...dry rot,old moulding and a lovely stained glass window

...the skilled craftsman/carpenter came again today, much like Santa, his visits are much anticipated and when he leaves, so many "good things" remain behind...today, he framed and put in my stained glass window where the old window AC had been...using just scraps from his truck, he copied the existing window/door trim[butt-joint corners,inset "shelf,angled moulding cap w/mitered corners] it looks perfect ! I have seen Craftsman bungalows with stained glass above the built-ins around the fireplace and that's what this looks like...he got the balance/ratio perfectly matched to the existing trim....unfortunately ,while doing paint-prep, I had found DRY ROT in a French door window sash[water damage] and had dug out the crumbly,dry mess, taking out 3 pieces of moulding[80 year old trim...] and hollowing-out a small area of the bottom of the window frame...so, I went outside to see if the damage went all the way through and, of course it did...so I cleaned out that and removed the bottom glazing from the bottom 2 courses of window panes on the 1st French door,the middle one was OK,as it was a real door[no glazing], but the far door was as messed-up as the first[glazing-wise], so I removed the bottom 2 courses there too.... then J arrived, and seeing my consternation[ dry rot will do that to you...], he agreed that the re-glazing, rot hunting and repair was the priority today...he cleaned off the outside bottom mouldings,scraped them, [no rot,hurray !], re-glazed 12 window panes, further cleaned out the rot hole and used caulking sealant everywhere possible [including inside the rot hole]...while he was doing that,the S.C./C. had finished the window [did I say it looks great ? it does !] so we called the lumber yard to try to find a replacement for the 80 year old moulding that was now "toast"...once we confirmed they had some, I went on a "field trip" to South Mudville to get the moulding... when I got there, the man handed me "quarter round"[the toe moulding you use on floors], I said,"...uh, no..."...then he offered me a flat moulding, again, I said..."no"... then I spied a piece of moulding that was sort of "V' shaped...what I wanted was wedge-shaped,... I held my small piece of old moulding next to the "V" shaped stuff... it was the same size as mine on both sides and could be cut down so it would "work"..[if this is beginning to remind you of "The 3 Bears", that's exactly how I felt...] so I got a piece about 5' long and brought it back to the wonderful S.C/C who cut it to an almost perfect match, replaced the 3 pieces I had "lost"to rot, nailed them in place and made me a few extras out of the rest...what a guy ! so thanks to Mr. S.C./C and J., it's been a day of progresses and little victories, here, in the "money pit" I call home...and did I say how great that window looks ? It surely does !

the cat whisperer...

we all know that a cat's gonna do what a cat's gonna do...so why, then, do we get so annoyed when they do it ?...in my case, I think it's often because I fail to "head 'em off at the pass...", in other words, they outwit/outsmart/outrun[pick all that apply] me and make me look "less than brilliant", [I HATE that... almost as much as a cat does], but I digress... as I have illustrated before,
[see any/all "homeowner follies"blogs...]..I live in an old [c. 1929-30] house that is doing a good imitation of a "money pit" lately and I'm following in the footsteps of "Mr.Blandings"["Mr.Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse" Cary Grant,194-something.....so, in my blog of 11/13,[sooner or later...], I detailed a few misadventures of the homeowner kind, but left out one of the cat staffperson-kind...as the drawers were out of the built-in dresser in the hall to be primed and a piece of cardboard had been employed as a "cat-deflection"device (since the inside of the dresser led under the house[into 'possumland'] and outside to FREEDOM[think : Braveheart]), this was VERY necessary to preserve the health of the kitties and my sanity...J had "secured"[he has a dog...] the cardboard in a manner secure to him ,but yet, an "invitation" to a cat... he noticed it was "down" and then saw Gracie, snooping inside, beyond arms reach , but not yet out of sight...Gracie had been a bit "miffed " anyway, as she had been "ignored" and not properly "feted"[only an occasional pat or sweet word...] the ENTIRE day to this point...now, of course, she was center stage and loving it ,[I'm ready for my close-up...]...I used my "teacher"voice, scourge of 7th & 8th graders for 20+ years and cats for longer than that, she flicked her tail... I got down on the floor, she moved farther in.... I dangled an extension cord, using my best "enticement" voice, more tail-flicking... of course, now, the others are coming to Mom's sweet,"kitty, kitty" voice and looming too close...I shooed them away and opened, a can of FOOD !... now she's yawning and losing interest, turning around ,"to explore"...at this point, Mr. Skilled Cabinet-Maker/Carpenter said, "You want her out ? I'll get her out"...after checking that he did NOT have the Sawsall in his hand, I said, "OK". He came to the opening,talking softly to Gracie,who was instantly captivated by him...she came right up to him to be petted and after a few pets and a few "meows",[SHE doesn't understand my "specialness"...] she allowed him to pick her up and hand her to me...as we re-secured the dresser area, Gracie, very much "smitten", continued to tell Mr. S.C.M./C. how nice he was, how available she was, how mean I was,etc... this is a cat who had been in the same house all morning and into the afternoon with this man, had said "Hello" and passed the time of day like a normal feline[...pretty much ignored him...], and was now, absolutely besotted with him... he had calmly said, before she came to him, that he charged $1.50 for "cat retrieval", so when I paid him later that day for the shutters and the closet door, I added on $1.50, and wrote on the check, "carpentry and cat retrieval "...I figured it was worth it just for the goofy look on Gracies' face...that cat owes me big time...

...sooner or later...

...over 2 years ago when I got fed-up with trying to make the cheap fiberglass/plastic shutters work in my breakfast nook, I stopped "channeling Mom" [aka making do with cheapest or doing without...] and spent $$$ at Smith and Nobel on custom basswood shutters for said nook...it took 6 weeks for them to be built [custom,after all...] and when they arrived, sometime in early 2006, [exact dates are hazy...] , the 4 boxes sat in the living room,behind the front door...waiting... waiting for the other dozen or so boxes of furniture, etc... to be constructed [thank you to Miz Minka and Mr Greenthumb...], for the nook to be "cleaned out" and "organized" [thanks again to Miz Minka, whose patience was tried by my packrat-ness [ "no, you can't have More of those, NOOOOO ! "...]and the general debris field of Mom's stuff in the dining room to move to the garage, [thank you, Joe...now if I could only find my lawn mower...] but there was also this other problem...after spending $$$ on these "high-end" shutters, I needed a "finish carpenter "or cabinet maker to properly install them... they were wood and would need to be individually "sized" to the parallelograms pretending to be rectangular windows in my nook...so a skilled craftsman, with proper tools was a must... several "false" starts left me discouraged [sorry Billy Joe Bob, I don't have a band saw you can borrow...]...then one day while I was at the chiropractors, I saw a business card on the bulletin board for a cabinet maker [turns out he built the counter in my Drs office...]...so I called him and after a lot of work, a craftsmans skill and much appreciated help from friends...I have shutters in my nook ! no longer will anyone passing by see in as I do things in the kitchen after dark...no longer do I have to remember to be "fully clothed" to go to the kitchen for a drink of water in the middle of the night...no longer will the hot summer sun make that room an oven...and the shutters look amazing !...worth every cent for construction and installation !!
we also took out the wall AC unit [now I have central AC/heat] and the carpenter will frame a stained glass piece to fit where the AC was [it was a double-hung window years ago, but only the top part is left open now...]...and besides that, we are making progress on washing woodwork [Murphys Oil Soap,Multisurface spray is WONDERFUL !], sanding, spackeling, filling cracks, mending holes in the plaster[ thermostats were moved,test holes made..etc.].... all the" fun", paint-prep stuff... tomorrow, the "hall" will get primed with oil-based primer to seal in the old lead based oil paint on it now [80 year old houses are such fun !]...then there's cleaning the wood floors [currently "shielded by a thick, protective coat of grime...] and finally the actual painting...my target date is "by Christmas" ....2008 might be more realistic...more than 4 years ago, I began this journey... Mom's illnesses and her death last January seemed to constantly interrupt my progress and sap my energy... and then there was all the stuff I couldn't throw away[Lord knows, we tossed TONS]...but it all seems to fade now, with the hope that comes from having those shutters up and looking so "right",and, that someday, [soon!], this will be done, so I can move on to my office... and bedroom... and, ARGH, THE GARAGE ! NOOOOOOOOOO!

Silver Cats #8

Kitty litter,spread like glitter,
all a-round the cat box...in the
air, there's an o-dor of cat pee
I just cleaned it, all the cat crap
had been put in the trash , and all
o-ver the floor,once again,we have...

kitty mess, kitty mess
it's smel-ly time in my poor house
eve-ry-where,there is hair
soon, I will be section 8

gobs of cat hair, but do they care,
that's a big, fat,loud NO !
it is now, hairball time on the sofa,
see them hack-ing,see them yack-ing,
hair-ball af-ter hairball, a-s
under the table they sit, and spit...

kitty mess, kitty mess,
things can get ug-ly at my house.
es-pec-ialy, when they pee..
every-where but, where they ought..

smelly cat pee, by the ficus tree and on
all the baseboards..in the
air, there's the odor of "kitty"...and the
cat poop, by the door stoop, that I
just failed to see...'til I
slipped in it, wrenching my knee..OH

kitty mess, kitty mess,
why can't I train them to clean-up ?
even though, I grumble so,I'm
just glad that they let me stay...

The Cat-mas Song [#7]

Hairballs lying on the leat-her chair
cat barf sticking to my toes,
yowling kitties, ar-guing by the fire, and
cat box, full to o-ver-flow...Ev-ery-bo-dy
knows, that cat pee and a pile of poop...
help to make the carpet "right"...
growling cats, with their fur all bushed-out, will
keep me from my sleep, tonight...They don't care
if, I sleep or not, as long as lots food is found upon "the spot",
and every rotten cat is gon-na try,
to see if they can real-ly sneak out-side, and so,
I'm off-er-ing this sim-ple phrase, from
one ,who knows a cat or two, al-
though, it's been said, ma-ny times,
ma-ny ways, Mer-ry Cat-mas,t-o you...

Jingle Cats cat-mas carol # 6

Dashing through the house,
with her furry mouse,
through the air she flies,
"now this mousie DIES !"
gone the eyes and nose,
never did have toes,
now the stuffing and the tail
have vanished as she goes, OH----

Sneaky Pie, Sneaky Pie,
she, the cat of lore...
kills the "mousies" and the catnip
toys brought from the sto-re,
Sneaky Pie, Sneaky Pie,
leaps and pounces quick,
but if someone wants to share,
she'll have a hissy fit.

40 minutes gone, the
furry mouse is toast...
only wet fur left, as
Sneaky now will boast...
Thomas, not amused,
will now pee on the corpse,this
in-sult can-not go un-ans-wered,
Thomas cat MUST DIE, OH----

Sneaky Pie , Sneaky Pie,
scheming cat , now lurks,
on a chair,with eyes half-closed...
but her hubris works...
Thomas strolls, into view,
unaware she's there....
big mistake, her paw darts down and
smacks him you-know-where.

Flying through the house,
Thomas on her tail,
Her revenge complete,
now, cunning cannot fail.
Quick, find Moms' locale
and hide between her feet,
hissing back at Thomas cat,
Ah, revenge is sweet, OH----

Sneaky Pie, Sneaky Pie
she, the cat of lore,
kills the" mousies" and the catnip
toys brought from the sto-re,
Sneaky Pie, Sneaky Pie,
Queen of Everything...
"I am wonderful",she boasts as
from her perch, she sings !

The 12 gifts of Cat-mas...#5 cat-mas carols

On the 1st day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me,
a dead mousie by the TV....

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me,
2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me,
3 fish[not swimming],2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV....

On the 4th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me,
4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming], 2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV....

On the 5th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me...5 sh-red-ed plants-
4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming], 2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...

On the 6th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me, 6 drool-soaked spiders, 5 sh-red-ed plants...
4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming], 2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...

On the 7th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me, 7 peed-on places, 6 drool-soaked spiders, 5 sh-red-ed plants,
4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming],2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...

On the 8th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me, 8 lizards dying, 7 peed-on places,6 drool-soaked spiders, 5 sh-red-ed plants,4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming], 2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...

On the 9th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me, 9 evil glances, 8 lizards dying, 7 peed-on places,6 drool-soaked spiders, 5 sh-red-ed plants, 4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming], 2 nasty hairballs and dead mousie by the TV...

On the 10th day of Christmas , my kitty gave to me, 10 broken knick-knacks, 9 evil glances, 8 lizards dying, 7 peed-on places,6 drool-soaked spiders, 5 sh-red-ed plants, 4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming], 2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...

On the 11th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me, 11 crapped-on letters, 10 broken knick-knacks, 9 evil glances, 8 lizards dying, 7 peed-on places, 6 drool-soaked spiders, 5 sh-red-ed plants,4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish [not swimmimg],2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...

On the 12th day of Christmas, my kitty gave to me, 12 grasshoppers hopping, 11 crapped-on letters, 10 broken knick-knacks, 9 evil glances, 8 lizards dying, 7 peed-on places,6 drool-soaked spiders, 5 sh-red-ed plants,4 piles of cat barf, 3 fish[not swimming], 2 nasty hairballs and a dead mousie by the TV...