Cats and paint and sinks, oh my! (knitting content to follow)
Dianna tagged me for the 8 Random Things post, and I'm changing the rules a bit - below are 8 things about my cat and house. (if for no other reason than that I have pictures...)
I have been knitting - the graduation shawl/stole is coming along and I might get it done before I am gowned up for the ceremony. I don't have any pictures of it, but do promise to get some and will post them soon. It's taken a second seat to a few home, er, issues.
1. Beazlie is a Hemmingway Polydactyl - she has extra toes on her paws. It's more common to have extra toes on the front paws only, but she is an original and has extra toes on her back paws as well. Her paws are gigantic. (comparison picture is currently on my camera - will post it once I get it onto computer.)
2. Both cats often curl up together to sleep, and at night they sleep under whatever I am sleeping on; though they prefer to sleep under the bed, they will sleep under the futon if I'm downstairs. I had been awakened each morning with a wet-nose-on-the-cheek nudge of "feed me! feed me now!" but thanks to Dr. StitchyMcYarnpants, cat therapist, I've broken the habit and now they simply let me know they are awake and hungry before going right back to sleep.
3. They love sitting in the bathtub. If I can't find one of them they're in either of two places - hiding in a corner behind a chest, or huddled in the tub. When I take a bath they are horribly confused and often miaow at me with a concerned look on their faces/ears. Once the tub is drained, they love to roll around in the tub.
4. When I returned from NH sheep and wool (it was a spontaneous decision to go - it was fabulous) Beazlie stopped running around the house in a cat-nipped frenzy and dropped one of her favorite toys to sit on the wool. She purred. She kneaded. She almost drooled.
4 1/2. To answer a previous question, yes both cats have tatoos. Before I could bring them home from the shelter they had to be spayed, microchip'd and tatoo'd with a female symbol, indicating that they'd been spayed.
5. The den/library/office walls before the paint went on. The trim has been dark brown for 28 years (confirmed with some photo-album archives) because brown was the only thing that hid the red it was intially painted.
6. (Izabelle, out of order. I was going to change it and sneak it in with the other cat pictures, but it seems more Iz-like to leave it here. She's a bonafide princess with me - demanding, persistant and instistant that she get her way. Of the two cats, she is the one most likely to hide from new people, so only a few have actually seen the act she puts on.)
The inital contenders for new kitchen paint - they all lost for various Goldilocks-sounding reasons (too light, too pink, too beige, too funny sounding a name, etc).
7. This is an almost current picture of the kitchen - the walls are a cheery yellow right now and the painted samples appear, well, subdued in this picture (the flash washed everything out). I intially thought I wanted a red kitchen, but the hues of red that I loved were too dark for the (narrow) space. The winner is the third orange sample, a rich, warm shade called Harvest Moon.
I have been knitting - the graduation shawl/stole is coming along and I might get it done before I am gowned up for the ceremony. I don't have any pictures of it, but do promise to get some and will post them soon. It's taken a second seat to a few home, er, issues.
1. Beazlie is a Hemmingway Polydactyl - she has extra toes on her paws. It's more common to have extra toes on the front paws only, but she is an original and has extra toes on her back paws as well. Her paws are gigantic. (comparison picture is currently on my camera - will post it once I get it onto computer.)
2. Both cats often curl up together to sleep, and at night they sleep under whatever I am sleeping on; though they prefer to sleep under the bed, they will sleep under the futon if I'm downstairs. I had been awakened each morning with a wet-nose-on-the-cheek nudge of "feed me! feed me now!" but thanks to Dr. StitchyMcYarnpants, cat therapist, I've broken the habit and now they simply let me know they are awake and hungry before going right back to sleep.
3. They love sitting in the bathtub. If I can't find one of them they're in either of two places - hiding in a corner behind a chest, or huddled in the tub. When I take a bath they are horribly confused and often miaow at me with a concerned look on their faces/ears. Once the tub is drained, they love to roll around in the tub.
4. When I returned from NH sheep and wool (it was a spontaneous decision to go - it was fabulous) Beazlie stopped running around the house in a cat-nipped frenzy and dropped one of her favorite toys to sit on the wool. She purred. She kneaded. She almost drooled.4 1/2. To answer a previous question, yes both cats have tatoos. Before I could bring them home from the shelter they had to be spayed, microchip'd and tatoo'd with a female symbol, indicating that they'd been spayed.
5. The den/library/office walls before the paint went on. The trim has been dark brown for 28 years (confirmed with some photo-album archives) because brown was the only thing that hid the red it was intially painted.
The first coat of Wedgewood Gray (still wet in the picture). I love it, and even though it looks good with the dark brown trim (better than I thought it would), the dark trim makes the room look small and boxed in - so it'll be painted too.
6. (Izabelle, out of order. I was going to change it and sneak it in with the other cat pictures, but it seems more Iz-like to leave it here. She's a bonafide princess with me - demanding, persistant and instistant that she get her way. Of the two cats, she is the one most likely to hide from new people, so only a few have actually seen the act she puts on.)
The inital contenders for new kitchen paint - they all lost for various Goldilocks-sounding reasons (too light, too pink, too beige, too funny sounding a name, etc).
7. This is an almost current picture of the kitchen - the walls are a cheery yellow right now and the painted samples appear, well, subdued in this picture (the flash washed everything out). I intially thought I wanted a red kitchen, but the hues of red that I loved were too dark for the (narrow) space. The winner is the third orange sample, a rich, warm shade called Harvest Moon.
(Robin is sitting on the floor in the window's reflection. I got her up and going again - it's good to have her back!)
8. I say "almost current" above because at this point in time, the kitchen sinks are stopped up and/or draining into a soup pot because the pvc pipe under the sink is dripping, and the bathroom sink and tub are stopped up (both now with pools of water in them). I have no idea what happened or where the problem is (my guess is further back in the system) and that means that I'm nearly at a loss of what to do about it. My dad is going to swing by on his way home from work and I'm going to give plunging the tub a try.
Is it crazy that I'm relieved this is my first trial as a homeowner? I keep thinking of things that could be so much worse, and having water that won't go anywhere seems better than no water at all.
posted by Kristen at 12:36 PM
10 Comments:
Love you kitties...they are very unique. The house is becoming uniquely yours! May you have few homeowner problems after this one!
I think that "trial by water" is a part of every new home owner experience. We called a plumber on day 4 of living in the new house ...
FYI -- we painted brown trim and paneling. It took several coats!! You're lucky that the paneling was already painted...
uh yeah - and better than water going everywhere! On day 3 (or was it 2?) of owning our current house, we heard a pop and a hisssssss - and went to the basement to find that the water heater had used up every last day of it's lifespan (it was 2 weeks out of it's 9th birthday - and it had a 9 year warranty). Luckily, we had insurance that covered it. As well as the flood we had a few months later when the sump pump stopped working.
We have had no read water issues since then though!
What a great "8 things!" Thanks for sharing the joys and trials of your new home, love the new kitchen color!
(On a side note, my husband is taking step one of the boards next week, so any good test score vibes you could send this way would be appreciated! I knew you'd understand.)
Good luck with the sink!
Also, those are two adorable cats.
Cute kitties! And I love the orange for the kitchen. My kitchen was orange when I moved in last fall and I love it!
I like Danielle's phrase, "trial by water". My first negative homeowner experience was the hot water heater electrical board burning up. It was a contained fire, no biggie, and I got a new water heater within the week. I've also learned much about toilets since becoming a homeowner!
It's all so exciting! Good luck with the shawl before graduation.
Your kitties are absolutely adorable. Please keep the photos coming.
Our first experience as homeowners also involved water, in the basement. Our new sewer line was connected to the wrong exit pipe, which meant that when I took that first shower, the basement filled with water. Egads. Glad your water is at least contained!
I enjoyed seeing your painting swatch photos. We're going to move soon and I'll be doing lots of painting. I agree with you -- I'm not a fan of brown trim.
Oh the cats are so cute! Isn't it great to live close enough to Dad that he can swing by and take care of things?! My Dad goes right by my place on his way to and from work, and I do take advantage of that!
It all sounds wonderful (clogged drains be damned). The cats are gorgeous and I love the paint colors you've picked.
Will I see you at the Frolic in a few weeks?
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