fotos leben müssen.

Rein will er nicht. Wenn ich die Drinnelinge aus dem Wohnzimmer aussperre und die Terrassentüren aufmache, kommt er rein, dreht eine Runde, und geht schnurstracks wieder nach draussen.
Alles zwitschern und betteln meinerseits bringt nichts, er will wieder raus.

Aber er ist glücklich, zufrieden, gesund, ausgeglichen und darum finde ich mich eben damit ab, dass er nicht einziehen will.
Er sitzt tagsüber auf seinem Stuhl, guckt in den Garten, läuft ab und zu mal eine Runde. Nachts und wenn es fies windet und regnet, liegt er mit seinen Snuggle Safes in seinem Häusle.

Ich hätte ihn furchtbar gerne auf dem Sofa sitzen. Aber wenn er nicht will, dann will er halt nicht. Hauptsache, er ist glücklich :)
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ein Kuschelband ...



Die kleine Maus braucht beim Schlafen etwas Halt.


Fotos: S.Schneider


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Kleptomanie-Fiete

Wir haben heute das Wohnzimmer etwas umgestellt und das Sofa in den Keller geschleppt, da demnächst unser neues Sofa kommen wird.

Als wir das Sofa auseinander bauten und hoch hoben, hat es uns fast vor Lachen zerrissen. Unterm Sofa hatte Fiete seine Räuberhöhle angelegt.





17 Milchschnöppels (diese Abreissverschlüsse von Milchtüten)
2 Klettbänder
1 Kugelschreiber
3 Steinmurmeln
1 Flummi
1 Garnrolle
2 Strohsterne
1 Holzstern
1 Korken
1 Teelichtschälchen
2 Plastikringe (Teile von irgendwelchen Verschlüssen)
2 Saugnäpfe

Dazu noch jede Menge legales Katzenspielzeug, wie Stoffmäuse u.ä.


Ist Kleptomanie bei Katzen threrapierbar? :D
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Katze trink vom Wasserhahn

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In Praise of Older Women by Stephen Vizinczey

In Praise of Older Women: The Amorous Recollections of A. V (Phoenix Fiction Series)








On my first day back to reading friends’ comments on Goodreads after a hiatus of several months, I came across a reference to Stephen Vizinczey. For the months I was away, I hadn’t been able to concentrate on reading myself, but I was anxious to write again. Since my blog is about reading, however, I could only really write if I could read. The title of this book appealed to me and I would see if perhaps I could concentrate.

In Praise… is fiction in the guise of autobiography. The young male character is a little brash, but only because, it appears, he was dearly loved in his childhood. He grew up thinking that everyone would love him as much as did his relatives and the monks of his adopted Franciscan monastery. “This book is addressed to young men and dedicated to older women…” he writes in the preface. ”Modern culture—American culture—glorifies the young; on the lost continent of old Europe it was the affair of the young man and his older mistress that had the glamour of perfection.”

Right at the outset we sense the incisive mind of the writer. Rich with anecdote, Vizinczey’s descriptions of his character’s deflowering and sexual encounters with young and older women around the world are terribly amusing, and insightful into the differences between the sexes, and cultures. Relations with women in North America are painfully funny and catches males and females in our culture “in the nude,” so to speak, so clearly does he see our oddities and poke fun at our interactions.

This book is not new: it was initially published in 1965. I wish I had known of this lovely classic when I was younger, though I wonder if I would have enjoyed it so completely and without inhibition. That may be the author’s lesson when he recommends the charms of older women to young men. If I had only known when I was younger how difficult and painful it was for young men “to get any,” I like to think I would have been more accommodating and open to experimentation. But perhaps it is only these older eyes that are so generous and gentle.





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Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend









This is less the story of Rin Tin Tin (and his offspring) than of the man that owned him…and after that, of the men and women that sought to preserve the memory of him. I am a sucker for dog books, but since dogs don’t talk, one must be satisfied with stories of their owners. Just as Marley and Me was not so much the story of the dog than of John Grogan and his family, so Rin Tin Tin must be imagined through this book and the massive archive of film footage of him and his chosen successors.

What struck me from the century of history behind the name of Rin Tin Tin—the first dog with the name was born in 1918 in war-torn France—was how the first man to own him, Lee Duncan, never seemed to develop the same kind of love for any dog of the same name that followed. None had that unique set of qualities that so endeared Rinty to his owner in the first place. But a huge industry rose and fell on the tide of public opinion through the war years and after, carried on and on by men with more conviction than talent, more hubris than humility. When, many times, the rights to the Rin Tin Tin name could be passed on profitably to keep the flame alive, it was often sequestered and squandered, its value magnified to untenable proportions.

Susan Orlean must have wondered many times how she had gotten herself into this project. It required long, deep dives into the lives of obsessives, and it leaves one feeling slightly deranged and breathless to think that the story of that talented canine comes from the dark recesses of neglected warehouses and lives warped to fit the myth. I listened to the audio of this book, and I had to laugh at how many times I was sure the story was over—by her telling and the inflection in her voice--only to hear another section declaring itself on my mobile device. The name of Rinty was resurrected so many times under such improbable circumstances, that one simply has to credit the wild imaginations of the rights-holders, and one feels a little sorry that the original great Rinty is not alive to be celebrated.





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An Innocent Millionaire by Stephen Vizinczey

An innocent millionaire









I was attracted to Vizinczey by the title of his first book In Praise of Older Women but thought the title of this book appropriate to the world we now live in. An Innocent… is a big comic novel, first published in the early 1980s, and has more stomach-dropping twists and turns than the big ride at the carnival. There is good in the world ”but evil is stronger,” says a lawyer late in the action. Whether or not the author agrees is still a question, for the open warfare between good and evil continue to the very last page.

Businessmen and lawyers take most of the heat in this novel, which makes it seem almost quaint considering what Americans have learned about the financial field since then. While businessmen poison their neighbors and lawyers manage to fleece clients and double-cross their peers, it is still puppy-doo compared with what realtors and investment bankers have managed to accomplish in the new century. We learned to be critical of big business and lawyers, but were blindsided by our bankers.

But of the writing: there is so much here of human nature and human foible that it is funny at the same time it is painful. Big sections are devoted to massive injustices in the world, but they never distract one from the hand-to-hand combat of interpersonal relations that comprise most of the story. Thanks to the author’s foreshadowing, one sees disasters before they arrive, but one never anticipates the next little bit the author throws at one after that. I can’t really tell you much about this book because even a sketch gives much away, but it begins with a young man seeking sunken treasure, surely a delicious thought…







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The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

The Bread Bible








Let me say first that Beranbaum is undoubtedly a master. After all, she developed most of the the recipes in this book on her own, using her own knowledge and the direction, ingredients, perhaps even the recipes of others. Let's just admit that writing a cookbook is darn hard work and nearly impossible. Aspiring cooks can't actually see and feel texture and notice those little indescribables that are so important in creating something completely new to them. All this is prelude to my frustration with her recipes. They seem to me to be overly complicated and particular to her. That is to say, they are not terribly sraightforward nor easily adaptable. I am used to adaptations of recipes for commonly used foods from around the world which tend to be simple enough for whole cultures to adapt to their tastes.

One thing that mattered to me this holiday season was making for the first time a Pannetone, my favorite holiday bread. I was determined to delight myself with making a loaf to celebrate my re-connection with the dear Italian friend who first introduced Pannetone to me years ago with a commercially-bought loaf purchased from New York City’s legendary delicatessen, Zabar’s. Presumptuously perhaps, I determined that Pannetone would be my gift for family this year—one sibling, one loaf. Little did I know how many weeks and how much treasure would be spent on trying to achieve a bread that pleasured four of the five senses: eyes, nose, tongue, as well as the “lightness” of touch. I am now proud to say I almost succeeded. However, “almost” was simply not good enough for me at first.

I flatter myself, I know now, that I am something of a bread master. I should have known this when I read in Daniel Leader's Simply Great Breads: Sweet and Savory Yeasted Treats from America's Premier Artisan Baker that one should attempt to master one type of bread and become known for that. Well, really.

Beranbaum has a recipe for Pannetone in her book. I almost never follow recipes exactly, usually because I lack all the called-for ingredients, but I did follow this one pretty closely (except for the suggestion that the ambient rising temperature be 75-90 deg F). At 2 a.m. (silly me, I should have just gone to bed & let it rise overnight), I rushed this into the oven because it needed to be on the road early the next day. It didn't have the rise I was expecting, but it tasted good. It was gifted to someone who had never seen a Pannetone, so they didn't care. But I did. After this, I went in search of other recipes, finding one I didn't end up using in my standard bread book, The Bread Bible: 300 Favorite Recipes by Beth Hensberger. I finally used my own starter and made a richer variation of Peter Reinhart's basic recipe in his classic The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread.

Why all the recipes call for low heat for an hour or more mystifies me. It dried the bread out terribly. I ended up going by internal temperature, which was reached far in advance of everyone's suggested baking times. Go figure.

Anyway, I did read much of Beranbaum's book, which is packed with information for those interested in breadmaking. I learned how to make the onion smear usually found on commercially-produced bialys, and I tried the bagels (not a grand success--prefer Leader's in his book referenced above). I also tried the Raisin Pecan Loaf which is her husband's favorite bread. It was exceptional and worth attention to detail.



View all my reviews
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How to Train a Wild Elephant by Jan Chozen Bays

How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness








Those of you who follow my blog will have noticed I have not written in some time. This blog is about books, and even the most exciting fiction couldn’t compete with events in my own life these past few months. “Scattered” would be a kind way of describing my state of mind as I struggled to focus on tasks in front of me. I found myself murmuring “mindfulness” in an effort to keep my attention focused on things that perhaps matter more to others than to myself.

Jan Chozen Bays has written a book that brings us back to ourselves and calmly, gently, laughingly teaches us to focus on immediate tasks…not to get them over with but to be guided by the process. This is book meant to be read slowly, which is a good thing, for it took me a year. Each chapter is meant to be read one week at a time, giving us time to perform the daily exercise for a week. It gives us time to savor the moments of everyday life, not rush through them as though there were somewhere to be other than where we are.

Everyone can do these exercises. They do not require special equipment or set-aside time. They do require some flexibility, and the author encourages us to do them with a group that may meet at the end of a week and discuss the results. This seems a fine way to grow in closeness, since, as the author points out, intimacy is what we humans crave more than any other thing.

Whether or not one completes the exercises for a week at a time, just reading about them brings a sense of peace, lengthens the spine, deepens the breath. One wants to be in that place of mindfulness. And it is a book one can pull out again and again to remind oneself what it is to be “in the moment,” to focus, to notice. The group of exercises themselves will undoubtedly bring a sense of control, and of peace, to those that practice.





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Maus kann das auch!


Bisher hatte nur Allegra zeitweilig Seegang auf dem
Kuschelkissen
vor der Heizung. Doch nun muss sich wohl
auch die kleine Maus auf dem Kissen sichern:


Foto: S.Schneider



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