However, it's not old to the people who visit. If they walk in and see rope unwinding on the cat furniture, they don't see the six times you've cut it all off and replaced it, or thrown out old cat trees and purchased brand new ones. They see only THAT shabby cat tree.
Today I was walking up to the barn, privately lamenting that the windows, once again, needed to be scraped and painted. A piece of glass fell out of one window awhile ago. It looks like hell.
I walked inside the first floor and the crumbling concrete by the door met my eyes. Sure, I'd done some creative spatter-paint work to disguise the stained 80+ year old floor. Still. The wind whistled around the door itself. It was a barn floor, and a barn door.
Enough.
Cricket and Pauli (the new cat) went into the vet today, and when I drove back into pick Pauli up from his neuter, I went to Lowe's to price sheet vinyl (it'll be $400) and Home Depot for windows. I decided to do the windows first and picked up four. Once I got Pauli settled in at the cat facility, I went into demolition mode and discovered old barns aren't so easy to tear apart. However they do finally succumb to a crowbar, hammer, and Sawzall. Then I discovered the opening were larger than the windows. I only managed to tack the windows up to make sure everything would work out before it got too dark. I'll have to take them down, flash them properly, paint the trim on both sides, and put it all back up again. But they already look so much better. And INSIDE. Wow. What a difference.
Four windows, vinyl on the floor, a new door, and a vestibule so cats can't sneak out. That's the plan.
6 comments:
huh. i've only ever seen beautiful cats and the beautiful person who cares for them.
Oh I know that feeling of having everything look "cat lady-like". I just went through a divorce myself (not initially my choice), and I was left with all 11 of our cats and ended up keeping the house. He refused to take care of any of them (even though he's responsible for half of them being there), and I did not want to take them all to the county shelter, because I know what fate would likely await them. I had to do that with our two dogs, because I simply couldn't take care of them, and that about broke me. It's not their fault (or mine) that this has happened.
I've considered adopting a few of my cats out...maybe fostering them through a local no-kill shelter. I still don't know if I'm ready for that, and they'll always have a home here. But if I consider that, I'm trying to make it so I could have people come see the cats and feel OK with how the house looks. I am still, after 9 years of owning cats, trying to be OK with the stigma of the "cat lady".
Because I know it's always going to be there. Regardless of what my place looks like, or how many I have, I will always love cats and be involved with them, and people will always judge and label me no matter what I try to do to fight it. I just have to be willing to be OK with the fact I am a cat-lady and that I have joy in my life they won't understand :) But I'm definitely not there yet, lol.
Did this have a point? I think it was supposed to be that I understand that feeling. The new windows look great though, and I'm sure it's a great feeling of accomplishment to get that done! I've been doing improvements around the house, and no matter how minor they are, it's really made me happy.
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Robert Heinlein the science fiction writer.
“How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.”
You probably already know this. Keep on truckin, cat ladies.
I'm only allowed 2 at this point. Had 4 once, it was lovely. Ramona would make another cats' life miserable. She puts up with her brother because he has always been there, but he isn't allowed to sleep on the bed.
The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous – Emile Zola
I have fully embraced my crazy cat ladiness. I used to be offended--not any more. Why is there no stigma for people rescuing and having many dogs? horses?
I love the quote Possumlady posted. I, too, have embraced my crazy-cat-lady title with pride. I think your windows are going to look great. Old chippy windows are pretty popular, maybe you can sell them to help offset the cost of the new ones.
The cat photos are adorable. I have not as yet been labeled crazy cat lady. However I have been labeled 'the recluse who lives on the bank' We are all unique in our own way. I agree with the others. Wear the name 'Crazy Cat Lady' with pride :)
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