Miles and Bags Galore!

Just as Amy & Arron are departing, Miles always has to give a bag inspection. We think he wants to get in to go along. Don't forget that this is an ongoing enthusiasm of his.

I loves Amy's bags!

Now THIS is a BAG!

Let's go!

Love ♥ Love ♥ Love

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my good readers. This past week was filled with so much love from my family! Arron & Amy visited for a few days and we had a nice lunch with the grandparents before they had to go back to the city. Dad gave everyone vintage Valentines at the lunch table that warmed our hearts.

The winter temperatures also moderated to allow some much needed warmth and a bit of a thaw. This made the trip to NYC and back much less hazardous than traveling in the ice and snow.

Amy & Arron treated us to a lovely meal while we were in the city. We went to Hummus Kitchen and shared many tasty Mediterranean delights from their sample platters. The olives, beets, green tahini and tabouli all made beautiful samples on what looked like a paint palette of food!

We came back home last night to a house full of rambunctious cats. The boys wrestled all night in what I imagined to be blame battles over who did what to make Arron and Amy leave. I could just imagine Birbanto yelling at Miles, "You just had to smother Amy with love and she decided not to return." and then Miles would counter, "No, it was you that kissed her so hard that you almost chipped her tooth. You were also biting 'Earl'... I think maybe you tore Amy's contact lens too!!" *wrestle* *slam* *jet*

There were hunks of cat fur everywhere this morning but all was forgiven as they looked outside at everything the warm wind was blowing by. Their mock battles are fought for, over and out of love, best friends forever.

Birbanto's Tricks!!

Finally a video of Birbanto doing his tricks while Miles waits his turn. Thank you Arron for indulging this cat crazy mom.

The Spirit of Barney Nichols

During the 70's living on South Wayne Street we had one of those neighborhood guys who always showed up when my Dad was working on an outdoor project. Barney Nichols wasn't one to lend a hand but the sound of tools or maybe the sweat of elbow grease brought out his supervisory instincts.

We have a cat who is possessed by the spirit of Barney Nichols. Miles comes running when he hears the whine of our small saw or drill knowing that there is a construction project that he must oversee. One time we took out front door off it's hinges to add a sweep to the bottom. The other 2 cats flipped out, ran and hid, while Miles had his nose up to every tool we were using.


Today some of the deck screws that held our top porch step finally rusted to the point of letting loose and Jim had to get busy with repairs. Miles was beside himself that he couldn't see what was going on so I pulled up the giant cat scratching "condo" to watch out the front door.

Sometimes Miles will hear construction vehicles banging in the development near ours and he will give a low growl. I am starting to re-think the idea that he is afraid of them. Maybe he is just frustrated he can't go supervise.

With Miles and the spirit of Barney in mind I will round out this post with Jerry Seinfeld's opening dialog to the episode, Male Unbonding.

Most men like working on things, tools, objects, fixing things. This is what men enjoy doing. Have you ever noticed a guy's out in his driveway working on something with tools, how all the other men in the neighborhood are magnetically drawn to this activity. 

They just come wandering out of the house like zombies. Men, it's true, men hear a drill, it's like a dog whistle. Just.. you know, they go running up to that living room curtain, "Honey, I think Jim's working on something over there." 

So they run over to the guy. Now they don't actually help the guy. No, they just want to hang around the area where work is being done. That's what men want to do. We want to watch the guy, we want to talk to him, we want to ask him dumb questions. 

You know, "What are you using, the Philips head?" You know, we feel involved. 

That's why when they have construction sites, they have to have those wood panel fences around it, that's just to keep the men out. They cut those little holes for us so we can see what the hell is going on. But if they don't cut those holes - we are climbing those fences. Right over there. "What are you using the steel girders down there? Yeah, that'll hold."

Crazy Cats

Mooch snoozing...

... with a pink ring on her foot!

Miles licking a cheese puff.

snow studs

We finally got a substantial snowfall to justify my winter running project. With Miles' help, I screwed in some 1/4" sheet metal screws into my oldest sneakers. I have decided to mutilate my oldest shoes since Yaktracks Pro do not come small enough for my size 6 New Balance 758's.


After an easy 2.5 miles on many different surfaces I returned home to find I had lost one outside stud. The remaining ones showed no wear even though half of the running had been on slushy or just wet road surfaces.

They handled best on snow pack where tires had driven on the 2" of unplowed snow. They were also really nice on unshoveled sidewalks with 2" - 3" of fluffy snow. I was able to get a nice grip to keep moving up a 3° - 5° incline and felt just as confidant descending the same route because of the studs on my heals.

The surfaces I felt less confidant about were the wet roads where I wasn't certain if the studs might cause me to slide if I would pick up speed. The snowy trail I was on was just more difficult to navigate because of the added effort to get through the snow. I will say the same for the hill with road grade gravel.

I look forward to trying them again when I have a few ice patches to test out.



Birbanto helped me with the follow up shots.

Miles and Bags, again!

Don't forget this cat love a good purse. Here he is with Maga's black winter bag. See the other bags on Birbanto's blog.

3 Bad Boys

One way or another, they are all probably on Santa's "Naughty List" this year. Well, maybe not Miles.

Crazy November

I will start with a Happy Wedding Anniversary wish to my favorite young folks. I know they will both enjoy this photo of their favorite cat and Dadzmo.Miles completely relaxed.

Nights have been quite chilly but days like today are warm enough to take advantage of airing out the down comforter and drying some laundry on the line. Not every day is sunny, warm or long enough to dry clothes fully but I got an early start today.

Fresh scents infused by nature!

Group Hug!

The men in this household need to stick together.

Lazy Samhain Sunday

Three cats snooze as their "Frank" enjoys Dr. Sacks' new book on a lazy Halloween afternoon.

"Millie" interrupted with the flashing-clicker-box. "Maybe she will give us treats!"

Miles and more Bags!

Birbanto added some more photos. Miles had a lot of bags to explore this week.

Cats, Out to the World

Miles - zonked

Birbanto - snoozing

Mooch - never quite asleep if the boys are. "Why waste good time sleeping when I haz my freedom?" she asks.

Miles and Bags!

Birbanto is blogging about his friend Miles. Check out Miles' thing for bags.

Cuddle Buddies

Miles Helps Out

He is all about lending a paw with any tool.

The Real Master Carver

Sometimes we get compliments on stamps we have in our letterboxes. We almost always defer to each other and swear that not just one of us has carved the stamp but it's a collaborative effort. For those of you who don't believe us, you are right and we have a photo showing the real master carver in action. All we do is put out a piece of carving material at night and in the morning it is complete.

Thanks Miles!

Nom Nom Nom

Three Bad Cats

Miles Returns

Our good good Miles has returned from the vet and is doing pretty well. Here he is lying on his back showing off the narcotics patch he has on his chest for the next day. He has a shaved area on every leg from IVs and monitors. Don't ask the vet bill.
Here he is helping RGBisMe make a map of the trails of Scotia.