A Billy the Cat Escapade

Sometime last week, 13 year old Billy got in a fight with a stray cat. Billy got the short end of the stick - he ended up with 2 holes below his ear. As in from teeth. As in the other cat bit down on his head. Hard.

Billy was neutered when he was a kitten. I thought that was supposed to keep male cats from fighting. And from spraying.  He fights occasionally. He sprays often. Maybe the vet missed something?

Anyway, last Friday it appeared he needed stitches. I called the vet. She was out of town, and would be for several days. Ok then. We're on our own.

We bought a comfy cone...

Just like this one. Note it has a picture of a dog on it. I won't humiliate Billy by showing a photo of him wearing a cone with a dog on it. He's very sensitive about things like that.

I will show you a photo I found online of a cat who didn't mind the humiliation....

Make the cat bigger, change the color to orange, and that's how Billy has looked for several days now.

It works great. At first he tried desperately to back out of it, but he can't. And he also can't scratch the 2 wounds, which has allowed us to treat him. Neosporin and gauze have worked wonders, and it appears he's going to heal without stitches.

Smooth sailing.

Well....except for the evening George got him all wound up.

Billy had been hanging out in our basement, enjoying the world of carpet, pillows and sofas. He was gently petted and loved often, which he adores.

Then George decided to play a little rougher with him, which Billy also adores.

Billy had been in lounge mode for several days, but this slightly rougher play stirred something in him. In a few minutes time, he went from sweet kitty-kitty to wildcat.

He sounded like a cat in heat. He was pacing the floor. He wanted to go outside. NOW.

We turned out all the lights and went to bed, thinking that would calm him down. We left him in the basement with the gate shut that we had put up to keep him down there. We don't let him upstairs - remember I mentioned he sprays often? Call us crazy, but we don't care for cat urine on the walls of our house.

10:00 PM
We hadn't much more than laid down in bed till we heard the incessant meows getting louder. We didn't think he could jump over the gate with the comfy cone on. We were wrong. In his gentle, sweet, kitty-kitty state he didn't even try it. But now, in his wildcat state, he apparantly sailed over the gate with ease. Up the stairs, down the hall. Staring at me in the dark while wearing his comfy cone with it's reflective border.

"I want to go outside. NOW."

Sorry Billy. Back downstairs he went. George got an extra screen door we had, and he propped it up against the opening.

10:30 PM
Back to bed we went. The meowing continued.

11:00 PM
Thump. Thump. He was back.

"I said I want to go outside. NOW."

Sorry Billy. Back downstairs he went. The formerly propped up door had been knocked down. George set it back up and tied it to the bannister.

11:15 PM
We went back to bed. The meowing continued.

MIDNIGHT
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
He was back.

"What is wrong with you people? I said I want to go outside!!! LISTEN TO ME!"

Who knew a cat wearing a comfy cone could climb a screen door, jump through the 12-inch opening at the top, and land safely on a stairway on the other side of the door?

Maybe we need to see if Hollywood needs any stunt cats.

12:05 PM
George put Billy in the garage, and after spending the night there, he calmed back down.

His wounds are healing very nicely, and he's back to laying gently on our laps and soaking up all the love.

And George is under strict orders to pet Billy very, very gently.

Planter chairs

We bought these chairs at an auction last summer. I have had them in the shop ever since, and only one sold. They are very pretty, but also rather uncomfortable. A little too straight backed for comfort.

I thought about putting them in our up-coming clearance sale, but then I had a better idea...



Planter chairs! A little spray paint, a little sanding, a little chicken wire and a coconut shell.

No more dark and formal. Now they are cheery and fun! (Obviously, the one in the middle was not part of the set.)

I'm selling them just like you see them here. I'll let my customers plant their own flowers in them. All they need are some potting soil and plants.

How pretty the woodwork is on them! I think the paint really brought the character of the chairs out to light. Antique purists might not approve, but that doesn't bother me. Furniture should be enjoyed, and I think these chairs are much more enjoyable now than before. Besides the discomfort of sitting in them, they weren't in that great of shape. The closer I looked at them, I realized they had been glued several places, had cracks here and there etc. They needed new life...what better way to do that than with flowers?

Weekend in DC

If you've never been there, you should make every effort

to go to Washington DC while the cherry blossoms are blooming.

We went, along with a few thousand of our closest friends.

Well, actually, there were just 6 of us.

But everywhere we went, everyone else went too.

Or so it seemed.

As usual, Jessica and Brian were great tour guides.

It's very handy to have family who live and work in tourist spots!

About to be married Kevin and Katie found a heart shaped cherry tree.

Hey! What are you two doing back there?

It was a drizzly day, so as the cherry blossoms fell, they stuck to everything.

I wish I had a picture of the car at the Metro Station that was plastered with blossoms.

From a distance, it looked like it was covered with pink snow.

Speaking of the Metro Station, it was Katie's first experience with it.

Let's just say she does not envy Brian's daily hour commute by subway.

I have a fascination with tree trunks.

Cherry blossoms nestled among the roots is an added bonus.

These trees are the oldest of the ones planted next to the Tidal Basin.

The very ones that were presented to Washington by the Japanese

as a gesture of friendship and goodwill on March 27, 1912.

According to our tour guide Brian, the trees normally only live for 50 years.

These trees are celebrating their 100th birthday!

We've toured DC on clear days, in perfect weather.

But even on a cloudy, rainy day, the Washington Monument is breathtaking.

Since we have all seen DC before,

and since it was raining,

and since our thousands of friends were taking in the sights,

we decided to skip most of the monuments on this trip.

But Jessica and Brian did want us to see the Old Post Office.

Or rather, they wanted us to go up 315 feet into the Clock Tower.

They said the only other place to get that view of DC is the Washington Monument.

But it is currently closed due to damage from last summers earthquake.

Because it was rainy, the view wasn't clear.

But the Lincoln Memorial was still impressive.

And how cool is it to look down the street and see our nation's Capitol?

Anytime you're in DC, expect to walk.

And walk.

And walk.

They took us to a restaurant that Brian said was a quarter mile or so away.

Uh huh.

We know a quarter mile, and that dear Brian was no quarter mile.

But anyway....it was fun.

And so was the Natural History Museum.

And the American History Museum

where we saw this poor guy with his aching back.

We know just how you feel good sir.

DC is truly a wonderful place to visit.

Every American should try to see it at least once.

There's so much to see and do!

You could spend weeks trying to see it all.

And it's all free for the viewing!

Birds Took Over the Grill

I was sitting at our dining table this morning, looking out at the deck. I noticed several birds kept landing on the deck railing, but that's nothing new since there are trees close to the deck.

But then, one of the birds landed on the grill, and walked into the hole on the end of the grill cover. It turned right around and walked back out. A few seconds later though, another bird did the same thing. But....it did NOT walk back out.

Uh Oh.

I went out to investigate. Bird poo around the grill. Bits of grass and straw underneath it.

And when I opened the cover............

Uh Oh. That's not good.

Well...I guess for the birds it was great. Not so much for us.

I stepped inside the house, and looked back out a couple minutes later.

And what did I see?

It certainly didn't take Billy long to catch the scent!

Isn't funny how photos show something very clearly that you don't notice in real life? We may have had a mild winter, but it must have been hard on the grill. Look at all that rust on the edge! Where did that come from? No wonder the birds took over, they think it's no longer usable!



Gearing up for summer

The three men of the house (well, 2 different houses, on the same property) may not look busy, but their minds are racing. It's going to be a busy summer...

• a hog barn under construction as we speak
• a machinery shed to be built
• steers to be bought and pastured
• lots of smaller projects to be tackled

and oh yeah............

• Kevin's wedding right in the middle of it.

Better get busy boys!!!



Bundles of books

Old books are so cool. To read of course, but also just for looks.

A couple years ago, I picked up several old books at an auction, and I started bundling them together using homespun fabric. Usually, I'd make the bundle a stack of 3 old books.

I've sold lots of these bundles - a few people have looked carefully at the titles because they intended to take the bundle apart and read them. Most have bought them just for the looks though. I carefully bundle them by size, color, texture etc. until I have a pleasing combination.

Then, I started seeing bundles of books online, with the covers torn off. WHAT? I was appalled. Well, ok, that's an exaggeration, but I didn't care for it. It seemed so destructive.

So, what did I do?



I joined the crowd.

If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would I do it to? Hmmm.

I chose books whose covers weren't anything special. And I have to admit, I kind of like the look now.

We were in a Restoration Hardware store in Tyson's Corner, VA a couple weeks ago. LOVE that store! So much eye candy! So many ideas!

But the prices! Oh my! Let's just say, I didn't pick anything up but ideas.

And guess what we saw there? Yep! Bundles of books without covers! Tied together with just a piece of twine.

I went a little fancier on mine, sticking with the fabric.

Just keeping up with the big boys, but at a much lower price!

Silverware Signs

Instead of playing with my food, I started playing with silverware.....

Old barnwood + Old silverware = New sign.

Fun stuff!