Why you don't have pets

Last year, I noticed that Fuzzy was exploring in the drop ceiling above below the kitchen above the basement bathroom. I placed tons of moth balls in the ceiling to discourage her. I believe she explored it to check on the groundhog and possum that had been living in it last Fall.

That got old.

So did the moth balls.

I found that I had to keep repleniishing them to keep her out of the area.

A month ago, the kitchen light blew as I flicked the on switch.

A week later the laundry light bulb blew and each new light bulb placed into the fixture would pop and never light again.

I went into the basement bathroom and found that the light fixture in there no longer worked. 

I was troubled by this. 

I checked the fuse box or switch box or whatever it is called. Nothing there.

It slipped my mind for a bit as many things do.

Until I spotted a pair of cat ears  from the laudry area in the drop ceiling above the basement shower.

It all made sense to me now.

Using a flashlight, I found many junction boxes hidden by the drop ceiling. No doubt one of those boxes powered the three lights.

I decided to take a more direct approach to keep the cat out of the drop ceilign and out of danger

Yes?

What was that?

You want to know how the cat gets into the drop celing?

She jumps on top of the washer.

From there she jumps onto the laundry shelving.

Then she jumps into the opening left there by the contractors who did not extend the laundry room wall all the way up to the ceiling to permit air flow or some nonsense. If you read my blog back in 2005, you would remember that I hired a company against whom I later filed a BBB complaint.

I am forced to remember it all the time, especially during times like these.

I padded to the garage and pulled out some of the bird netting that I used to keep the birds out of the strawberries. Cut it down square patches and stapled it to openings to keep the cat out of the area until my Step-Dad the electrician would arrive this week for the holiday.

It worked for a few days until she found a weakness.  You can see how she pulled the netting away from the wood on the right side.

Yes?

What did you say?

Oh, you want to know why the cat is so keen to visit the rafters?

it is Raja.
The kitten is tormenting her. Seriously.

The kitten will not giver her a moment's peace. I bought one of the towers thinking that Fuzzy could jump up there and escape the kitten. I didn't consider that the same tower encouraged Raja to claw her way to the top landing so she could visit with Fuzzy. 

Raja can not jump on top of the washer, the laundry shelf or into the rafter. Meaning Fuzzy can escape her constant need for attention. It is the highest, safest spot for her.

Yes, I suppose it is all very funny to you.

I ran  back into the garage and pulled out the chicken wire. I stapled it over the bird netting. 

That proved effective for about two days.

I found this scene last night. 

I called Dad,the all around handyman, who suggested that I find perforated sheet metal, cut it to size, and screw it into the wood. It would look better and keep the cat out. He and my Step-Dad are coming on Saturday to work on sealing off the access for the cat and fix the wiring that the cat damaged. Perhaps, 2 heads are better than one.

Meanwhile, I have stuffed all the opening with excess insulation from the attic, secured with bird netting and chicken wire while still wearing my professional uniform. (skirt, tights, dress, hair in a ball)

This morning I said to the cat "Challenge accepted."

Painting Misadventures

Cobwebs

I hired a guy to plaster my walls. I expected him to smooth them out for me. I expected them to be perfect.
They were.
For about two weeks.
As I attempted to apply the primer
I learned something valuable
I learned that when new plaster meets a thick coat of primer, pieces of the new plaster will remain on the roller.
I no longer had smooth walls
Some panels look as if it had acne.
I continued to paint.
I should admit...
I have been painting the kitchen since August.
Yes
Since August
It has not been going well.
It began with the plaster peeling off onto the roller.
I worked through that
Slowly.
Because I refused to be defeated
Every weekend I promised myself that I would complete a layer, finish the trim, or otherwise do something.
Some weekends, I did something.
Most weekends, I did not.
Painting trim is evil.
The store did not properly mix the blue. What I thought would be a pale slate blue is actually a light periwinkle. 
Blue painter's tape - LIES. It pulls paint up every time. And forget about edging and trimming with it. 
I had to purchase green tape. 
Because screaming at the blue paint was not helpful.

Do you know how many corners are in your kitchen?
How many surfaces?
How many edges?
I bet you do not...

At the start of October, I thought I was done.
Until I moved the fridge to paint behind it - only to find that it had not been plastered.
I was furious.
It was a wall after all and I had contracted the man to plaster all the kitchen walls.
I called him. He didn't seem very apologetic. 
So, I decided to take ownership of this particular section of the kitchen and plaster it myself.
I used some drywall plaster that I found in the basement left over from last year and a smoothing tool.
I applied the plaster thickly. For some reason, I grooved it. I really cannot remember why I thought that was a genius idea.
I had to sand it down to make it even.
I let it dry for two days. Then I pulled out my sander and went to work smoothing the wall myself.
I felt so empowered.
So confident.
I wanted to be able to say that I did the wall behind the fridge all by myself.
I was so clever about the dust.
I pulled the dry vac, that I had purchased when I flooded my basement earlier this Fall, upstairs.
I placed the nozzle under my sander so that it would pickup all the dust.
I had sealed off the area with a drop cloth and taped it to the cabinetry. I wore an apron, headscarf and goggles.
I felt like a professional.
Until I heard the fire alarm.
I turned off the sander. Lifted back the drop cloth and peeked out from behind the fridge. I could not see anything because my goggles were covered in dust.
I removed the goggles but the dust in my vision remained.
It took me ten minutes to understand that dry-vacs will pick up dust and then blow it right out as a fine mist.I learned much later that I needed a separate filter if I want to vacuum dust.
I walked around.
Everything was covered in white dust from the stairs leading to the basement, the dining room pictures and all the wood furniture in the living room.
The kitchen floor had so much dust I could made sand castles out of it.
I spent the rest of the day vacuuming- with the HOOVER. Being so discouraged, it took me another two weeks to complete the area behind the fridge.
There is still dust everywhere; I have been too bummed out to clean it.
It got worse after I saw all the spiderwebs. Which when covered in plaster dust resemble cobwebs. And they were everywhere.
I had no idea that so much webbing had gone unnoticed as I devoted all my sparse free time to paint the kitchen. They were everywhere. Everywhere. Like out of a old fashion horror movie. 
And for some reason, those spider webs made me laugh until I hiccuped.
Then nothing was funny anymore.