Look Ma, No Hat (and no pants, either)

After a very long time of gray skies, cold temperatures, and rain, Portland got sunshine and warmth this weekend! The little one was thrilled, and threw off his pants and went cavorting around the backyard.
The cats were thrilled, as well. Theo loved hunting in the long grass. Which is still long because the weed wacker died on us and the lawn is too dense to cut with the reel mower right now.
We got some of the plants that had been killed by the winter snows out of the ground (and out of sight) and got our first crops in the ground -- peas, carrots, beets, and swiss chard.

Random Friday Pictures

Knock, knock! Who's there?
One of the houses across the street from us got torn down and a new one is being built, just like we did with our house! It is pretty fun watching the process. It certainly entertained Jake for a good hour while they used a crane to lift big loads of wood up to the second floor!

Mellow

Not much adventure around here, lately, although we've been plenty busy.

There's been the usual child taking baths... (and yes, the towel is on the floor because he's discovered how to splash and swim and generally get things outside of the tub wet).

Cats napping in drawers...
And boys taking naps.

Cats Keeping Watch...

Aww!

Kitty Love

The relationship between Jake and the cats, Theo and Kami, has waxed and waned. When Jake was a just-born infant and we would return home from an outing, the cats would look at me with an expression as if to say "you brought that thing back?" which is funny considering he was born at home.
Then the cats got used to his presence and tolerated this infant who was around but at least stayed out of their way.
But then Jake learned to crawl... and then walk. The cats learned the fine art of quickly getting out of a toddler's reach, and the best way to stop the chase (simply going around the kitchen island only invites chase, but jumping over the gate and up the stairs is a sure way to end the chase).
Now Jake is older still, and all of our patient efforts to show him the best way to touch the cats (pet gently! no, don't pull their fur/ear/tail!) are finally coming to fruition. Yay!

This is the first time Kami has sat on Jake's lap. Granted, I put her there, but she actually stayed once she realized that Jake was petting her gently, and not about to do a karate chop on her body.
Jake loved it!
The relationship between these two? ... they're still working on it.

2.5 Year Old Helps Rescue Cat

Yesterday Theo had been outside playing for awhile. Later that afternoon, Mike had already left for his evening class and Jake and I were headed out the door to Gramma's. Kami was already inside, but I kept yelling for Theo to come inside, and kept shaking his bag of favorite treats. I was starting to get completely annoyed that Theo was refusing to come inside.

Once more, right before we had to leave, I went outside to yell for Theo again. I was holding Jake while I went outside and even checked on the other side of the gate to see if he was having a standoff with another cat, as he sometimes does.

Finally I decided "screw him!" and headed back inside. But then Jake tugged on me and said "up!"

Again, "up!"

So I decided to see what he was talking about, and went to the edge of the porch and looked up. Theo was peering down at us from on top of the porch roof, meowing. He was clearly upset. He'd gotten himself stuck up there!

Poor Theo. I went and got a ladder and managed to get him down. I am so happy that Jake heard him and let me know as I would have never heard him nor thought to look up there. I don't think Theo will do that again!

Bag Talk

I had a Zola party at my house the other day, and the best part about these gatherings is the discussions that we have regarding ideas on how to make our lives more eco-friendly. One of the talking points came up as we were discussing using cloth/reuseable bags for our purchases. Some people want to keep getting paper bags from the grocery store because they then reuse them for their dog's poo or their cat's litter. Having cats myself, I completely understand.

There are a couple of things here... with some help from a friend, I found out that paper bags thrown into landfills are the #1 source of methane pollution. Yuck!! On the other hand, my Dad informed me that there is at least one landfill (in Corvallis, Oregon) that is using that methane to produce usable energy (so cool). However, since not all landfills are utilizing this yet, it is best to minimize the quantity of paper bags thrown into landfills.

Zola does sell biodegradable doggie doo bags made from corn. The good news is that they biodegrade fast and don't sit in the landfill for ages. The bad news is that this country relies on corn for too many things (food, ethanol, corn products, and the worst, HFCS (high frutcose corn syrup)).

So there is no easy solution but to do the best you can. My solution? Whenever I get small paper bags, like from buying bread, bringing home potatoes or other fruits and vegetables, etc., I save them to reuse for cleaning my cat's litter box. So yes, I am using paper which goes into the landfill, but these particular paper bags are MUCH smaller than using a big paper grocery bag. So I continue to use my awesome cloth bags for groceries and other purchases, and reuse the paper bags that end up coming home with me, anyway.


Psst... Zola parties are fun! We have lots of discussions of this type. Let me know if you want to have one... :)

This here is my FAVORITE bag. I keep 2 of these in my purse at all times and whip them out whenever I need a bag (shopping, library, instant diaper bag, place to put unwanted coats, hats, etc.) Since these have been in my purse, I don't think I have brought any plastic or paper bags home...