Another photo of the moon. I love it. I find such mystery in it. In all phases. I know, I know, I'm always taking photos of the moon. Probably cause I can't take as many photos of the sun.
My fingers are purple. Well, actually more of a dark walnut. I spent the day staining. I wore gloves, but between the roughness of the wood and the stain, the gloves would get holes and disintegrate. I changed the gloves regularly, but it wasn't enough. It was worth the purple fingers.
More purple fingers today.
Moving boxes begins today. Very exciting. There's still lots of things to do, but moving will begin. This morning Walt Kowalski said 'With the moving starting today, it sounds like we might have a restful weekend at home.'
At which point we both looked at each other and laughed.
We might be at home, but we won't be resting. Our own list of projects here at the Cat Ranch is ever growing.
Walt Kowalski glued and screwed (hee hee) the countertop and installed the kitchen sink.
Meanwhile, I finished the tile floor in the laundry and grouted.
And I put a coat (or two) of stain on the steps. I *really* like the steps. they will never be prefect, but they are nice.
I need to touch up brown spots I got on the white.
Do you remember what the laundry room used to look like? I almost forgot.
It was dark. Even with two windows and yellow walls, it was still dark. To get into the laundry room, you had to go through the living room. And there was no door on the laundry room.
Then there were no walls.
We have walls now, but we still don't have a door. That's just because we haven't installed them yet.
It looks like we tiled ourselves into a corner, but we had an escape path. A little hopping and skipping and jumping to get out.
Why does everything look green in this photo? The light bulb must be having a problem. It's ok. The new light fixture is going up this weekend.
It's crunch time. Moving boxes are being packed. Arrangements are being made. There are still about a thousand details that need finished. You know the saying "Everything but the kitchen sink?" Well, we still need to install the kitchen sink!
Trim and doors are keeping us busy. You might ask, why are you worried about trim when you don't have a kitchen sink? Good question. Answer: the rooms are empty. Once the Mama of House #1 starts moving her items into the rooms, we're going to run out of space to work. Working around furniture is not impossible, just tricky.
To speed the process along, we're going with straight cuts and rosettes instead of mitered cuts.
We needed aboxablox. That made me laugh all day.
The vanity box made a perfect painting station. It was a tedious job, but a necessary job. thank you Mama of House #2.
Meanwhile, I was working on the steps again. More white paint really helps. I also experimented with stain colors.
I tried the same cedar/oak color as the floor. Boring. It matched too much. Then I tried a Sedona Red. Pretty, but it didn't match anything. We needed more contrast. The ceiling fans are a DARK color.
That's the ticket. I started with a dark walnut. Nice, but there were no red hues. I added a layer of the Sedona Red. Better.
Two more coats of each (not seen here) and the window sills are looking good.
If you don't know, wood working and refinishing runs in my family. My Pap, the builder of the Cat Ranch, was an amazing craftsman when it came to refinishing furniture. He didn't built furniture from scratch, but he could take a box of parts and create beautiful furniture.
I've got the touch for it, too. And the patience. I know! I was surprised, too!
P.S. The phrase "Everything but the kitchen sink" can be dated back to 1894. Nobody famous penned it.
Just a few randoms from the Cat Ranch today.
The fog rolled yesterday morning. It was a normal sunny morning, then all of sudden...Fog. Makes me think of that commercial on TV. Fraud protection. Frog protection. Fraud. Frog. What about fog?
Every evening, just at dusk, we have a bat that comes out. He flies around, swoops down to get a snack and flies around some more. We call him Igor. Recently, he's got a girlfriend. Mrs. Igor. They have an evening meal together.
Yesterday, when I went to clean the litter boxes, I thought there was a leaf stuck to the litter scooper. Then when I got closer I realized it was no leaf.
It was Igor! Or Mrs. Igor. He must have flew into the open garage over the weekend and was hiding in the garage. He wasn't on the scooper the previous day when I cleaned the litter boxes.
I carefully put the lid on the scooper box and carried outside. Then I carefully picked up the scooper and flipped Igor off of it. I was worried he wasn't breathing, I didn't want to do bat CPR. Then I looked closer and I could see his tiny heart beating a thousand beats per minute.
I partially covered him with a leaf and left him alone.
When I returned to check on him an hour later, he was gone. I'm certain Mrs. Igor was worried about him. (Really, honey, I was trapped. I wasn't out all night with the guys!)
THEN as if I didn't have enough problems, I have another one. Or in his case, three more.
Yoo Hoo has competition for snacks.
This cutie has two siblings. All have come for snacks. *sigh* They are very skittish. Fudge is not pleased.
I have spent the last few days on my hands and knees. The floors at the Cat Ranch are not clean, but we do have floors at House #1.
Fitting the boards around the steps took a little carving. Measure, cut, trim, trim, trim, trim.
Big rooms go fast. Way faster than the hall upstairs.
The moment it is finished...we stat filling the room up again. This is today's "Paint Me" pile.
While I finished the floor in the hall upstairs, Walt Kowalski installed the vanity in the bathroom.
Holes drilled, pipes connected.
Water!
Power Tower, the electrician, installed the light bar.
