Bartleby the cat

Earlier last week TC and I were back at the Adams Avenue Book Store to look for a few book gifts...

"May I help you?"

and who should we run into but the orange tabby, known as Bartleby (or Bart for short)...

Both of the book store cats are always there and usually curled up somewhere  sleeping or basking in the sun but today, Bart was out and about...

and meowing for attention. Note - Please do not think we were bothering or intentionally provoking the cats or trying to attract them to approach us. Quite the opposite. Both cats are very friendly and will approach customers at will. We did nothing to entice the cats to come to us. Both cats are well known to all of the customers and if you read many of the reviews on yelp, are mentioned with affection in those write ups.

As I was perusing books on film on the staircase before the second floor, Bart signaled his presence by meowing loudly and sitting himself at the top of the stairs.

I moved on to the cookbook section on the second floor and took this shot of both of the cats.

Last time we were here, Felixia made herself at home on TC's lap.

Meanwhile, I was leafing through the food related books in the cookbook room housed in vintage kitchen upstairs...

I was able to find a couple of things for KD's upcoming birthday celebration.

In the next room over, TC was reading a book about the holocaust when Bart jumped up on her lap and began to purr loudly and "knead" her belly. TC thought she did something wrong and held her hands up to show me that she wasn't touching the cat. At first I thought the cat was trying to scratch her but he was just pushing his paws in and out on her stomach.

Not being cat owners, we didn't know about this kind of thing. Apparently this type of cat behavior is called "kneading". Cats do this when they are comfortable with someone or if they are happy. You can't tell from this photo, but the cat was pressing both of his front paws rhythmically on TC's stomach.

A few minutes later he sprawled himself over and under her lap, not wanting to leave. The other cat  was lurking about and refused to sniff TC's hand.

Later on, the cat took TC's ball shaped lip balm and wouldn't give it up. It rolled out of her pocket when she got up to leave with me. She went back upstairs to find it and the cat had practically taken ownership of it, clutching it with his paws (seriously).

Heck, it was shaped like a little ball, it was a "new toy".  It was HIS toy now right?

After scratching the cat's belly to relax it, he dropped the lip balm which TC hastily retrieved back to her possession.

TC will never forget that day. She seems to attract cats. C's cats in Manitoulin Island, Spike, Fred and George all gravitated towards her, as well as my hairdresser's cats. Now these cats...

I had a laugh at this book...Bert's blogger namesake! Remember this guy? He used to have a show on the travel channel eons ago.

Twenty years ago, Bert was growing out a beard and Lotus nicknamed my Bert the Filipino Burt Wolf. Personally I don't think my husband and this dude look alike at all.

Previous visit to the Adams Ave Book Store:
"Around Normal Heights and a book store cat!"
(featuring Felixia ,the other book store cat)

And to refresh your memory, the book store's "cat page":
Meet the Cats

I highly recommend this bookstore even if just to browse around. You may not find all the latest or newest titles, but part of its charm is that you can find vintage books mixed with more recent used books. The workers known their stuff and they are pretty easy going. Best of all is seeing at least one of the bookstore cats roaming the store as if he/she owns the place (which they do, ha ha). Bottom line, support independent booksellers!