Sourdough Starter & a Good Cause

Last week, I met up with Aimee at RedGardenClogs, a fellow New Yorker and also a garden blogger. She had contacted me to inquire if I wanted some of her sourdough starter, in which my answer was, "absolutely".  I've never been a big baker, but I love to make bread, so I definitely wanted to try this.  I also LOVE sourdough bread, it's one of my favorites. I also offered her some of my Blue Lake pole bean seeds that I saved from plants in my garden, and she asked for some more Jaune Flamme heirloom tomato seeds.  We set up a meeting time for a swap, my seeds for sourdough starter.  Sa-weet!  She also told me about a project that she is working on, to knit cat beds for the feral cats in her neighborhood.  The cat beds help the cats stay warm in the winter, and they love to snuggle in them.  She was seeking knitters to donate any extra wool yarn for the project.  I am a novice knitter and have lots of yarn, but none were wool, so I went to The Naked Sheep, a yarn store near my house.  Wool yarn she said helps keep the cats warm even in inclement bad weather.  If you have an extra wool yarn that you would like to donate to the cause, let me know and I'll put you in touch with Aimee.

I bought 4 skeins of wool yarn on my way to meeting Aimee.  I really love this color combination.

Here are some photos Aimee sent me of the cat beds that she makes.  She said they are "felted bed based on the Kitty Pi Pattern." Aren't these super cute?  It's also a nicer, soft and warm place for them to sleep.

Here is a closeup of the sides.  Aimee noted that it gets really thick with felting.

Here is the bottom of the bed.

Aimee said that this is where the feral cats used to sleep.  There is a Ginger cat sleeping in one of the garden boxes.  Aren't the cat beds so much better?

Here are 2 of the 9 or 10 kitties that are permanent residents in Aimee's Brooklyn neighborhood: "Enzo (orange) who has lost his right eye and General Sherman (gray + white tabb)y...he's missing his tail, poor guy."

Here are the cats using the cat beds Aimee made.  If you click on the photo to inspect closer, you can see two cats, Enzo and his momma snuggling in the bed. Rusty & Oscar, the other cats come in to investigate and wonder where theirs are!  Aimee are still knitting them, so soon, very soon.  As you can tell, they sure like the beds.

 

Here is the sourdough starter that I met up with Aimee to get.  So exciting!  I'll be writing about my baking adventures soon!

And here's another surprise!  Aimee also gave me some of her homemade spicy honey mustard!  Talk about yummy!  This is going to be amazing smothered on some toasted sourdough for a turkey or pastrami sandwich.  I cannot wait!!