SomeCat knows this is his holiday!

Grilled

 

On what might be the last nice day until May, Doug decided to put our new grill together. 

This one seemed to need less assembly than our old one which took most of a cold December day to put together in 2000. 

The Vikings were on the radio, there was a man wearing a flannel shirt in the garage… it seemed like someone should be drinking a Miller Lite in this situation.  Since Doug is still getting over an illness, he stuck with a bubbly water instead.

T.Wheel got a chance to “wear” a costume too.  Next time I will not buy “extra-small” sized dog costumes. 

The grill went together in the time it took the Vikings to win one today.  (This might be just the turnaround they need, Christoph).

The finished product.

All the cats went on a short adventure outside today. 

Who doesn’t love a beautiful fall day! 

Tailwheel has been a good houseguest.  He’ll go home tomorrow but hopefully he’ll be back this winter!

This just happened

This is what happens when costumes are 75% off at Petsmart.

Leaf Explosion

Somehow we went from having no leaves on the ground on Thursday afternoon to lots of leaves on the ground by Friday morning. 

My helpful assistant and I went outside to inspect (him) and rake (me) the leaves. The weather is really beautiful.  It’s a shame that both of the humans in this house have been sick for the past few days. 

When the sickness hits, the cats are called on for special assignments.  They are required to check on our well-being every few minutes, hold the blankets in place using their own bodyweight and (apparently) serve as a TV Remote holder.

They have been exhibiting lion-like pride behavior lately. 

 

At some point, it usually turns into a good wrestling match.  Just like typical brothers.

Daily Cat vs. Squirrel stand-off

14

 

MEA weekend brings back memories of moving into our house 14 years ago.  I think we’ve decided building a house is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  The gorgeous maple in front of our house is in full color and our entire upstairs has a yellow glow. 

Classic orange tabby complete with “Batman shadows”

Classic black cat who can’t stay still.  They are enjoying the sunshine we’ve had lately. 

What the Cat Teaches Us About Relaxation

 

WARNING: cat-themed blog entry!  Nigel has finally decided that “what was good for Aunt Milhaud is probably good for me”.  He was seen settling in to Milhaud’s old cat bed.

After circling around a few times. . .

. . .and looking at me over his shoulder. . .

. . . he settled in for a long Autumn day nap while I tapped away at the keyboard nearby.  Good boy.

 

London Smoke

 

I painted our bedroom this weekend.  I think it was most recently painted in 2002.  It needed it!  We went from “Blustery Day” to “London Smoke”.  It is not very different.  The new color is the slightly darker one.   

Mostly it seems like we went from a Grayish-Blue to a Blue-ish-Gray.  This is almost a non-story except it was a good lesson in purchasing the right tools to do the job.  I used good tape, a special pad for all the edges and bought a good paint that only needed one coat and got it done in one day (excluding the taping I did on Friday night).    

The afternoon sun made it a little challenging but the weather was so nice I had the window open (in October!!). 

So that’s London Smoke.  This post has literally been like watching paint dry.

On a more colorful note, the trees are gorgeous now.  The red and yellow maples are beautiful! Pictures to come…

Con Brio, Con Queso, Con Crete

 

Sue took some middle school band students to the Park High School football game last Friday night.  Fahsai and I tagged along like band groupees.  Fahsai sat with two of Sue’s old band students who are now in high school.  It was cold!  48 degrees (8 degrees Celsius) which is the coldest outdoor air temperature that Fahsai has ever experienced.  Notice the band members are using I-pads in plastic bags for their music.  I did not bring my I-pad nor my trombone.

Here’s a lazy Saturday afternoon.  For our family activity this weekend, we all went to church together and then had a long discussion about what it was all about.  We learned a few things about Buddhism from Fahsai, too.

The sidewalk repair crews have been working their way up 15th Avenue North.  Today they tore out two of our sidewalk segments and this one of Jimmy and Stefanie’s.

They used Ye Olde Bobcat to break up the squares and then scoop out the chunks.

Fahsai has been cold but at least she bought a winter jacket and I hope she wore it today since it was 37 degrees this morning.

 

Here are our two segments.  They did not put down any rocks or anything.  As far as I can tell, they just poured concrete on top of the dirt.  Maybe this is why they sink and crack so easily.

 

It will be nice to not have the bumps between squares to deal with when shoveling snow everyday this winter.