07/11/2022 – Changing Things

Olivia doesn’t usually pose with what she considers “lower” fruit; she’s more of a berry kind of fruit lover, but when in a pinch, a pinch will have to do. So, here she is with an apple. Don’t for an instant think we don’t see the kind of monster we created here.

On one of Mom’s days off, she started calling out, “Who is that kitty? WHO is THAT kitty? WHO IS THAT KITTY?” and then, she grabbed a convenience camera and snapped away. Then she went outside and while the kitty didn’t venture one inch closer than at nearly the end of the walkway, it didn’t run away either.

And then, it meandered into the flowers and taller than tall arborvitae tree and that was the last we saw it. Pretty kitty, gorgeous fur, looks well fed with very white socks. We’ll keep an eye out for it visiting again. Does it know we keep food out during the day in the feeding station?

These three brats sure know it! And what are you doing out during daylight hours anyway? Does your mama know where you are??

“Shhh, lady! Don’t tell her we’re here! We was just nibbling on your foods!”

How could you be mad at a face like that? Okay, maybe it’s just us but this is the most destructive bunch of raccoon babies we’ve ever had visit us. Yes, those rubber back step mats had seen better days, about five years ago easily. But you young critters didn’t need to tear those half-shredded things all the way off the steps, did you? And scatter them around the backyard?

And what’s with knocking over the back corner solar light every single night? Oh, and we’re okay with you pulling the outdoor pillows off the patio furniture, but the minute you decide to chew on those will be the last fluffy thing you’ll bite into around here. You hear us? Don’t ruin it for all the generations of babies before you, or after, okay. Are we clear on this?

“I’ll tell everyone but I don’t think they’ll listen. We’re just wee babies, you see, and we just got our teefs, and are learning what’s tasty and whatnot…”

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Things are finally starting t0… um, start toward getting our main bathroom back together. We’re still a LONG way from completion, but we need to start somewhere. For any and all you contractor Bingo card holders out there, you should have two-thirds of your card filled by now with no-shows, no returned calls, and wildly out of the ballpark estimates. But mostly, n0-shows. Someone Mom works with who used to work as a subcontractor for several local contractors said it sounds like our job is just too small for most to take on during these peak working months. When told we had started calling contractors in February, they replied that February means they’ve already booked big jobs through June, and that we’ll probably get a lot of call backs in September to do the job in December or January of 2023.

Eleven months without a main bathroom? Nope. But maybe.

We have a cabinet refinisher working on the water damaged bathroom vanity now. Next week, someone will finish painting that spare bedroom, the one that had soaked carpet from the original leak. The carpet has already been replaced with laminate flooring. The week after that, the shower tile decision will be made, the plumber’s visit will be arranged, and the shower space will have a little bit of reframing done to replace a wonky 2×4.

After all that, things ought to ramp up pretty quickly. And undoubtedly, we’ll get overly excited and want it all to go faster, faster, faster. Someday, we’ll look back on all this and think of 2022 as the Year of the Bathroom that seemingly took Forever to Fix. Hey, just as long as it actually does get finished in 2022, we’re good with it!

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A Colehaus Cats flashback:

2021 – No post
2020 – No post
2019 – No post
2018 – A View from a Cat
2017 – No post
2016 – MultiCat Monday Tussling
2015 – No post
2014 – Summer Buddies
2013 – No post
2012 – Videos for your Cat. Play Time!