The Cat Tent

I sent the kids off to school this morning in a huge thunder storm.  I was feeling a bit guilty as they walked away in the heavy downpour, but I have to remember that it hardly rains in Barcelona, so maybe it's a bit of a novelty.  They got to use umbrellas which is always fun :)

Last week while I was visiting Socorro (my Peruvian friend, who also happens to be Arantxa's grandmother), she informed me that Arantxa had received a cat for her birthday.  I immediately remembered something that I had seen on Pinterest the day before.  It was a cat tent made from an old t-shirt and a couple of coat hangers.  At the time, I thought that it was so cute it almost made me want a cat  (of course I will never ever have a cat because I am allergic to them).  I was so excited to find out that Arantxa was getting a cat, because then I could make a tent for her cat!

I asked Bob for an old t-shit and grabbed a couple of metal coat hangers from his closet.  I found this easy how-to video on Youtube http://youtu.be/lGgqN1bjl9I.  My tent is a bit different.  I sewed up the arm holes and used an elastic band to tie the ends of the shirt at the back of the tent.  I also added a fluffy cushion at the bottom (made from the same material as my Halloween costume) for added comfort.

The cat tent

Inside view

Side view

Arantxa came for Ciara's Spanish lesson in the afternoon and Ciara and I presented the cat tent to her for her Birthday.  She was very grateful because she didn't have a cat bed yet.

Arantxa's Cat enjoying his new tent

Apart from the cat tent, I also tried something else for the first time today, I made Moroccan food.  I think I have only had Moroccan food a couple times in my life, but I was looking for recipes that used prunes and I came across this one: http://www.farmtojar.com/recipes/moroccan-beef-and-sweet-potato-stew/.  It turned out really good, at least some members of the family liked it, which is usually all I can hope for.

Because I'm trying to get the kids to eat more fibre, especially Cole, yesterday I tried this recipe that also uses prunes: http://cooks.ndtv.com/recipe/show/date-and-prune-brownies-106644.  The brownies turned out much better than I thought they would, and no one suspected that there were prunes inside.  I didn't have dates, so I used extra prunes.  Hopefully everyone will be regular for the rest of the week :)