Bits and pieces.

Hallo meine Lieben,

it has been a while. Well, I do read what you guys have to say but I never really find the time to come up with a post myself. But since it is a new month (May already!!), I thought I should come up with some little pieces of my life here and there. Nothing really exciting but I think a sign of life is in order.  So let's start with a cute picture because cute pictures are always a good way to start anything. Plus cats do rule. All other animals rule too, of course. 

{source}

1. My laptop keyboard only works 12% of the time which is really annoying and makes typing a pain in the ass. I have no idea how to exchange a laptop keyboard plus I am known to be the one to destroy all electronics, I don't even try to fix it. 

2. Tiffie the bunny will turn 6 tomorrow. I am very excited and bought party hats. 

3. I cannot believe it but I am behind my Goodreads reading challenge schedule. Only one book but I am still embarrassed. Not that I don't read but I think I started 10 books at the same time so I really need to stick to one and finish it for now. 

4. I am really into baking. Last weekend I made a chocolate cherry cake which is delicious even though it got stuck in the baking pan and does not look all too pretty. I always drink coffee while I bake. 

5. So many things I have and want to do right now but not enough time. 

6. I am addicted to Jalapeños. 

7. I still haven't watched the Paddington Bear movie. 

8. I need to get a haircut.

9. Somebody told me that my handwriting is a big mess last week.

10. I own two laundry baskets but one of them only serves as a cat bed. 

11. I made a new kitty friend yesterday. He let me pet him and he ate my treats. The mommy of the kitty told me how surprised she was that the cat was so loving and affectionate towards me because he would usually hate strangers and would run away. Made me happy to hear that. Not that the cat hates strangers but that he liked me. The treats might have helped a bit. 

12. I think that "Everything happens for a reason" is absolute bullsh#$%.

13. I think I want to start wearing lipstick more often. Which means more than once a year.  I love the ones by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. 

14. My favorite computer game is Day Of The Tentacle. I am in the mood to play it again. 

15. I am really into anthracite walls. And anything copper. 

So, what's new with you? I really want to blog more often again. I hope I can handle that. I miss blogging. Have a great rest of the week and see you soon!

Meet The Felines.

Hallo meine Lieben,

the lovely Erin from TexErin-in-Sydneyland is hosting a fantastic link-up and this week you can Meet the Felines. So hop over, say hi and see lots of cute kitty cats. Last week I introduced my bunnies Findus and Tiffie, you can find the post here. 

Here we go:

 

Meet Lumpi & Tiger, the two cats who make my life a lot happier. They are brothers and I adopted them when they were babies and my former landlord's brother wanted to "get rid of them". Whatever that means. I don't think I want to know. We will celebrate their 8th birthday this July. Every kitty birthday is a big event and we celebrate with presents and extra treats. But I guess I am not the only one who celebrates the birthdays of their furry family members, right?

Lumpi is the black guy and Tiger the tabby cat. Their favorites pastimes include sleeping on my bed, snoring, playing with their favorite mouse toy or with random accessories  like paper balls, pens and other things that are not made for cats, eating, sleeping on my lap, entertaining the bunnies, watching the birds, sleeping on my clothes, especially when they are in the laundry basket (clean of course), sitting in the tub and drinking water out of the faucet, trying to disturb me when I read and cuddling with each other. As you can see below. 

They get along perfectly fine with their bunny brothers. As long as Tiger does not try to sleep on Tiffie's favorite chair. Then Tiffie jumps on him and scares him away. The bunnies are definitely in charge, there is no doubt. 

They are such cuddly and loving cats. When you sit down on the couch, Tiger will immediately jump on your lap and Lumpi will curl up next to you - and then you are not allowed to leave anymore. 
Tiger usually wakes me up every morning exactly ten minutes before my alarm goes off. He's the best alarm clock you can imagine, that is for sure. 
These guys bring a smile on my face every day. And I am so thankful that they are a part of my family.

And of course, here's the queen: my dad's cat Jerry who is basically my sister. She is 11,5 years old and a bit of a diva. Which means she always gets what she wants. But who can resist that pretty face?

She loves eating, sleeping, meowing and cardboard boxes. Especially cardboard boxes. Lots of cardboard boxes. Big and small. No cat beds. Just cardboard boxes. One time I got her a new cat bed as a present but she only cared for the cardboard box it got delivered in. I think she has at least 6 or 7 to choose from at any time.

So now I am curious about your feline companions. Please tell me something about them!
Have a great rest of the week! And link up with Erin, of course!

Meet the.....bunnies!

Hallo meine Lieben, 

I know, I know. I have not posted in a while but I am trying to keep up with all your blogs and I am hoping to post more regularly soon again. 
Today is a very special occasion: I am linking up with my lovely friend Erin from TexErin-in-Sydneyland! And today's topic is "Meet the canines". I guess now you are thinking that I am cheating and I kind of am...but I am not a dog mommy (yet) but Erin said that bunnies would be okay as well. And since my bunnies are super-awesome I thought you might want to read about them. Make sure to check back next week for "Meet the felines" (and link-up of course!). And of course hop over and say hi to Erin, she loves books and animals and is overall fantastic!

So here we go: my bunny family members Findus and Tiffie. 

One afternoon a friend of mine knocked on my door and when I opened her she was standing there with the tiniest cutest bunny in her hands: it was Tiffie. She rescued him (at that point I thought Tiffie was a girl though) from a really bad situation and knew how much I love animals and that I always talked about adding bunnies again to my family. So there we were, me totally unprepared but absolutely in love with the little creature and her in desperate need for a home for the bunny. So of course Tiffie moved in with me. But bunnies are very social animals and do not like to live alone. They need a bunny companion. I knew the cats wouldn't be enough (although the bunnies love their feline brothers...most of the time). The next day I checked the internet and of course there were homeless bunnies in desperate need for a home. I called the shelter, went there, saw Findus and had to take him home with me because he reminded me of my bunny Knuffi who lived with me when I was a child. 

Shortly after, Tiffie got really sick. He had a really bad infection which he probably got before he moved in with me. Of course this got Findus sick too. They both stopped eating and were in really bad shape. The first vet I talked to in the animal clinic told me that she did not see a chance for them. I requested another vet. Findus and Tiffie are fighters and I believed that they could make it. I had to feed them with a syringe every couple of hours and they had to take lots of medication. We basically lived in the animal clinics because we went there every day. Sometimes twice. The first couple of weeks of their lives were not that great...but as you can see: they made it! And they are happy and healthy bunnies who will celebrate their 6th birthdays next month!

I cannot put into words how much I love these guys and how happy they make me. Even the cats love them a lot. They like to sleep in the bunnies' room (yes, they have their own room, I had my clothes and shoes in there before but of course the bunnies deserved the room) and the bunnies are fine with that...most of the time. Sometimes Tiffie gets annoyed when my cat Tiger sleeps in his spot and then just jumps on his back to make him go away. It always works. 

Findus and Tiffie love to chase each other (and the cats), they love sleeping (especially in their bed (yes, they have a wooden bed with blankets and pillow) and eating (mostly carrots, apples, dried dandelion and other good stuff), they clean each other and hang out in the sunshine. They dislike grooming, driving in the car, going to the vet and when I go on their nerves. 

Those guys make me happy every single day.

Please come back next week to meet the cats. And of course link up with Erin.

Thanks for reading!

Draw My Life | A Pig In Today's World

Hallo meine Lieben,

today I would like to ask you to please watch this video and give it some thought. I think it is a very important video to educate about the cruelty of factory farming - without the horrifying pictures of the undercover investigations (if you want to see those, just watch Earthlings or other animal rights documentaries. They clearly opened my eyes.) We can all help to end the suffering of millions of farm animals. 

{source}

Unfortunately, this is not how most pigs' lives look like. Not at all. And not just the pigs are suffering. Billions of animals around the world are suffering for meat, dairy products and also in the egg industry. And let's not forget about the animals suffering for entertainment (circuses, zoos, parks like Seaworld...).  

Thank you very much for watching!

'Cause, I think I'd rather stay at home.

Hallo meine Lieben,

it's the weekend and I decided not to leave the house at all. Maybe I will make an exception for a short walk in the woods to get some fresh air. But other than that I will just stay in my cozy home and enjoy it as much as possible because sometimes that is just all I need. I already got all the groceries I need so I am prepared. And here are my ingredients for a perfect cozy stay at home weekend... At least for my perfect lazy weekend....

{source}

Books - there are two piles of books waiting for me - a real one and an electronic one and my plan is to let those piles shrink a bit. Wish me luck. 

Animals - of course there will be a lot of cat and bunny cuddles this weekend. The cats love to cuddle up on the couch and the bunnies love to use me as a mountain and climb on my back, stomach, head, butt....

Shows and movies - I have a lot of catching up to do. I am seriously behind on every show I like to watch (Criminal Minds, Walking Dead, Chicago Fire, Bones...) and there are some "new" ones I wanted to check out for ages. Also I still have no watched The Grand Budapest Hotel but I am planning to do so at some point this weekend. It can't be so hard to watch one damn movie. 

Candles - it might sound stupid but there are some candles I bought a long time ago that I still have not lit so I guess it is time. I guess the smell of Christmas is okay all year round. 

Closed doors - no matter what happens I won't open the door and I refuse to talk to any strangers, including the mail man. 

Baking - I can relax perfectly fine while I bake. Which is why I will make some salted peanut butter chocolate cupcakes - and I am planning to eat them while watching all those shows and reading all those books. 

Tea - is there an unhealthy amount of tea you can drink? If so then that's the goal. 

All things warm and fuzzy - I will spend the whole weekend wrapped up in a blanket, wearing leggings, fuzzy socks and warm sweaters. Maybe even a scarf and a hat if I feel like it. Anything that keeps me cozy. 

Cute videos - I will watch a ridiculous amount of cute animal videos on youtube and CuteOverload. 

Bath time - I have some Lush bubble bath bombs that are waiting for me to use them so I guess the weekend will involve some time in the tub. 

Recipes - one thing I love to do is to look through vegan cooking blogs and my cook books to get some new inspiration and recipes I want to try next. 

Chocolate - because it is always a good idea. I stocked up on vegan Vivani chocolate bars (white nougat with crisps!). 

My CD collection - I plan to listen to all the music I loved when I was a teenager (Nirvana, Tocotronic, Suede, Oasis, Blur,  and so on) because I have not done that in a while. Memories... And nobody will hear me sing - which is a good thing considering my talent. 

Being creative - I recently started drawing again. Also I surely need to work on my knitting skills (because they are non-existent). And I have to spend some time with my camera.

Food - of course, food is important. I am trying to eat as healthy as possible but there will also be some vegan gummi bears involved. And let's not forget the chocolate. 

Magazines - besides the books there are also some magazines waiting to be read. Science, craft, animals, vegan....a lot of variety.

Sleep - sleeping is important so you need to take your time for it. I am an early bird but I still want to make sure to get enough sleep - even when I read all night long. 

Books - because they are really important. 

{source}

What are your plans for the weekend? Are they as exciting as mine or do you have some real plans? Enjoy no matter what!

The one with the bunnies in disguise, the faith in humanity and the stupid onions which should stay out of my food. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

happy Tuesday. I hope you are all having a wonderful December. You can link up with my friend Alyssa here. 

1. The most important thing first...please please pretty please sign this petition and help saving an animal shelter and 450 dogs in Serbia. Thank you so much!

2. I am a huge fan of socks because I always have cold feet. I am also a huge fan of animals because animals rule. Which is why I need these. 

{The Sock Drawer}

3. If this site would be completely vegan, it would be food heaven: Stupid onions, stay out of my food. 

4. Some things help to restore my faith in humanity. At least a little bit.

{source}

5. I saw this quote on the internet (here and on Instagram) and I guess it is something to think about. 

No one wants Babe to be chosen for Christmas dinner.

No one wants the humans to foil the chickens’ escape plans in Chicken Run.

No one wants Nemo to be caught by the scuba divers.

When we watch these movies we see the humans as villains and we don’t want the animals to be killed or captured.
Then we go back to our lives and become the evil we hated in the movies.

Go vegan and stop being a villain.

6. Tea pot love. 

{Urban Outfitters}

7. The power of German engineering. Also works for turtles.

8. I don't know about you but I always loved Piggeldy & Frederick. I don't even know if they are famous outside of Germany but they were my childhood heroes. 

9. No words. 

{Cute Overload}

10. When I love a song then I usually listen to it a gazillion times in a row - without ever getting sick of it. Do you do the same thing or am I the only one?

Have a fantastic rest of the week! Thank you so much for reading!

The one with the vegan sweet tooth, the bunny hammock and more bookshelf porn. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

happy Tuesday! Hope you are all having a good time. You can link up with my friend Alyssa here if you wish to do so. 

1. I started playing "Words with friends" with Martha which is a perfect thing to do because it is a lot of fun plus Martha is my friend. If you like playing Scrabble then you should totally start doing this as well. 

2. Last weekend I made the most delicious Christmas cookies I ever ate (Except of the ones my Mama and Oma made of course). I have no idea how they are called, I made the recipe up but they contain all the good stuff. Marzipan, almonds, coconut flakes, dark chocolate, apple sauce and some alcohol. I am pretty sure one has ca 27485 calories and I made 40 of them so you can do the math. But they are worth every calorie plus calories do not count at Christmas time. 

3. Do you have any interesting youtube channels you watch? Maybe vegan or book themed? Or  just something funny in general? 

4. I think my bunnies are in desperate need of a hammock because who does not need a hammock? Bunnies surely do. 

5. I got so excited when I found vegan chocolate Santas in the store that I bought 4 of them. I just cannot resist chocolate. Also bought chocolate covered marzipan, plain marzipan and vegan gummi bears. I also bake at least once a week. Plus my daily hot chocolate. I cannot deny my sweet tooth right now. 

{source}

6. I am finally trying to figure out how exactly my camera works. 

7. I want to sleep here, please. Then I do not have to walk that far to get a new book. 

{Bookshelf Porn}

8. And my living room should look similar to this. Just with a comfy couch, maybe a fireplace and a globe bar of course. 

{Bookshelf Porn}

9. I had three car accidents in my life, none of them were my fault. When there is a lot of traffic, driving freaks me out. I prefer to take the bus. 

10. Pretty much. That counts for all animals. 

{source}

Have a fantastic rest of the week!

The one where I need to learn Danish because I cannot wait four long months for a book. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

happy Tuesday! You can link up with Alyssa here.

1. I am a bad blogger at the moment but I am hoping that will change soon. 

2. Today I found out that I have to wait until April 1 for the German translation of the latest Carl Mørck novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen. I don't know if I can wait that long. The lady in the book store told me it would be February. But April 1? I guess I need to learn Danish after all. And I am not sure about the English edition. 

{source}

3. I am cold. Just cold. I need more blankets, more hot water bottles and something to keep my damn hands warm. 

4. I love hedgehogs. 

{Cute Overload}

5. Last weekend I made gingerbread men shaped peanut butter chocolate chip and poppy seed cookies which all lost their legs or arms trying to get them out of the baking pan. well, except of one. I guess the dough was too crumbly. I won't give up and try again.  I need to make real gingerbread men. I love vegan baking. 

6. I recently discovered Wills Vegan Shoes aka shoe heaven for animal lovers. Look how cute these are. 

{source}

7. Last week I yelled at a rude and heartless woman at the vet's office. I should have yelled even more. Sometimes I am too polite. 

8. Lumpi is so incredibly cute. He loves his teddy and his blanket. 

9. A humane future. Check it out here. I hope we will be able to achieve this. One can dream. 

{The Humane Society}

10. I am thankful for the person who invented Vego bars. That was a fantastic idea. She/he is in my vegan cool book.

Hope you are having a wonderful week! Thanks for reading. 

A tea preparing manatee, a baking obsession and invisible cats. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

I know, it's Wednesday already! Hope you are having a great week. You can link up with my lovely friend Alyssa here.

1. I am so into baking right now that I added lots of baking books to my wishlist, bought baking pans and other accessories and search for lots of new recipes to try. Last weekend I made a vegan apple pie with almonds, marzipan, soy yogurt and vanilla pudding. The picture doesn't do it any justice (and the quality is crappy). 

2. I am still confused if this is a pie or a cake. Don't know the difference exactly but I do know it tastes great, no matter how you call it.

3. Next weekend I will bake gingerbread men. 

4. I'd say that tea tastes even better when you prepare it with a lovely tea infuser. You can find some really funky ones here. This is my fave. 

{source}

5. I had vegan mayonnaise yesterday which I enjoyed very much...which is kind of odd since I never liked mayonnaise before I went vegan. 

6. I swear, Tiger can make himself invisible. Sometimes he just vanishes and I have no idea where he is. The next second he appears out of nowhere. 

7. Look what happens when a guy babysits his coworker's plant.

{source}

8. I heard that hot chocolate sharpens your brain which is a good enough excuse for me to drink a cup every day.

9. My current food addiction: any kind of baked goods. And vegan "nutella". 

10. This is basically me as a dog.

{source}

Have a lovely rest of the week!

The one with the Christmas wish, ravens and owls and a fluffy teddy bear bathrobe. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

you can link up for Ten On Tuesday with my lovely friend Alyssa.

1. Dear Santa, here is my wish for Christmas. Please be so kind and let this be my gift. When you come by, you can have some vegan cookies and almond milk. Thank you.

{CompassionCo}

2. I drives me crazy when I search for something and cannot find it. It happens way too often. Currently I am searching for some copies I made a while ago. I swear, I have a ghost living in my house.  

3. I am in love with Abraxas the raven (from "Die kleine Hexe", a book from my childhood) and Archimedes the owl (from my favorite Disney movie "The Sword in the Stone"). Perfect pet names, by the way. 

{source}

4. When I was a kid I wanted to be friends with a talking raven. Well, that would still be cool. 

5. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by all the books that are on my to-be-read-list that I have no idea what to read next. Which is why I always read several books at the same time. 

6. I want to spend a lot of time there. It is just missing a fireplace and a globe bar. 

Bookshelf Porn

7. Yesterday I bought a cozy white bathrobe which has a hood with teddy bear ears. It's so fluffy! 

8. How beautiful are those sculptures carved out of books by artist Tomoko Takeda? You can find more of them here.

{source}

9. On my winter to-do-list (among lots of other things): knitting a scarf, doing a puzzle, start drawing again, bake a lot. 

10. This is why I do not like Thanksgiving. 

{source}

Have a good rest of the week!

I am glad the cat I got is you, rabbit food and a vegan advent calender. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

you can link up for Ten On Tuesday with my friend Alyssa here.

1. I am pretty good at destroying things. Today I destroyed part of my laptop keyboard which really sucks. 

2. Top Ten reasons not to wear wool. Did you know that sheep don't need to be shorn? Plus they get hurt in the process of taking their wool. And then they end up as meat. Also cows don't need to be milked because the calf would drink the milk in a natural setting. But calves are taken away from the mother so that humans can take the milk. 

3. The movie "The Inbetweeners" is called "Sex on the beach" in Germany. How stupid is that? 

{source}

4. This cat song clearly is an ear worm and the video makes me smile every single time. I am so glad I got Lumpi and Tiger as cats. Also cute: Things I like when I'm depressed. Another cute video: If dogs could apologize. I clearly watch too many adorable videos. Definitely a good thing to do when you are depressed. 

5. How fantastic are fire paintings? 

{source}

6. I found a vegan advent calender! With rice milk chocolate. When I was a kid I had an advent calender with 24 paper houses that my mom made for me. And she filled it with chocolate, candy and even toys. 

{Boutique Vegan}

7. Because I really love The Inbetweeners. 

{source}

8. I am not exactly into rap music but here is a vegan song with fab lyrics, ear worm qualities and adorable animals. "They call it rabbit food, just because I don't call the rabbit food." I love my rabbit food. 






9. Still waiting to find out when I  will be able to get a German or English translation of the 6th book of the Carl Mørck series by Jussi Adler-Olsen. I am impatient and I want to read that book now. Why can't I speak Danish?

10. Speaking of languages: one of the superpowers I would like to have is to be able to speak every single language that exists. 


Have a fantastic rest of the week! Thanks for reading!

The one where I laugh about spiders, enjoy vegan baking and wear fuzzy socks. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

hope you are enjoying your week! You can link up with my lovely friend Alyssa here.

1. Yesterday was the birthday of one of the most fantastic people the world has ever seen (happy birthday, David!)

2. This is so adorable and funny. Makes me smile every single time I look at it!

CuteOverload

3. I bought the world's warmest and fuzziest socks yesterday and I could not be any happier with them. It's like walking on clouds. Really warm clouds. 

4. I also found a hat to keep my ears warm which does not make me look like a complete idiot. It wasn't so easy to find it. But I succeeded. 

5. Tiger agrees that my doggy socks are fantastic. 

6. Lumpi loves to cuddle with his very own stuffed animal which is so cute that it melts my heart. 

7. I found some pretty fantastic vegan things this week: vegan parmesan "cheese" and chocolate oat milk. The milk carton says "wow, no cow" and I love it!

8. I decided that I need to learn Icelandic and Swedish. But first of all Danish so that I am able to read the 6th Carl Mørck book and not have to wait for a German or English translations. I hate waiting. 

9. I pretended to have baking skills again and made some scone-like pastries with poppy seeds, pistachios and a core of nougat. No baking talent but it still tastes delicious. (Sorry for the crappy picture quality though.)

10. My book wishlist is full of vegan cook books and baking books. 

Have a great rest of the week!