So, the quick back story. My practically perfect puss, Peep, gets struvites, also known as bladder stones. We have her on a special diet, but she still periodically gets them, which breaks my heart because it is so hard to tell when she has them and I know that they must be painful. The primary reason felines get struvites is that they just don’t drink enough water, so the minerals in their urine become concentrated and crystallize.
I’ve tried everything to get her to drink more, to no avail. Then, last week, I decided that if I offered her seafood broth, she might drink it. I hightailed it to the grocery store, but all the broth had salt, which is no bueno for cats.
So, I did what I do…I said, “heck, I’ll make my own seafood broth for my sweet Peep.” That afternoon, I went to our local fresh fish store and asked for any discarded fish parts. In my mind, they would have them nicely packaged in a fridge somewhere for me. Nope. The nice young gentlemen invited me to head to the back room where the fresh fish was being fileted to pick my own fish parts.
The equally nice young men back in the ‘fish cutting room’ were surprised I didn’t come with a bucket or gloves, but offered me a plastic bag and pointed me to the bins of fish parts for me to pick through. Um…yuck.
There were no nice neat little heads I could easily pluck from the bin, but instead whole, big fish with heads, tails and spine that I had to wrangle into the little plastic bags that were made available to me. Two of these middle-less fish filled the plastic bag.
So, I tossed my partial fish in my car and drove home to make fish broth for Peep.
The parts filled my two slow cookers, which I put on my kitchen counter…for a little bit. Terry came down an hour later and was immediately alarmed at what he spied in my slow cookers as well as the ‘aroma’ filling the house.
So, we moved the slowcookers out to the garage and let them cook away all night. The next morning, I had rich fish broth, as well as a house, garage and two cars that reeked of fish! So, we pulled the cars out of the garage hoping that fresh air and sunlight would deodorize them and I again filled my crockpot, but this time with vinegar and clove essential oils hoping it would kill the smell.
So, now my garage smells like vinegary clove fish!
But…Peep LOVES her fish broth!! Which is a really good thing as I canned many quarts of it for her. It is some potent stuff! 🫢🫢🫢🐟🫢🫢🫢
On a better note, our daughter came home yesterday and will be with us for almost two weeks, which fills me with joy. We have several fun things planned: massages, trips to that dog water park I told you about several weeks ago, visits to favorite restaurants, and just chilling. We may even do a little pre-Christmas baking, just to test a few things! 😉I know it will fly by quickly, so I’m determined to be in the moment and enjoy her company.
Table of Contents
New on the Blog
Grab your needles, two skeins of yarn, and this pattern. Then, binge-watch your favorite show for a couple of hours, and you’ll have a charming Heart Potholder for yourself or to give as a gift.
From the Knit + Crochet Studio
This Knit Purse Pattern uses the Half-Linen Stitch for the body of the purse. This easy-to-make handbag is lined and features detachable leather handles for easy washing.
This knitting journal and organizer will help you organize and keep your knitting resources, thoughts, patterns, and yarn inventory in one place. My favorite and most used section of the journal is the yarn inventory pockets, which I regularly refer to.
I know I’ve said this before, but these wee knit sweaters may just be one of my most favorite knit projects ever! As in, EVER! They knit up quickly and make adorable Christmas tree ornaments. They are equally cute on a garland, a wreath, as a gift topper, or as a place setting. Use some of your yarn stash for these knit Christmas ornaments.
Don’t take my word for it; here’s what Chris said shortly after I published this Peanut Butter Soup recipe.
I’ve already made this twice! The first time was for my very unsure husband. He really liked! Within a week company was coming for a few days. I made it again and everyone’s reaction was soo positive. Thank you Lynn for another ‘out of the park’ recipe.
These delicious crock pot pinto beans, flavored with onions, jalapeños, garlic and spices, have become a staple in our home because they are effortless to make, easy on the wallet, and very versatile. In addition to the slow cooker pinto beans recipe, we discuss whether to soak or not soak your beans, as well as how to cook this recipe in an Instant Pot and on the stovetop.
This Fig and Butternut Squash Salad celebrates the season’s best flavors with arugula, butternut squash, and dried figs. A maple and curry dressing perfectly finishes this delightful salad.
Prepare this Cranberry Pear Jam, flavored with the warm spices ginger and cinnamon, for your family to enjoy this holiday. Water bath preserve, refrigerate, or freeze this delicious jam. And not for nothing, it is always appreciated when given as a gift.
I get so excited every holiday when I can share this White Fruitcake recipe! In fact, I have my fruit already soaking, so I will be baking loaves of holiday treat soon! This recipe eschews the glazed green and red cherries (along with the Red #40, Blue #5, and Yellow #1) for the completely natural dried cherries, white raisins, and candied fruit (candied citron, candied orange peel, and candied pineapple). Believe me…it is truly delicious and will encourage you to put fruitcake in your holiday baking rotation.
Rosemary provides a lovely, piney fragrance to brown butter shortbread, resulting in a delicious cookie. Browning butter brings such a delightful nutty flavor to shortbread, but adding the Rosemary to this recipe takes it over the top.
From the Ars + Crafts Studio
Who knew that a little fabric paint and a rubber stamp could add such festive charm to plain white fabric napkins! I made these stamped napkins for our Christmas table and will make more to give as gifts. If fabric napkins aren’t your thing, think about stamping tea towels or cocktail napkins for yourself or for holiday gifts.
Written and illustrated instructions and a video showing how to make a lovely beaded DIY macramé wire votive holder. If you are new to square knots, don’t let that deter you! I show step-by-step how to tie a square knot.
At the end of every month, I share my ‘reviews’ of books I’ve read thus far in 2024 and where I stand relative to the goal of thirty-three books read I set for the year. Many of you have written that you enjoy and appreciate my ‘book reviews’ (if you can call them that!), but I always struggle with not giving too much away and am also cognizant that my likes are not everyone else’s.
I’m only on my twentieth book; I need to get busy if I’m going to meet my goal this year!
Some of My Favorite Things
Some of these links may be Amazon affiliate links and I may earn a small commission from the sale of these products to help defray the costs of operating this site, but the price you are charged is not affected. You can see my full disclosure policy here.
I donated all of my balloon whisks and replaced them with these ball whisks. If you were frustrated with dough and batter getting caught in the balloon, you will appreciate the ball whisk design’s functionality.
This car jump starter is a handy tool for your garage and makes a great gift. My favorite feature is the alarm that notifies you when you have the charger hooked up incorrectly. It eliminates the stress that has hounded me since my dad warned me of mixing up positive and negative leads years ago!
We were introduced to this card game last year and continue to enjoy it!
Well friends, thanks for stopping by today! I have so much I want to share with you before the end of the year…I need to get busy.
I can hardly breathe, I’m laughing so hard at your fish story! Your description of you with your little plastic bag in the fish cutting room, Terry’s alarm when he came in the kitchen, and the photo of your crock pot had me in hysterics! Hopefully by now the aroma has receded, and it’s good to hear that your sweet kitty loves her special seafood drink.
Hi friend…the garage still has an ‘aroma’, though I can’t be sure I’m not imagining it! And I fear I may have to shampoo the seats in the car with fabric seats. The car with leather seats seems fine.
I got quite a laugh about your fish experience. You are SUCH a great pet mom…I think I could not do that…and the fishy garage is a riot. Too bad you don’t have a photo of your husband looking in the pot! My husband does that all the time…he would have been concerned that it was HIS dinner! Love those little sweaters but knitting is too hard for me. I LOVE that whisk…I do hate how things get inside the other kind…ordered! Thank you for your recommendations…they are so good!
I think it is fair to say that I won’t be doing that again! 😂 In fact, I’ve been searching for salt-free fish broth. I’ve found some, but of course it is crazy expensive. I’ll continue to look.
I mean, at the end of the day, I made all the stock for free! That’s hard to beat.
And I know you will LOVE that whisk. I replaced all my balloon whisks with the ball whisks. Sooo much better.
You crack me up!! None other than our Lynn would go to a fishmonger and ask for parts, and then the cook would say, ” Parts.” What a labor of love, and I hope and pray all the smells quickly dissipate! Can you imagine what the factories smell like where they make that for sales? Yikes! But so glad Peep likes it and is lapping it up!
Good Morning Lynn from Canada…..there are so many goodies in your E-mail this week, just wanted to thank you for sharing your funny fish story, made me laugh so much, (I was laughing with you, not at you) although I’m not sure you were actually laughing at the time!!! We all do crazy things to care for our animals….just another quick idea for you that I use for my chickens, is to put the liquids in ice trays and when you need to add to water, just pop them out of the freezer quickly…although the prep takes time…always look forward to your ideas….Sheri
I’m so happy you found so much to enjoy this week! And feel free to laugh at me! One week later and the garage still smells fishy! The car with the leather seats is O.K., but I think I need to shampoo the fabric seats on the other car to truly get rid of the residual aroma! But…Peep still loves her fish broth! That said, I need to figure out a better plan after we go through all this broth as I will not do it again! 😂 And I am actually freezing cubes of the fish stock, with brings another issue as the microwave smells after I defrost one.
Oh well…I’ll figure it out!
And I know all you folks in Cananda are looking at us like we are the crazy downstairs neighbor! Hopefully we will get our act together soon.
Thanks for being a loyal readers! Knowing that there are folks like you on the other end of my musings makes this adventure all the more enjoyable!
I can hardly breathe, I’m laughing so hard at your fish story! Your description of you with your little plastic bag in the fish cutting room, Terry’s alarm when he came in the kitchen, and the photo of your crock pot had me in hysterics! Hopefully by now the aroma has receded, and it’s good to hear that your sweet kitty loves her special seafood drink.
Hi friend…the garage still has an ‘aroma’, though I can’t be sure I’m not imagining it! And I fear I may have to shampoo the seats in the car with fabric seats. The car with leather seats seems fine.
Live and Learn! 😂
I got quite a laugh about your fish experience. You are SUCH a great pet mom…I think I could not do that…and the fishy garage is a riot. Too bad you don’t have a photo of your husband looking in the pot! My husband does that all the time…he would have been concerned that it was HIS dinner! Love those little sweaters but knitting is too hard for me. I LOVE that whisk…I do hate how things get inside the other kind…ordered! Thank you for your recommendations…they are so good!
Hi Joan,
I think it is fair to say that I won’t be doing that again! 😂 In fact, I’ve been searching for salt-free fish broth. I’ve found some, but of course it is crazy expensive. I’ll continue to look.
I mean, at the end of the day, I made all the stock for free! That’s hard to beat.
And I know you will LOVE that whisk. I replaced all my balloon whisks with the ball whisks. Sooo much better.
Thanks for writing in!
Hugs, Lynn
You crack me up!! None other than our Lynn would go to a fishmonger and ask for parts, and then the cook would say, ” Parts.” What a labor of love, and I hope and pray all the smells quickly dissipate! Can you imagine what the factories smell like where they make that for sales? Yikes! But so glad Peep likes it and is lapping it up!
Right!?
Oh my goodness! I’m crying! The fish story is so wonderful. I had to share it with my husband. Laughter is good for the soul!
Thanks Karen! Not one of my better ideas! I’m still dealing with a fishy garage and car! But, Peep does love her broth!
Have a fantastic day!
Good Morning Lynn from Canada…..there are so many goodies in your E-mail this week, just wanted to thank you for sharing your funny fish story, made me laugh so much, (I was laughing with you, not at you) although I’m not sure you were actually laughing at the time!!! We all do crazy things to care for our animals….just another quick idea for you that I use for my chickens, is to put the liquids in ice trays and when you need to add to water, just pop them out of the freezer quickly…although the prep takes time…always look forward to your ideas….Sheri
Good Morning Sheri,
I’m so happy you found so much to enjoy this week! And feel free to laugh at me! One week later and the garage still smells fishy! The car with the leather seats is O.K., but I think I need to shampoo the fabric seats on the other car to truly get rid of the residual aroma! But…Peep still loves her fish broth! That said, I need to figure out a better plan after we go through all this broth as I will not do it again! 😂 And I am actually freezing cubes of the fish stock, with brings another issue as the microwave smells after I defrost one.
Oh well…I’ll figure it out!
And I know all you folks in Cananda are looking at us like we are the crazy downstairs neighbor! Hopefully we will get our act together soon.
Thanks for being a loyal readers! Knowing that there are folks like you on the other end of my musings makes this adventure all the more enjoyable!
Hugs, Lynn