Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I got those remodelin' and hairball blues

While MHRC still grinds along at glacial speed and we still don't have shop drawings for all the pieces of radiology equipment that we need, life at home at the Happy Kitten Highrise (HKH) is looking up. First off, it turns out that Hazel is only allergic to Laxatone, not terribly ill or fixin'-to-die on us. The vet recommended that we feed her wet food on a regular basis (right now we're trying half a can a week) and do regular brushing with a fine metal-bristled cat brush. We got the brush and food this weekend, and so far it's been three days since any sign of hairballs. Hazel hates brushing. Actually, she hates contact. She only occasionally will come up to you for a petting, and you can only get in a few strokes down her back or scrubs on the head before she takes off. The best way to pet her is to sit on the toilet, pants about the ankles. She knows you can't get up and get her, so she'll come up with a small "mew" and ask for a petting. So, brushing Little Miss Touch-Me-Not involves chasing her under the dining room table, throwing aside the chairs to wrap her under your arm, or perhaps closing the hall doors and chasing her into a trap there. She'll squint and fold those little tabby ears back like she hates it, but she purrs while she's getting brushed. I think at least some part of her is glad not to be barfing like a supermodel every day.

Meanwhile, Guy and I have decided that our deadline for the everlasting remodeling/updating/improvement project in the HKH is March 17th, a Monday. There's some painting and touch up to do on the living room wall, some wood trim to be tacked up on the shelf/wall in the living room, and some sanding to do on one door in the hall casework. There's also a little paint touchup and trim to do in the bathroom. All the new furniture has been received and assembled in the house, and some cleaning and filtering of stuff has also been accomplished. Guy has made at least two trips to Goodwill/Salvation Army, and we've thrown a fair amount of paper and plastic into the recycle bin as well as basic stuff in the trash. We've unloaded a few things on eBay and purchased a few things there as well--I believe we actually made money on eBay. Surprise.

I'm wondering if I should post all the remodeling/improvements at once or maybe one room per post? I don't seem to have before and after photos for all the areas, but I'll be posting those that I have. I also have prices for everything, which I will also be sharing with my WAD readers along with lists of the time, effort, and inconvenience involved. Time and cost are two major factors in any home improvement project, or procrastination thereof.

So, as I prepare to launch this upon y'all, any questions or requests? Designing minds want to know.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who's doin the punch list? Maddy?

Miss Kitty said...

First, you need to get more kittehs. Then you can think about posting on your home improvements, room by room. :-P

And just how, exactly, do you plan to get anything done while I'm in town for Spring Break? Hmm, missy?

St. Blogwen said...

O yes, o yes, we can haz photies? An remuddling adwenshure storeez?? Teht wud b teh awsum!

In other words, any venture you might care to make into housebloggery would be edifying to one and all. Me, I do mine at www.sowsearhouse.blogspot.com.

Mile High Pixie said...

Mom: Yes, Maddy was doing punchlist and Hazel was backchecking. Hence, nuffin got done.

Kitteh: Room by room is how I might do this, just to keep things simple. And Guy says I can only get new kittehs when I get rid of the old ones. The vast majority of punchlist items should be done before you get here.

St Blogwen: Remoddl is teh awesum!1! I'll be sure to hop over to your other site soon!

Tom Harper said...

Glad to hear your cat is OK. We have a long-haired cat with a hairball problem. The vet prescribed Lax-Aire (probably similar to what you were using). It didn't make things any worse; it just hasn't made any difference either way. I groom him fairly often; I'll see if more grooming will help.

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