Higgledy-Piggledy

I had this post half written. Then I lost it because I forgot to plug in the laptop. That’s about par for the course lately..

Please pardon me while I go off-kitty for a little bit, though it does effect the kitties. I think I’m real glad we decided not to decide on getting another kitty right now just because we were on vacation. I would have hated to bring another kitty into the mess we got ourselves into.

And it happens on the last day of vacation too! If it had happened earlier, we (and by we I mean Greg) would have had the days off to deal with it.

I had been wanting to get a new couch. We were going to use our tax refund to get a couch or a couch and chair. I was having trouble finding just what I wanted though. So I kept going back and forth between wanting the furniture or new carpet. Greg wasn’t too sure about carpet because Star had been a bad girl in a few places in protest of Leo intruding in her life..

So I had the bright idea, lets get the carpet cleaned and get a couch. Moving things out of the living room for the carpet cleaners we discovered a problem that we kind of knew was there, but it was much worse than we thought.. Between a few leaky air conditioners, stored things causing condensation to build up, and poorly made walls, we had a mildew problem. And it turned into a mold problem on the carpet and up the wall. Not good.

The carpet cleaners wouldn’t touch it, and I suppose I don’t blame them, but they were wrong about the extent of the problem. They said the padding would be worse, and it wasn’t touched. By the mold anyway, but by the kitty mess... whew! That was awful! I cannot let Star take all the blame for that. Previous kitties had also done their damage, but wow, when you start ripping out the carpet, it just all comes back!

I guess I am going to get carpet, but this is not the way I was hoping to do it. We are also ripping out half the walls to just get rid of the problem areas rather than try to clean them, if that’s even possible. So right now everything is all higgledy-piggledy, half a carpet, half a wall, furniture stuffed wherever.. It’s so lovely let me tell ya..

Oh, did I mention that the cement floor under the carpet is cracked badly and has to be repaired before we can put in carpet? And after repairing it, we have to paint it with killz (however it’s spelled) to block/trap mold and kitty smells. More fun.

Star and Leo don’t know what to do. Windows that they haven’t had access to are suddenly uncovered. One had our old TV cabinet in front of it which was supposed to go upstairs before twin 1 moved in and it kind of got stuck downstairs in front of a window because there was no where else for it. Another window had a cabinet I inherited from my gramma in front of it which was also supposed to go upstairs at some point.

Now the TV cabinet is up, and the other one is going to stay down as I decided on a place for it. I have kitty plans for it too... but Greg doesn’t know about that yet heh heh heh!

The video cabinet had been hiding some of the wall that had to be removed, so it’s temporarily in front of one of the newly unblocked windows and the kitties, oh they love it! A new view and a lovely place to lay! Too bad it’s not staying there. The other unblocked window is not very kitty accessible.. but Greg puts the folding chair that Leo loves in front of it at night. Yeah, he spoils them!

I’m a little worried about Leo while they are working on the walls this week. I don’t want him going outside and I know the door will be opening and closing a lot and maybe even be stuck partly open with power cords. I hate the thought of locking him in the cat room for the whole day, but I might have to just to be safe.

Star is not an issue. She will hide under the bed all day and not even come down while there are people in the house. She’s not terribly fond of my nephew who will be doing a lot of the work. Leo will hide, but will come out after a little while, which makes him an unknown factor.

I have to tell one thing that happened last night. With all the going in and out with rolled up carpet pieces and bagged up walls, moths and lightening bugs kept getting in the house. Leo, as you know, is a bug hunter of the highest order. Star will also track the occasional bug. She saw a large moth fly in and chased it across the room to the bare cement side. Where, as luck would have it, Leo was crouched waiting for the newest bug to come where the light was.

Star skidded to a stop and she and Leo were nose to nose about a foot apart for all of ten seconds! Then she went all hissyface and he almost did a backflip tracking the moth. He was the victor, flattening the fluttering ‘toy’. Star sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes, having come face to face with the enemy. Then she went off in a huff to mark the only scratchy to escape the clear out as her own.

I sure hope this doesn't take too long.. the kitties and me are gonna go nuts with all the changes!

Before the mess.. The Great Toy Line Up

It lasts like that for all of an hour before Leo rearranges it to his liking.

His liking is scattered across the room!

Before the rip out, but after moving furniture, Star had some play time.

And Leo got a new, smaller fedder! It was very munch-able.