Tag: pets

Black Cats Gift Guide!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

Hello everyone!! It’s the time of year we are surrounded by images of black cats for Halloween, and I wanted to pay homage to these cuties! I love black cats, and I know I mentioned this in another post, that they are the least likely cats to be adopted. They are overlooked in shelters and rescues, as their more colorful cat companions usually stand out. And there is also the whole black cat superstitious thing too. I know that the whole Halloween association doesn’t help either, which is why I want to celebrate these beautiful cats, for who they are, and that is not as bad luck, but cuddly cats just like all the rest of the cats out there. I have read that in Scotland, a strange black cat arriving at your doorstep is considered lucky, and in Japan, they are seen as good luck and attract wealth.

I am an animal person, and I often buy animal themed things for my house. I am just like that. And it seems like these artists on Etsy feel the same way!

This post contains Etsy Affiliate links. If you were to purchase an item through these links, I would receive a small commission that I use to help purchase items for Wyatt. If you were to purchase anything through this post, I will also donate a percentage to my local animal shelter where I used to volunteer.

Black Cat Energy Tee – This tee is from Ellie Threads Co., located in South Carolina and it 100% made me laugh. It is so cute and honestly I think I need it.

This little peeking black cat mug is adorable, isn’t it! It is from Penarth Ceramics, located in Penarth, UK. I have a huge love of handmade mugs (and just mugs, let’s be honest) and I think this one is just so fun.

Can you imagine any better bookends to hold up your cat themed books? I know I have a bunch of translated fiction books with cats on the cover. These 3D printed black cat bookends are purrfect. They are made by Diggity3D, located in Georgia.

This first print is a linocut, and I love linocut. I actually just purchased a tee that has a linocut rabbit on it, from Etsy actually. The colors in this one, and the expression on that little face is just priceless. Although this is $14.00 and available from ArtLuxBoulevard.

And this little cutie is a mini oil painting, the perfect size to slip onto a bookcase. I always think it would be so hard to paint such small little things, and this is lovely. This little bookish cat is made by OilAura.

I love folk art and pottery, and I am in love with almost everything in this shop, the MagicGardenCeramics shop. This plate is so pretty!!

Ok. So I know I said the black cat Halloween association doesn’t help their image but it is totally iconic. And this mug that is a of a bat black cat has been on my wish list for a long long time. I love BreadandBadger although they are out of my price range. The price is totally warranted, as this is hard work and takes a lot of talent and time, so I am not complaining about the price – just saying that it would definitely be a splurge piece for me!

These tiny little clay cats are called luck cats, and I loved that spin on the whole bad luck myth. They are so wee and sparkly!

And finally, this beautiful linocut piece. I am in love with it. It is from the shop Society of Cranes located in North Carolina. I may need to get this one and hang it…somewhere. I can find a spot!

Now, if you need something more Halloween or fall minded, check out these suggestions from Etsy!

Do you have any cats? I would love to hear about them!

Book Review: Cat’s People

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

I usually group my book reviews, but today I wanted to add some additional information in with my book review, so Cat’s People gets its very own post.

First, the summary from the publisher.

Núria, a single-by-choice barista with a little resentment for the “crazy cat lady” label, is a member of The Meow-Yorkers, a group in Brooklyn who takes care of the neighborhood’s stray cats. On her volunteering days, she starts finding Post-it notes left by a secret admirer in an area where her feeds her favorite stray—a black cat named Cat. Like most felines, he is both curious and observant, so of course he knows who the notes are from. Núria, however, is clueless.

Are the notes from Collin, a bestselling author and self-professed hermit with a weakness for good coffee? Are they from Lily, a fresh-out-of-high school Georgia native searching for her long-lost half sister? Are they from Omar, the beloved neighborhood mailman going through an early midlife crisis? Or are they from Bong, the grieving widower who owns Núria’s favorite bodega?

When Cat suddenly falls ill, these five strangers find themselves bonding together in their desire to care for him, and discover that chance encounters can lead to the meaningful connections they’ve all been searching for.

My thoughts:

I wanted to hug this book. This book is so heartwarming, wholesome, pure, and I absolutely loved it to pieces. The story is simple, but with so much emotion and complexity hidden within. So much love. So much kindness. Found family, both human and feline. It is definitely a five star read for me.

Every character had their own challenge that they were going through. Social awkwardness, grieving, doubting life choices, just the self-doubts that creep up on us late at night. This book is told from all of their viewpoints, and one additional point of view – Cat’s.

One thing that you may not know about me, unless you read my former blogs Cinnamon Owl and Quixotic Magpie, is that before Wyatt was born I was very active in animal rescue. I helped start an animal rescue organization, I served on the board as an officer, I volunteered at the animal shelter at least twice a week, and spent countless hours doing what I could for the animals. I never fostered because every time I did, I was a foster failure, meaning I adopted every one. All three of my cats and my dog Penny were all fosters that I ended up keeping. So when I say this book touched my heart, it really did. I was not surprised to see that the author, Tanya Guerrero is in animal rescue because every detail, every bit of advice, every aspect pertaining to cats and stray cats was on point, and it reminded me so much of all the animals lives that I have known. The happy stories, and the sad too sometimes.

And spoiler here:

And if you are worried about reading this book, don’t be.

If after reading this book, you find you have a heart for rescue, start with your local animal shelter. They can help you find the right places to volunteer and get your started. Or google local animal rescues and send an email. It can be very rewarding but also very emotional. And you may end up with an extra animal or two or three.

Here are my rescue babies. Maggie, Marlow, and Penny have crossed the rainbow bridge and I am so thankful I had them while I did.

Marlow || Miso || Maggie || Penny

I loved this book so much, and in this world we are in right now, it was so just nice to read a book that was so full of kindness and love. This is definitely one of my favorites reads of the year.

Our Animal Menagerie

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Hello everyone! It has been a hot minute since I chatted about our beloved critter family. Through the years we have lost a few of our family pets, and each time took a bit of my heart, sometimes large chunks. We are all animal people here and while they do consume a lot of resources and time, it is worth it. They bring us happiness and joy and peace, and I hope that they feel the love we have for them, even our little fishes or lizards. I know Miso does, spoiled princess that she is. Or should I say Queen?

Our sweet little Miso girl. We had two other kitty faces but we lost them both back to back almost two years ago. Maggie and Marlow. They were both seniors, as is Miso, who is 14. When we got her she was six months and was found in a cat hoarders apartment with 50 other cats. I was volunteering at the shelter during that time and fell in love with her little face and brought her home. She is a super goofball, a bit of a klutz, likes to stand on her back legs and chatter like a squirrel, and has a super loud purr. And best of all, I am her favorite person to cuddle with.

This is Luna! She is a leopard gecko, but I don’t really know what her type is. Maybe a Mack Snow? We got her from a pet store we were poking around in. When the store employees told us she was not doing well we knew she was the one we had to take home. The breeder had fed her inappropriate food for her size and she was ill, and we had to give her twice daily soaks. It was always funny to have little Luna in a jar next to me on my desk. She escaped once and gave me a heart attack when I went in and her tank door was open and she was missing! I found her in the closet after fifteen minutes of desperate searching.

Next up is Applejack! I love her little smile in this photo! She was a birthday present to me from Billy and Wyatt in 2021 and she is a crested gecko from Josh’s Frogs. We have very friendly geckos, and Applejack loves to be taken out and talked to – unless it is before evening. Then she wants only her beauty rest, and to sleep in her hanging coconut house. Cresties are crepuscular so they are most active at dusk and dawn. Her diet is mainly crestie food, and her favorite flavor is watermelon.

Freddy is our only frog. He is a pacman frog, and they are pretty….inactive as pets. They mainly dig a little spot in their tank and wait for food and barely move. He is not our most exciting pet but we love him anyway. They are very food and hunting focused and when I dropped these leaves into his tank he immediately attacked them before quickly realizing that they were not food.

This is Harlow, our shyest gecko. He is a pictus gecko and they are private little shy lizards by nature. He is also from Josh’s Frogs. He doesn’t really like a lot of interaction so I mostly leave him be which is how he likes it. He does tolerate me though because I am the one who feeds him…

Still with me? Good, because we have a few more to go!

This is my newest gecko baby, Oliver. I got him a few months ago and he was the size of my thumb, just so itty-bitty teeny weeny! He is another crested like Applejack, but he doesn’t sleep in his coconut yet. He mainly sleeps behind his plants. I love his tiny little feet! Oliver is also from Josh’s Frogs, who we obviously love.

Finally. We are nearing the end.

Wyatt’s fish tanks. Wyatt has always wanted a fish, and Billy and I were always like no no, it’s hard to take care of them, etc. But when his meds were switched a few months ago and he was sick every single morning for hours, we caved and got him a fish to cheer him up and help keep him occupied when he all he could do was rest. He picked a black and purple betta and named him Moon. Then when we started redoing his room, we got him another one. This time he picked a white one, that has yellow and blue markings (his favorite colors) and he named it Star. It’s not that much harder to clean two tanks than one honestly and it makes him happy. And oh yeah..each fish has a snail friend. Sunny lives with Moon, and Escargot lives with Star.

We love having our whole little menagerie of animals. We love them all very much, although it does add quite a bit of time to my day to care for them all. I usually do maintenance on the weekends and feedings after our dinner, so it is not really too bad though, in all honesty. Billy does the fish, I do everyone else.

And there you have it! Our little zoo.

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up: Our Life Aquatic

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello everybody! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend!

We were worker bees and homebodies all weekend, which was nice. Billy worked more on the door/inside part of the ramp project while I did some work on our new fish tank. Wyatt has wanted one and with his mornings being so not fun these days, I decided to get one when we got a little surprise bonus check.

I had no idea that setting up a fish tank was so involved, but now I know. On Friday after dinner at our local pizza place, we decided to see if the aquarium store was still open. It was about 7 so we thought there was a chance it would be closed but we were happily surprised to find it open – and busy! The woman working was extremely helpful and kind, and is exactly the type of person you want working in your store. I can’t say enough good things. The store itself was really neat too – there were so many cool fish and little shrimp and snails and axolotls, and all sorts of things to look at inside – even bullfrog tadpoles! We saw the tadpoles inside and then the actual bullfrogs outside. It was neat.

We also got a little Mystery Snail that Wyatt named Sunny, who spent the night in a glass jar with a strainer lid on my nightstand. I heard him clinking around in there all night. We all are fascinated by him to be honest. He only had to stay one night in there because we set up the tank Saturday morning, one step closer to getting Wyatt’s fish.

Then it was time to add the beneficial bacteria! I had no idea this was a thing, but my friend Kelly did, and she also gave me some. I guess this is good for your aquarium to help break down bad stuff like waste, dead plants, etc and you can buy it but Kelly gave me some from her axolotl tank instead. Which meant a trip to Kelly’s – who has more animals than I do! Two axolotls, 6 toads, 2 tree frogs, and some baby toads that she raised from tadpoles last year. She also has a bunch of cats, but we only saw one, Pal. I didn’t get to see my favorite Buddy, but maybe next time.

We added the beneficial bacteria and then it was a waiting game. We let it cycle a few days then on Tuesday I took a water sample to the aquarium store and had them test it. I figured the woman could let us know if we were good to go, and if not, what we needed to do to get there. Wyatt was very happy when she told him things were good to go! He looked at all the betta that they had, so many colors and varieties, and finally made his choice.

Meet Moonlight, or Moon, for short. (and Sunny the snail again)

Moon is so pretty! He did a great job! He was thinking that he wanted a yellow one but when the lady told him that this was a Halloween betta ( I am pretty sure she was just calling it that and that it is not an actual type?), that was it for Wyatt. That was the one he wanted, my little Halloween loving boy. He named it Moon although I was petitioning for the names Spooky or Stormy. Moon is a great name though, and it is his fish so he wins!

The art exhibit that Billy had his work entered in opened on Thursday, and we went to that too. It was pretty neat seeing all of the small works of art, but Billy’s was the smallest. I am quite proud of him! He was interviewed by the Downriver Council for the Arts while we were there, which was neat to watch. We had a good time exploring all of the pieces on display, and it was hard to pinpoint our favorites. We all loved the lizard/dinosaur/dragon eye, which is amazing. I also could not get over the detail on that portrait! Look at Billy’s little terrariums down there! So exciting!

Oh, and I got a boba tea for the first time. Except I got boba lemonade, and it was delicious.

And now, some random photos!

And that is it from me this very early morning! I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile.

Hanging in there on a tough week

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life20 Comments

How you all doing? Hanging in there I hope! It’s been a rough week around here for me personally. There were some things that were causing me a great deal of stress with my extended family and I was struggling a bit this week. I couldn’t read, which I hate when I can’t settle down with a book. I pushed through and got things done, with a lot of pep talks from friends and family. So this week was an odd one. We didn’t get too much besides what we needed to do done, but it was a week of small victories, which are just as good.

Harry had a recheck this week and the vet said he looks awesome! His surgical area healed perfectly, and he is looking good and did not require any further medication, although we still have to give him his appetite stimulant because he lost weight, poor guy. But otherwise he is doing well. He has the world’s tiniest carrier and everyone at the vet thought it was adorable – as did I. It has a little strap that cracks me up, like I can carry him around with me on walks or in stores or something. I had to send Harry into the vet alone per COVID rules and I do wonder if they wore him for a minute because I would have, had I been them.

I also started a new skin care routine this week. I don’t usually do much, just wash and moisturize but it has been so cold and I am over 40 so I thought I should up my game. I ordered a few different oils from Good Molecules then had to call my friend to ask her how to use them. I took notes even. So I now use squalane oil in the morning, and rose hip seed oil in the evening. I also have an ultra hydrating one that I am to use as needed, per my friend Kelly, my personal beauty guru. I am sort of a wash and go person, even with my hair so anytime I add in anything new it feels like such a big deal.

I have also been trying to organize a meal plan that is sustainable and easy to turn into a routine. In preparation for this I ordered meat from Trillium Woods Farm. We have ordered from there before and picked it up at the farm, but this time we had it delivered. It came today and it was sort of fun to go through when it came. The things that make me happy these days! Truth be told, I feel like it was a good price for the quality I know we are receiving, especially when the prices in the grocery store are pretty comparable these days. Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are also planning on doing a recipe swap in February to sort of mix things up and try new things. I am excited about it!

Wyatt and I also had a great week of homeschooling, after I had one day of dragging my feet over it. I plan on sharing more on that tomorrow, but we are both loving the topics we are learning about this week.

It’s been so cold here too! Not much snow but single digits that go below freezing at times. We are winter hikers but I don’t like to take Wyatt out when it is that cold out. So this weekend we are sticking around the house, baking, and working on his Valentine’s! I am part of on online “cohort” group that all use the Blossom and Root curriculum for first grade, and one of the mothers organized a Valentine exchange. She grouped interested families into “classes” of 24 and sent out the lists! We are going to make a Valentine’s box that Wyatt can put them in as they arrive, and then open them all on Valentine’s Day. I think it will be fun! Especially since Wyatt loves anything to do with mail these days.

So how are you guys? Hope all is well in your world!

The PrettyLitter Review No One Asked For

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized16 Comments

I mentioned I have become like a lunatic telling everyone I know about this litter. I have senior cats and I have to have at least one litter box on our main level – and we only have one level, then a basement in our 900 square foot house. So the litter box ends up in someone’s space. There is just no way around it. But since I was redoing the office and wanted Wyatt to be able to play in there I knew I had to do something about the litter situation.

I had been using a clay based litter for my cats’ boxes, which was ok. However, they are slobs and track it all over, plus the dust was insane. I was forever cleaning up and scooping and it was tolerable but not a room where I wanted Wyatt to hang out. Or me either really, for long periods of time. So I thought I would experiment with PrettyLitter. I ordered one bag to start and used one box dedicated to it. I have three cats, and they recommend at least three boxes and three bags but since I was just trying it, I didn’t want to go all in, since it is more expensive then our normal stuff. My friends all have multiple cats, and issues as well – one friend has a box in her husband’s home office, where he spends a lot of time and another has a problem kitty who likes to avoid the box in general. (More on that kitty later) They were interested in my experiences and wanted updates because we are nerds like that. So this is my report to them basically, but I thought other people might be interested as well.

The first week it was like magic. No tracking, no smell except for when they do some real business, then it dissipates quickly. I also noticed my cats were preferring it to the other box of their normal litter. So, I ordered another bag and set up another box, and very quickly just switched over to all PrettyLitter. After two weeks, still no tracking, no smell, but I did notice the litter itself was discoloring a bit, but PrettyLitter said that would happen, so no worries there. The third week I did notice there was a little more mess outside the box, from them scratching in it but still everything was going really well! Finally, this is the fourth week and I am noticing a small faint odor when I am in the room near the box, but nothing overwhelming. I have noticed a bit more tracking as well, but still not anything outside of the room. I am due for more any day and while the situation is not grim it is ready to be renewed, if you will.

My routine is pretty simple: I vacuum everyday and scoop twice a day, which has become something that takes just a few minutes, as you only scoop “solids” with this new litter, as liquids evaporate and don’t form hard bits in there. (trying to be delicate here lol) I am using less than the recommended amount still, two boxes, two bags for three cats, instead of the recommended three bags, three boxes for three cats,so there could be oversaturation issues which is why I am noticing a little odor – I am going to three boxes next so I will see.

My friends each set up one box as well – so far, so good. My one friend has noticed a difference in her husband’s office, while the other – well, we all had a chat to discuss her kitty. We decided that perhaps her cat had sensitive feet, so she bought a few bags of sensitive feet litter from a different manufacturer, Dr. Elsey’s, and also set up a box of PrettyLitter, since that same cat also has asthma and she wanted to reduce dust. Since she has switched, she has noticed less box avoidance, but we can’t say for sure if it is because of the PrettyLitter as she also has multiple boxes with different litter. She did comment on the no dust though, which she felt was a bonus from the PrettyLitter.

Overall, my experience with my cats using it has been pretty positive. The only drawback I see is that I do have to spend twenty more dollars a month on it over what I used to spend. Right now we have extra in our budget due to our stay at home, eat at home lifestyle, so once things hopefully change in the coming months, I will have to make sure to allot for that difference. The only other negative for me is the anxiety it gave me at first, running to check constantly to see if there was any indication that my cats had any health issues, as it does analyze and report health monitoring by turning different colors for different issues. However there is the added bonus that the bags themselves are very light! I carried in the box with three bags inside with no problem at. So far I am pretty darn pleased with everything!

Edit 1/11/24: I did end up canceling because with three cats the cost became too much for our budget. Sadly however, two of my three cats have passed on since this post (my Mags and my Marlow and I miss them every day) and I have reupped my subscription again. The price with just one cat is pretty competitive to what I have been paying and I no longer I have to go get it. So bonus.

Note: This is not a sponsored or paid ad from Pretty Litter. However, I do have a link if you are interested. This is a weird post for me, but honestly I was already running around telling everyone in the world about it so I figured why not? I promise not to do too many of these type of posts though, and if I do, it is because I honestly love what I am talking about. If you were to click the link and buy a bag, I would get a free bag. If I ever (long stretch here) started to compile a huge backstock of litter from referrals I would donate some to the PAWS Clinic in Michigan or a food bank.