Toby exhibiting the Flehming response in bed this morning ....

Well , Ive searched high and low for a picture of Toby pulling the face that is him Flehming , or failing that , one of the other Birmans Flehming , or finally , any old cat found on the net Flehming , but sad to say all I could come up with was this picture of a tapir , (and after all I have an affinity with tapirs CatCalls: The Tapir)doing the business .

Those of you who have spent any time around cats will be familiar with the face that goes on when one of your friends smells a smell he or she appears to find quite gross ( but is perhaps perversely quite interested in in a hormonal kind of way ) .

Toby had snuggled himself between us this morning and finding himself hard up against D s left upper arm , breathed in and then whee hee , he was Flehming . Its the greatest look , unless of course its your armpit that's been tagged .... the lips draw back , the cat kind of stops dead as if he can't bear to move , breathe, anything . In fact he looks aghast .. then he takes a long slow breath in all the while the mouth open and the lips back , still managing to look horrified , eyes big , pupils dilated . he may move his head around from side to side in very slow motion , as if saying to the world at large " hey you people Get This ... what a whiff ! "

Then just as you alert the embarrased armpit owner ( who usually hurtles off to the bathroom ) , and reach for the camera , he gives himself a little shake , gives that Who Me look and yawns and settles down again for the day .

Maybe thats why there are so few Cats Fleming pictures on the net or in my portfolio?

This pedometer lark..

Pedometers - John Lewis Since I can't get out and count steps I will at least post you what I will be counting steps with , and tell you that yesterday , after arriving home with my purchase at three pm , and attaching it to myself at roughly four pm , it having taken me around an hour to get the thing out of its packaging , get the battery cover off , get the battery into the right place , find the " inner ring " which it cautioned me against losing , and then programmed ( what is my weight in kg ? upstairs to the scales , oh shit I do need this exercise so badly , what is my stride length in cm , and later after consulting with my sister via text , how come hers is 50 cm if mine is 90 cm , I mean my legs are marginally longer than hers but .... ? ) and then deciding whether to attach it to my belt , carry in my bag , carry in my pocket or wear around my neck , I managed to clock up a grand total of almost four thousand steps by eleven pm , and given that ten thousand is the suggested number for weight loss and optimum health then this is Promising . And I checked and it doesn't include little shuffling steps taken around the house between kettle and fridge and chocolate supply , nor stairs , though if I stride purposefully along the hall and back whilst waiting for the toast to brown then these are added . No cheating there then .....
This pedometer lark could be fun .

Oh and for anyone who is wondering why I didnt purhase the five quid version , the shops are all sold out . And I'm far too impatient to wait to order one online ....after all I have done without my Roomba and my clothes .....

The very day I'm attached to my pedometer ..

Alice is unwell . No wonder she was not interested in her new coat from Iceberg Creations .... she didn't wake us at five thirty am today and when D went down to investigate he found her sitting in his office looking bemused and staring at a large Pile on the newly cleaned ( by him ) rug . I didn't even hear him say " Oh Alice , why not come and ask ? " so he must have said it very softly , but when she didn't follow him into the kitchen which she normally does whilst he prepared her breakfast , he assumed she was feeling a bit guilty . I woke up and smelled the coffee , as you do , and arrived in the kitchen just as he placed her freshly cooked and cooled mince on her mat , and just in time to see something I've never before seen , Alice sniff at her food then walk off . We stared and stared . We followed her and D threw his arms round her lest she should still be feeling sheepish . I hugged her and told her he wasnt cross . She looked at me then sat down . Unprecedented . Alice doesn't do sitting . She either lies at full stretch or on her back . Sitting must not be comfortable for bony greyhounds . Then she started retching , so we headed her for the yard . Since then it's been either her lying on the sofa in her blanket , or retching out the back . Poor lamb .

And the very day I'm attached to my pedometer for the first whole day ...... counting steps ..... my numbers are likely to be low .

Yes , I succumbed to the temptation to buy one , but it was after all in the interests of pursuing the twin Gods of Exercise and Health , and I did read earlier this week that even Alzheimers can be pushed that little bit further into the distance by the former .

And , speaking of cravings , so far , I havent bought a Roomba and I haven't bought any new clothes . My New Year's Resolution is Intact . How many of you can say that , 19 days into January ?