Bathroom Update - Week Nine

So have you ever heard the joke about the man who's just finished laying carpet and he calls out to his wife, "Honey, have you seen the canary?" And in the background, you see a small lump in the middle of the newly laid carpet?


That's the story of the story this week. You can clearly seen a big bow in the plywood here. It was worse in the middle and at one point, Warren took out three screws and we lifted it up just to be sure. I could have sworn there was something under there, it bowed so much. Silly me, nothing was hiding under there. We joked about the canary under the plywood all day. Warren had to put more screws in than was called for in the instructions, just to be sure the canary was gone. :)

But I'm ahead of myself. We started out in the bathroom by measuring the layout of the rest of the floor to be covered by plywood. We were hoping to get the largest area possible covered by one large sheet of 4 x 8 plywood. It would require cutting several notches and angles here and there to do it. But then there would be just a half dozen small pieces to fill in the leftover spaces. Then we'd be done with this stage and could start the concrete backer board next.

So after we took all the measurements, and trouped upstairs and downstairs twice to make more measurement (Remember Vern the Carpenter of "Measure twice, Cut once" fame?) Eventually we got it drawn out and started cutting. No saw horse so we used old chairs from the basement and the older car.


We stopped to chat with our neighbor, Linda, when she stopped by.

Then we got back to work. Now, you do understand, don't you, that when I say, "We got back to work," I'm talking about Warren, right? Because about all I've been good for so far is holding the boards when Shop Guy saws with the dangerous circular saw. Well, I do do some vacuuming up of sawdust, which we all know is VERY important. But really, Warren's doing all the work, we all know that, right?

So after not very much more trimming, we got the big piece glued and started screwing it into the subfloor.

INSERT CANARY STORY HERE.
After that was done we, I mean Warren, got to the "easy" part of piecing the smaller spaces around the room.


And by 12:30 we were done. We had plans to go to a movie, but decided to take a leisurely lunch and do the movie tomorrow instead.

While I'm blogging about Week Nine, Warren is off the Lowe's AGAIN to see about the concrete backer board that is our next phase of the project, which won't take place till two weeks after Easter because we've got company coming for the holidays and would rather have fun with family, thank you very much!

So that's all for now, folks. Catch us in April for the next installment of the Bathroom Project!

Oh, for a parting shot, here's Miss Ellie, Princess of the House, looking slightly annoyed that her morning nap is being so rudely disturbed by all this noise and commotion.

Here's Hammy hiding in between the coffee table and the couch, waiting for innocent little Miss Ellie to walk by so he can POUNCE!

A Couple of Cats

Miss Ellie looks all cumfy here, doesn't she? Ha! Looks can be deceiving. Notice the hairy eyeball burning a hole in my shirt? Notice how she's hiding behind that tail? This is because Miss Ellie is "recovering" from an encounter with Diamond, that feral cat who lives next door. The way Warren tells the story, he'd let her out on the back deck. Miss Ellie usually goes down to the bottom of the stairs, munches on a bit of grass, then comes back inside and ralphs on the carpet. Great noontime routine.

This time she came streaking back up the stairs and flew in the house and disappeared upstairs, probably under the bed.

The rest of the story? Diamond wasn't far behind. Good thing Warren was sitting in the den, waiting for the solvent to do its job on the bathroom floor. He said Diamond pretty much had one foot in the door and was about to give chase all the way upstairs, but was held off by Warren's rattling a chair. Diamond is so wild, she will go after a human in the way. But she thought better of it this time and took off back down the deck stairs.

Now you know why Miss Ellie is hiding behind her tail. If I can't see "them," except for my watchful eye, then "they" can't see me.

This photo shows Hamilton perched on the dining room window sill. Warren says Hamilton is "Watching the Food Channel." Have you guessed there are several bird feeders outside this window?

Miss Ellie and the Green-Eyed Monster

It's the next day. I catch Miss Ellie staking her claim to HER spot, for heaven's sake. I think she looks a bit sad here or is it mad?

Because if you look at the next photo, which happened right after I took the picture of Miss Ellie on HER blanket, she stalked over to confront Hamilton, who was stretched out on Warren's lap and legs.

Now, if you ask me, Miss Ellie looks decidedly JEALOUS here. Because Warren is her person, Hamilton is Marcia's cat, for heaven's sake. What is he doing on HER person? And if you look closely at Hamilton, he's really egging her on with his smug, proprietary attitude. I can read it all over his face. He's rubbing it in.

I guess this is entertainment in the cat world. They are having quite the time, engaged in this friendly scuffle over who belongs to whom and what belongs to whom. We try not to interfere too much. It's too fun to watch, and they say animals need stimulation. It's not like we take these two cats out on a walk around the neighborhood, like Sarah's Dan does with Henry!

Peaceful Sleeping Kitties (??)

I came downstairs today for my morning coffee and t.v. news in the den. Coming around the corner from the kitchen, coffee cup in hand, I stopped abruptly.

What?? Two cats sleeping close to each other on the couch??

This doesn't happen in my house. It used to with our cats, Snuggy (short for Snugball) and Eekie (short for Eclipse.) They were litter mates, which I understand is about the only way cats will snuggle together in sleep. Quite the peaceful scene for two cats who barely tolerate each other on a GOOD day.

I quickly grabbed the camera to document this historic moment. Then I sat down for my coffee...

And I got to thinking...

This fluffy hand-knitted blanket is Miss Ellie's domain. She LOVES sleeping here! But Hamilton is on the blanket. Aha! They must have had a contest of wills during the night. And Miss Ellie lost. Yeah. That's the real story.

Now, to even out this battle, I have to say, Hamilton will let Miss Ellie have first dibs on the food bowl, just about every time. But if he gets in his mind that Miss Ellie has a favorite spot, he had been known to ace her out.

Case in point: Hamilton climbed onto Warren's lap this afternoon and had a nice long nap. Miss Ellie isn't much of a lap cat, so he can get away with this quite easily. But Miss Ellie doesn't like it and in the last couple years has even climbed into Warren's lap every once in a while. A real change in her behavior. One which Warren appreciates.

So...I wouldn't say this photo shows peaceful sleeping kitties. I would say it shows Miss Ellie resigned to her fate. And thinking about how to get her blanket back. Notice who is wide awake and eyeing me disdainfully...

Where's the Fire?

You will notice there is no fire in the fireplace, but there are two expectant cats sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace waiting, waiting, waiting... They don't understand why there's no fire beaming down its luxurious warmth to the cats on the rug. It's been sooo cold lately and every night when the humans get home, they turn on the fireplace. So how come there's no fire in the fireplace tonight? Maybe if we wait here, they'll remember, and turn it on!

They don't know it's been in the 60s and 70s outside the last three days. They don't know that a tornado ran through the county just north of us a couple of hours ago. Hamilton did climb up on Warren's chest when the sirens went off here because I wasn't home yet and he did NOT like that horrid noise. But the siren is long forgotten and now they are wondering why we've forgotten to turn on the fireplace.

BTW, in case you're wondering what you're seeing in the glass fireplace front, it's the satellite tv saying it's lost the signal. Wonder what's up? More rain? Hail? Storms? It's just waaay too unseasonably warm for cats or humans around here!

The New Cat Ornaments

I think my new "sister-in-law" did a great job choosing a Christmas present for me. I think she got it right, don't you?

Actually, I'm blanking on what I should call my daughter's new mother-in-law. Anyone know?

And then there's the Miss Ellie Ornament. Another great choice, I would say. What fun!

Christmas Cat Pictures

I tried all day to catch the cats in front of the Christmas tree. All I wanted was a nice cat and tree photo. Not a lot to ask, you say? Well, if you think that, then you don't know cats. They have their own minds and rarely take human requests too seriously.

I got a lot of Miss Ellie and her beautiful tail, of which she is most proud!

I got a lot of Hammy's tail, too. Not that he cares about a tail, for heaven's sake!

Hammy actually cared a LOT about playing with the camera strap.

I finally had to enlist Warren to get a nice photo of Miss Ellie and the Tree.

Hamilton eventually cooperated and I got a very nice shot of the HammerMan and the Tree.

Merry Christmas from us and the Cats!

Thanksgiving

We came and went at a furious pace this past week. Off to St. Louis for Thanksgiving dinner with 23 at the table of our daughter, Sarah's, in-laws. We feel like we know the family now, this being our second Thanksgiving with Dan and Cassie and having partied at the wedding with all the Marshs.

Then home again to work on Friday, then cook another Thanksgiving for 11 at our house on Saturday. Great fun--for us anyway. Different story for the cats.

I couldn't make my bed all weekend because the cats took to our bed as a reasonable alternative to getting stomped on under all the feet in the house. They came down when the coast cleared to triptophan out on leftover turkey. Then back upstairs or outside, avoiding the humans at all cost.

Our son, Ben, seemed to be the best one to hit up for turkey treats, especially when he cooked a leftover smoked turkey pasta dish last night. Oh my! That was good! Miss Ellie slept last night, I can tell you. Hamilton hung around long after the spreading darkness called for him to vacate the premises.

No pictures--too busy having fun or cleaning kitchens to snap any shots. Will have to get on that, I guess.

Meet H & J

Meet H and J:

Henry and Jackson are my daughter's spectacular cats. Case in point: See how much fun they have with this toy.

This is my favorite photo of Jackson:



This is my favorite photo of Henry:



Or maybe this one is:



These guys have been buddies of Sarah's for several years now. They came to live with Sarah while she was still in college. So at least 8 or 9 years, I think. They're good buds. Loyal through and through. Right now, they are still adjusting to sharing Sarah with her new husband.



Henry LOVES Dan. They go on walks in the yard and Henry never strays too far from Dan.

So far Jackson is still skittish. I keep reminding Dan that when Jackson lived with us for a while it took several months until Jackson would warm up to us. Just give him some time. Eventually, he'll come down out of "The Stacks" and be friends.



I got to loving them quite completely when they lived with us. Still miss them. Hamilton misses Jackson A LOT. they used to play together, wrestling and running all over the house. Now Hammy tries to interest Miss Ellie is playing rough-and-tumble, but--you guessed it--she won't have anything to do with this kind of play!

Miss Ellie's Nightly Routine

Miss Ellie has her own nighttime routine. Warren goes to bed much earlier than I do usually because he gets up at 3 am for his morning radio show here in town. So Miss Ellie and Warren have a little snuggle time each night. She lives for the moment that they get to climb upstairs together.

She sometimes even has to wait at the bottom of the stairs for Warren, if he forgot it's time to "Climb the Golden Stairs." Sometimes she will even come looking for him. Quite the sight to see.

Then--and this is something Warren knows NOTHING about, since he is already asleep--Miss Ellie and I have a similar routine. When she hears me about to come upstairs, she comes down the stairs and then goes back up to the top with me. Then we have our own little cuddle time.

This is why we have cats, you see.

Miss Ellie and Her Morning Spot

First off, you have to know that Princess that she is, Miss Ellie is very high-maintenance. Of course, we wouldn't expect anything less, would we? Miss Ellie is a long-haired cat, which means she sheds more than you can imagine a little thing like that could produce. When she starts shedding hair in the spring, in some curious biological clock thing that knows when spring is coming, I can have a spic-and-span house in the morning, and when I get home at night, there is HAIR EVERYWHERE! Great globs and clumps all over the place. Even in the fall when her shedding slows down, bits and pieces of black hair gather where ever Miss Ellie spends her time that day.

Example: Our living room couch. It regularly needs cleaning because for some reason, unbenownst to me until this week, she loves to hang out there for a part of every day.

Yes, I figured it out, finally. And the above photo has the clue that got me thinking. The dining room window faces east. Can you see how it hits the chair and then the couch at the other end of the room? And if you look really close, you can see a little dark long-haired kitty-cat all curled up for a nice morning nap. Ah-ha! This is why I'm always cleaning my couch! Of course, I have been a cat-person all my life, so I know you can't ban a cat from anything in your house unless you have closed the door. Cats have minds of their own, especially Princesses.

So Miss Ellie will continue to nap in the morning sunlight and I will continue to clean up after her. All is right in the Two Cat House today.

Choices, Choices

So, it was 5:30 am this morning. I was trying to make up my mind. Do I blog about Miss Ellie's favorite morning nap spot or do I yoga?

Now, you might think that I would choose to blog, but actually, I chose to yoga.

Not that Miss Ellie isn't just about the cutest kitty to ever want to blog about, and not that I didn't have a great couple of shots in the camera, ready to make the blog more interesting...

It's just that my new job puts me at the computer for more hours than teaching ever did, and my shoulders and back needed the exercise and stretching that only a good half hour of yoga can deliver. So I unfurled my purple yoga mat on the den rug and worked through a great Veria yoga session and felt much better for the choice I made. I've been missing sun salutation and warrior and triangle poses for some time now. Felt good to get back on the mat. Good way to start a Friday!

Sorry, Miss Ellie! I'll post the cute photos and I'll talk about your favorite little snooze-spot--ASAP.

8 Things...

Laurie has memed me. So here goes...will try to relate these to the cats...

8 Things I'm Passionate About:

1. Hamilton, my cat
2. Miss Ellie, my husband's cat
3. Henry, my daughter's cat
4. Jackson, my daughter's other cat - she's got 2, too!
5. Lucky, my son's cat - he's only got one but he's huge, rescued from a shelter in D.C.
6. Snugball, my daughter's childhood cat - gone by not forgotten
7. Eclipse, my son's childhood cat - gone by not forgotten
8. Peaches and Popcorn - our cats when first married in Minneapolis - gone but not forgotten

(You are maybe beginning to see the 2-Cat Pattern here?)

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die:

(I made this list out about 10 years ago and one by one, they get done!)

These are done:
1. Have an English Garden - multi-leveled
2. Have a Family Home - big enough for family members to come back to and visit and hang out and celebrate holidays in
3. Put in Hardwood Floors
4. Retire from Teaching (after 30+ years)
5. Get something published - several Americana articles in Country Decorating Magazine - this was several years ago so hardly counts anymore

These are not done:
6. Sing in Rockin' Gospel Choir - I'm still hoping for this one!
7. Own a summer home on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan - would have to win the lottery for this one!
8. Erect a Family Vacation Lodge on Warren's Family Land in South Dakota - ditto #7

The Grateful Day Challenge

While surfing around my daughter Sarah's blog, I discovered a neat idea, called the Grateful Days Challenge from a website called my little life:

"So I am issuing a challenge for the next 18 days leading up to Thanksgiving - the Supreme Holiday of Gratefulness - The Grateful Day Challenge. Blogging about the things we are grateful for - no matter how small, odd, random, or big they may be. TOPICS: Family, Friends, Nature, Art you Make (hobbies), Home, Learning/Imagination, Art you Enjoy, Food (Cooking/Eating), Health/Body."

I will start by being grateful for my two cats, even though one really belongs to Warren (Miss Ellie) and one to me (Hr. Hamilton). Both cats chose one person to be their "primary" but the "secondary" person in the household is still okay, especially if the "primary" is not in the house at the moment.

One of the things I'm most grateful about is the Loyalty of Our Two Cats. A cat will sit on your bed all day long if you are sick. Not even a mother does this, if you think about it; although my mother was the best sickroom attendant ever: tapioca pudding, icey cold Vernor's Ginger Ale, cool forehead cloths, you get the picture. But a cat will figure out with their special "cat-radar" that you are under the weather, hop up on the bed, and cuddle up real close to your legs or head. (Miss Ellie is a leg-cuddler, Mr. Hamilton has claimed my pillow for his cuddle place.)

My pillow was where HammerMan hung out while he tried to tell me he wasn't feeling good. Took me a day or two to figure it out. He didn't start by limping, just didn't want to go outside. He cuddled on my pillow all night, which is always welcomed, but stood out since I wasn't sick and needing any tending. He was.

He's better today. And I'm grateful for him, my Friend, my Pal; we are Buds-For-Life, for sure!

Miss Ellie, the Princess

We discovered, quite soon after Hamilton joined our home, that he was quite different from our Miss Ellie.

One night, after we were done with our chocolate pudding, Warren offered a little dab of the treat to Miss Ellie. She daintily licked away at the spoon. When Hamilton's turn came, which, by the way he waited quite patiently for, he slobbered away at that spoon like it was the last meal he would ever have. We knew that night that we had two distinct personalities in our home. Hamilton, the boisterous young male, and Miss Ellie, the princess, royal born and bred.

Below is a series of pictures showing how Miss Ellie, the Princess, enjoys the sunshine in our den. We were out front doing yard work this weekend and when we came in, Miss Ellie was luxuriantly stretching in the sunlight. Couldn't resist snapping a few snapshots.

Hamilton is MAADD!!!!!!!

We are a two-cat house. But it didn't start out that way.

I married into a one-cat family. Warren and I met in Minneapolis in 1974. He had an orange cat named Buffy. But Buffy died--more on that another time--and we became a two-cat house shortly after that.

We've been a two-cat house ever since.

Today, Hamilton and Miss Ellie live in our house in Missouri. Or maybe we live in their house. It's a toss-up some days.

Hamilton joined our house a few days after Eclipse, our son Ben's cat, died. Ben had grown up and moved to New York City. Eclipse died while Ben was away. Warren dragged me over to the city animal shelter a few days later to introduce me to Hamilton. It was love at first site.

More about Hamilton's early years another day. I have more important things to talk about right now.

Hamilton is MAD because he's injured. He doesn't like to hurt. He's hurting, and of course, I'm hurting, too. I'm hurting because I let him go out at night and he got hurt on one of his midnight adventures. I want Hamilton to be himself, who came to me with a past--more on that later-- but I don't want to lose him, either.

I love this cat. He is the first and only cat who has claimed me as his person.

And tonight he is hurting because he got into it with some critter outside a few days ago and hurt his back right paw.

He's MAD because we forced him to visit his enemy, the Vet, who is actually a good guy who understands Hamilton, but he gave Hamilton a shot in the BUTT, for heaven's sake. And tonight I gave Hamilton an eyedropper full of an antibiotic. Good grief, folks, leave me alone!

So Hammy's quite put-out by the PAIN, which is mild, according to the Vet, and the INDIGNITY of the forced feeding of yucky stuff.

He won't be happy with me when he figures out I won't let him go out tonight. But he loves me, so I know he will forgive me, when he gets done letting me know how MAD he is.