Halloween

There is an awful lot of activity around here! All sorts of animals similar to our companion humans keep coming around our home and making a lot of noise. We find this very disturbing! We like it to be quiet and calm and nothing changing! They can write now.
Yesterday we took some time to have dinner with and old friend and then go to see "blaze" at Van Cortlandt Manor near the Hudson River in the Hudson Valley of New York. The property is own by "Historic Hudson Valley" which manages and maintains a number of historic properties in the Hudson Valley. "Blaze" is the name they have given to a Halloween Display of amazing proportions. There are thousands of carved pumpkins arranged in hundreds of imaginative displays. Some are individual images while others are combined to make large displays. A few pictures are here to illustrate.
There are Bats galore, a few cats, other animals of all sorts and sizes.
Pirates and ghosts and zombies all over the place. There was a large section of animals of, sometimes large sizes, that were truly remarkable.
Here are a few more pictures.
It was a great place to visit with just a few days left in the USA.
Otherwise we have have remained extremely busy doing all sorts of things. Many of the things we have been doing are some of those little chores or repairs that one often puts off to deal with more important matters, but when they may not be done for a year or two, then they take on a higher priority. Ziggy and Zoe don't really know what is in store for them, but we have been arranging their transportation by the best means we can find. They don't like all the strangers in the house who are doing various tasks for us. Back to Ziggy and Zoe now.

They may not like to know it, but we do know what is going on. We really like that kitty carved out of a pumpkin- real talent there! Time to sleep some more now.

Preparations for departure

Our human animal companions have not been so nice to us lately! First they made us go away with them to a place called Cape Cod where it was windy and cold and then they brought us back home to go see a vegetarian or something like that. We don't like vegetarians because they are always handling us and taking samples and poking us! However, we are home and comfortable now, but it is cold outside! They can write some now.
As Zoe and Ziggy say, we took them to Cape Cod for a couple days while we took care of some personal business there in preparation for departure for India. They are not happy travelers! We hoped the couple days would be somewhat relaxing, but it wasn't. There are so many details to be worked out. We did spend a few hours in Wellfleet to go to the exceedingly popular "Oysterfest". There were cars parked everywhere and thousands of people. The picture shows it is not so different from Commercial Street in Bangalore! We did get a few pictures of some nice old houses.
We had to be sure to get to the beach while on the Cape, but there was a strong storm out at sea that brought strong winds and very heavy surf. The cool air seemed downright cold with the strong winds.
After we returned from the Cape we had to attend to lots more of the business of getting ourselves to India. Settling the departure date and trying to arrange with the movers to ship our furniture so it arrives about the time we do and then arranging for the transportation of Zoe and Ziggy are all major items. Toward the end of getting Ziggy and Zoe to India we had to drag them to the veterinarian to get some certifications and microchipping. The regulations in India seem quite clear until you read another source or two to find out that it isn't so clear. We are going to rely on professionals and hope that this precious cargo arrives safely. We are also trying to get the timing right so we move to our apartment and then the cats will arrive to their new home.
Zoe and Ziggy here again... those people can be pretty boring! Time to sleep again.

Movers arrive

Today we had some strange people come and start moving things all around our house. We don't like this! Then they started to take our things away! We hate this! Our human companions tried to make us feel more relaxed by putting us outside, but we know what is going on! We'll let them write some now.
As the Z's say, we have movers here today packing up some things we feel are most critical to take to Bangalore. We didn't like the beds we saw during the survey trip, so we decided to ship beds. Those are the only large items other than a comfortable chair. The apartment will be rather bare for awhile! The remaining items are a few kitchen items, a few towels, sheets and bed and bath items. The supporting items for the Z's will go too- some of those are a bit heavy. A few home office items will go too. We don't doubt that we've missed some things.
We are surprised to learn that things like pet food and our own vitamins should not be shipped with houshold stuff. We will carry what we can, but we are looking into having packages periodically sent to us with cat food and vitamins.
Our Visas and work permit arrived very quickly. It took only 7 days from our mailing to our receiving the completed passports with visas. We were told to expect it to take more than 2 weeks because of Indian Holidays, but they were fast.
With the movers taking things away, the move to India takes on a higher level of reality! We are aiming to leave at the end of October. If all goes well, this shipment of furniture will arrive about the time we do. Next hurdle is to arrange the shipping of the Z's. Back to Zoe and Ziggy now.
Boy! Did you see those big kitties in India! They look almost as big as us! And, we're HUGE at more than 10 pounds apiece! We're pretty sure we could whip those guys in a fight, but we're not really fighters. We much prefer to sleep like they do and not bother anything... except maybe birds and mice and bugs and squirrels. Time to sleep now!