Cattitude Adjustments

A lot of you have asked me how the cats adjusted to having a baby in the house. For the most part they couldn't care less. The only thing they seem to have gotten bent about is the fact that they've been barred from some bedrooms. These days I spend a lot of time looking at them from behind bars.(Lou)

Fortunately for them we still have the office or as they think of it "The Cat Room" with a bed that's dedicated just for them. That's where we find them all hanging out most of the time these days.(left to right Sophie, Lou, Paw-Paw and J-Kun)

Except for Cookie... (H.R.H. Cookie)

She has laid claim to a shelf in the old bathroom cabinet. None of the others dare to go in it. Cookie is the Queen and will order up their execution in a flash if she suspects one of them is even thinking about looking at her shelf. What makes this spot so special is that it's located right above the radiator (see the screen on the door below her?). It's her own personal sauna. When we finally get around to redoing the bathroom we're going to have to figure out some way to accommodate her special spa location.

For my decorator buddies who have no doubt noticed "something missing" from the photo of Lou behind bars- Yes, we have purchased the missing quarter round for the floorboards. Now we just need to get around to painting and installing them, and stripping and repainting the baseboards, and, and, and... sigh.

(proof of purchase)

Let It Snow! and Where Did I Go?

We're in the midst of a blizzard. Before it's over we're looking at between 12 and 18 inches of snow. Frankly, I couldn't be happier, I've got no place to go.

If you've been wondering where I've been I'm getting a little panicky about getting everything I need to complete done before the baby arrives (6 weeks away!!). "Nesting" has set in full force. The hubs is still working like a mad man to get the nursery renovated in time. We have all of the furniture for the room stacked up in the dining room for now. The big issue with the room is all the detailed moldings and trim. Remember our house is 120 years old so the wood trim has millions of layers of paint on them and in the tradition of every nearly every old NYC apartment I ever lived in has 5 or 6 cables, extension cords and phone lines affixed to them and painted over. The acrylic paint is easy to remove but once he hits the layers of old Victorian oil based paints? Nightmarish doesn't even begin to describe it. When he finishes the stripping we're going to repair any cracks or peeling plaster on the walls and ceiling. Knock out the old and severely damaged plaster walls in the walk in closet and put up sheet rock (I would never do this in the room but since it's just the closet I've o.k.'d the use of the sheet rock). Skim coat plaster over the sheet rock and reassemble closet shelves, rails etc. Then it's on to painting. Did I mention she's coming in 6 weeks? Yikes!

So, while he's busting his knuckles in the salt mines I've got stacks of paperwork spread out all over the guest bed that I'm sorting through. I used to be the most organized person in the world but since we moved into the house my old systems didn't seem to be working for me. Or more likely, I hadn't been working at them (let's not get into semantics though...). I've got 2+ years of important documents that need to be filtered through and filed away properly. Don't even get me started on the amount of shredding I've done in the last week. I figure it's now or never. I'm not even going to touch the subject of cleanliness. Let's just say while we're in no danger of being condemned I'm embarrassed by the level of grime that is now covering my home. I just can't do it myself anymore. I can't bend over or lift anything. The other day I thought I saw a gray cat walk by only to realize it was a giant fur ball tumbleweeding it's way across the floor. I have called the cavalry and help is on it's way. My mom, the British Martha Stewart, is coming at the end of the month to help me get the place sanitized. Sanitized is the most appropriate word for it too. I kid you not, she will literally be on top of a ladder washing the crevasses of the crown moldings and the walls. No surface or textile will be spared. She's that exacting. You can imaging having grown up in that environment only adds to my current level of embarrassment about the state of things. She's been forewarned.

So, please bear with me while I take a slight step back from the blogging. I'll be back just as soon as I get my head above water again.

(source: Bill Brown)

Neighborhood Traditions- Progressive Party

Welcome to my block. It's a nice block, filled with nice people. Last year was the first holiday we spent living here and we found out that our block has a wonderful tradition that happens every year around the holidays. Everyone gets together to throw a "Progressive Party".

Essentially what happens is you start out with soups and salads at one house, move to the next for appetizers, and then on to the last for desserts. It's a blast and a great way to connect with your neighbors that you may not know all that well. What better way to get to know someone than over food and drinks?

About a month prior to the party someone takes the coordinators role, picks a date, prints up and distributes a flier asking:

One- If you'd like to attend and what you'd like to contribute (soup, salad, app. or dessert) and...
Two- Would you like to host?

Everyone is also asked if the suggested date works for them. As long as the great majority are able to attend on that date it sticks.
A Townhouselady's Block

Once everyone returns their fliers to the coordinator we choose the host houses and get back to each person coming/contributing letting them know who will be hosting the food category that they'll be contributing to so they can coordinate with them on the details (dinnerware, drinks, time to drop off food, does it need to be heated/refrigerated etc.).

On the day of the party, the hosts are ready to go and the buffets are set up. We start at the soup & salad house and spend about and hour, or so, at each. By the time we get to desserts most people are good and loosened up by libations and food and we linger at the dessert house until the evening closes.

We're having ours tomorrow night and I expect it'll be another year of great fun. Is there anyone else who does something similar? Or better yet, have I inspired you to start the tradition in your neck of the woods?

Beauty of Nature

After the rain...

Japanese Maple- Front Yard

LEAK!

Plink, Plink, Plink...

What's that sound? Dripping.

Where's it coming from? The seam in the (plaster) crown molding over the pocket door entryway from the living room to the dining room.

Why? I'm taking a shower.

Where's the origination point of the leak? So far as we can tell the seal connecting the drain/waste pipe to the tub has disintegrated.

Why am I beyond aggravated? Because we just replaced a drain/waste pipe from the sink that had been leaking. 3 months ago!! That required knocking out the plaster wall in the guest room closet. The tub requires knocking out the wall in the master bedroom closet. We planned on fully ripping out and replacing this bathroom and all it's ancient plumbing in about a year. Problem is, right now it's our ONLY bathroom. So, in order to do so we need to re-install the bathroom the previous owner removed (who takes out a bathroom?!?!?) so she could make a large mud room (off the kitchen) for her dog. ARGH!!

We also have to get a section of the plaster molding recast and replaced. MOTHER F*CK SH!T D@MNIT!

You gotta love (hate) a house that's 119 years old.

One day I'll share the plans for the bathroom remodel but I'm too angry right now.

RANT

I'm at the epicenter of renovation hell. Oh no, not me, I'm not currently renovating! My neighbors on either side are. That's right, BOTH SIDES!

Someone please quick remind me why I'm so fond of living in a rowhouse with only 18" of party walls separating me and the jackhammers, drills, saws and nailguns??

This is cruel and unusual punishment.

Gardening

At 144 ft. the lot our home sits on is, by "city standards" considered to be extra deep. I'm well aware that most of you looking at this are thinking 'that backyard, at best, is a glorified postage stamp.


Why am I pointing this out you ask? Well, this little postage stamp yard whooped my ass. Being that yesterday's weather was just glorious (66 and sunny) we seized the day and set about clearing out all the dead leaves, pruned away scraggly branches, and weeded. We wanted to get it all spruced up and ready for grilling season. Today I'm hurting. My legs, shoulders, back and arms ache. You know how the saying, "I used muscles I never knew I had"? Honestly, I knew I had them and I also knew I'd left them dormant too long. What I didn't know was just how much they'd revolt against me once I did decide to employ them for use again.

The reward for this hard work? A solid week of rain and cold temperatures. Thanks Mother Nature!

FIVE CATS?!?!? Yes, I present a cautionary tail...

I know, I know, five cats is straight out of crazy cat lady territory. Even though both my husband and I are animal lovers we are fully aware that this goes beyond normal.

So here's the scoop. When I met my husband he had two cats. J-kun (background) and Cookie (foreground). My husband had J-kun for a while and one day while he was in the lobby of his building he saw something dart under the radiator. Assuming it was a rat and he lifted up his boot and was getting prepared to send it to rat heaven when the "rat "let out a tiny little meow. It was a kitten that was so small it literally fit into the palm of his hand. That was Cookie.

We met, married and lived happily with our two cats. Two cats is still normal, right?

This is where things get a bit hairy (furry?). We bought our house. We moved in at the end of January 2008. We LOVE our house. We were so used to living in small NYC apartments that having a backyard is a huge luxury. Speaking of the backyard, I noticed this gorgeous predominantly white tabby cat out there. She of course runs clear away from you if you try to approach her but she'd always stay within sight. I watched her for a couple months and by the end of March I'm noticing that she's pregnant. This picture is her in our neighbors yard (see the fat belly? Our "future kitties" are in there).Shortly after I took this picture she disappeared. We didn't see again until about the end of August when she came with a little friend. This little kitten scrap was so skinny that we immediately set about feeding her. She inhaled anything you gave her to the point that we was nervous her belly was going to pop. Simply put she was a wreck , a real sickly little runt. This went on for about a week. The kitten never left our yard. She'd sleep under a big elephant ear plant. After a night of heavy rain with her under that elephant ear my heart was breaking and so was my husbands. He let me "convince" him to catch her and take her in. We named her Lou (We thought she was a boy when she was outside- who knew?). We took her to the vet and she had every disease, mite, flea, ringworm, 2 stomach/intestinal worms. You name it she had it. The one thing she didn't have, which would have been a deal-breaker since we have the other cats, was FeLV/FIV (Feline Leukemia/AIDS). She had to live in our second bedroom in solitary confinement for 3 months while we nursed her back to health. I even caught the insidious ringworm on my neck from cuddling her. It was so gross and I've since fully recovered. The vet told us she looked to be 5-6 months old which meant that this was one of the babies momma cat was carrying in the picture I took back in March.

Let me tell you something about this momma cat, she's no dummy! She knew we took in her baby in and sensing what kindhearted people (read: total suckers) we are the VERY NEXT DAY she replaced the kitten we'd taken in by bring over two more of the from the litter.

This time we were strong! We resisted their charms and thought they'd leave. After all we were in the midst of trying to fix Lou, who required constant care- pills, injections, baths (torture) and ointments. Her medicine box looked like something you'd find in a senior center. Well, these kittens didn't leave. In fact the winter came and they stayed out there with snow on the ground (see the snow in the pic I have in the right hand column?), they sat out there in the rain, they just wouldn't leave.

This is where the tide turned. The little tabby girl started to go into heat and there was an enormous old mean looking black cat stalking her. He was just out looking for a good time. Fearing she'd end up like her momma we trapped her and her brother and took them down to the local shelter where they were both neutered under a low cost TNR program (Trap, Neuter, Release). So the plan was to then release them back into the wilds. The flaw in this plan? Once you have them neutered you have to keep them for 2 weeks while they recover from surgery. So while they were healing in our now infamous kitty infirmary we set about trying to pawn them off on any and everyone we knew. Just when it looked like someone wanted them he got an assignment at work that had him working 12+ hour days and weekends. So we held onto them waiting, and waiting and waiting- weeks go by. Finally, we just had to accept defeat and admit to ourselves that we had 5 cats! We took them to the vet and found they both had clean bills of health (shocking I know, we were stunned too!!). We then set about introducing Sophia (Her exotic eyes remind me of Sophia Loren) & Paw-Paw (any time we used to try to touch him he'd slap our hand two times fast with his paw. Look at the pic, you see that? How he's raising his little mitt getting ready to slap me?) to the rest of the clan.

We love them all dearly and while we wouldn't trade them for the world we do have a recommendation:

If you find yourself in the market and shopping for a home make sure you ask the realtor if the property includes a pregnant cat.

I suppose you want to know what happened to the momma cat. She's still around and we've seen her pregnant a few times since. Our hope is one day we'll be able to catch her and have her neutered as well. Thing is she's a really smart cat and she's hip to the trapping game. She's not falling for it. The good news is she hasn't brought any additional babies into the yard (thank god!). We think she understands that we've done our part.

More importantly, "The Inn" is full.