New York Renovator

I love hard work. I could watch it ALL DAY!

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My daughter snapped this on her cell phone. Where could that skulking kitty be?! She’s doing it rite! LOL

Well, another year is winding down. I haven’t been thinking of any thoughts on renovation lately until about a month ago. It was about that time that I really “let” my desk “go.” I have always been a neatnick with a super-tidy desk, but I’ve been SO SO busy the past few months (since October, really) that my desk is a SHAME. A cryin’ shame. I even took a photo for you to see how bad it is. lol

Yes, everything but the kitchen sink and the diamond necklace. Yow.

The desk is actually one of the best ones I’ve ever had, The thing is solid wood, an old teacher’s desk from the 1940s. But it’s not exactly computer-compatible, as you can see. I just juggle way too much stuff on this desk, and with all the paperwork for the home business, I’ve run out of places to put things.

Which leads me back to thinking about renovation again. I’m going to create a built-in bookshelf and desk system in the living room. We have tons of books, most of them in boxes, still! I think my living room will look beautiful with some elegant shelves and a nice tidy area to work. I’ve ordered a few base cabinets and am waiting for them to arrive. Once they finally do, construction begins. I will have to reroute one wall sconce light and make a bit of a mess with the existing furniture, but we can handle it. I think I’ve finally got a vision for the room. It will probably take us about a year to or more to finish it, as it also involves removing an existing gas heater and installing a gas fireplace to a more central part of the room. Because a large portion of this room is my “home office,” I can deduct some of the expenses on my taxes. Thank God.

Anyway, I’ll have more updates about this later. I intend on building my own shelves from wood, so the project will certainly take some time. But when it’s done, it will look and function SO MUCH better. And the new shelves will give Livvy all sorts of amazing new places to hide!

I wonder if Livvy is the first cat to ever climb Blue Mountain, in the Adirondack Mountain range of New York State? Our climb was quite the adventure! The mountain rises about 3700 feet into the atmosphere, and the views are incredible. The climb, however, is rather laborious. Livvy could only get so far.

She wanted to stop constantly, to smell the balsam fir and ferns. These were new smells for her.

Some of the trails were pretty rough.

After over 2 hours of hiking (and being carried in a cat carrier some of the way), Livvy stopped. She was probably 20 minutes from the summit, but the climbing was very intense and I didn’t feel comfortable hauling her carrier up such a steep incline (and back down again). I was afraid one of the guys would slip and Livvy would go tumbling down the incline. Also, Livvy had had very little water and I didn’t want her to continue climbing. So we stayed put on the trail and waited while the family reached the peak.

While we waited, several other groups of climbers passed us by. Each one of them exclaimed about Livvy— “Well, that’s a new thing!” ‘OH, what a beautiful cat!” Livvy got lots of attention. I really think she may be the first domestic cat up Blue Mountain! It was good to get away from home, away from the hustle and bustle of work and the city and news about the economy and annuity rates and all that stuff. Livvy ABSOLUTELY LOVED the Adirondacks. We came home a week later, and she was disappointed—- I think she thought we were going to live there! Ah, if only!

If you want to read more about our climb and see some spectacular photos of the views from the summit, you can read my article about our adventure, on my New York Travel blog.

…and what’s yours is mine, too.

Livvy! I was going to drink that!

…and how do I know that?

Why the stink in the dog room is starting to subside.

A little.

Like celebrity wedding trends, the smells of doggies waxes and wanes with the humidity. LOL.

But aren’t they the cutest little things?

We’ve been doing a little experiment with Smell Control. So far, the best cleanser is bleach and the best deodorant is Linen Febreze. The Febreze is intended for clothing and furniture and the like; I use it to spray the curtains and couch. For the air, we all prefer the Thai Dragon Fruit scent. It’s sweet but not overpowering. And it’s WAY better than the smell of those little tootsie rolls the dogs leave behind. :-p

If you’re interested in nose-centered statistics, check out the Febreze “Breathe Happy” page. I always knew that we associate smells with our memories more powerfully than our hearing, but some of the stats were surprising and very interesting.

She’s been doing it ever since she was a baby: cuddles.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of her cuddling because, well, because she usually cuddling the photographer (me) in the wee hours of the morning. It’s like a routine with her.

Early every morning — sometimes as early as 4am but other times later — Livvy scampers onto my side of the bed, seeking to get close to my face. If I have a pillow over my head (I do that to block out light and noise sometimes), she noses her way under the pillow to press her cold, wet nose onto my cheek or nose. If I am not already awake, that usually does it.

She worms her way under the blanket (if it’s winter) or on top of the blanket (if it’s summer) in search of my hair. I don’t know what it is about her and hair, but she loves hair! The longer and darker, the better.

Once she’s face first into my hair, she “kneads” it with her front paws. I read somewhere that this is called “smurgling.” I don’t know if that’s really the word, but it’s comical enough for the family to have become attached to it. So now when Livvy starts her kneading, we call it smurgling.

Sometimes her very sharp claws snag my tender skin- ouch! She doesn’t seem to realize it. It’s like she’s in this other world. Her eyes are glazed, half shut, she drools a little, and kneads with her paws. She rarely purrs when she does this. And she does it just about every morning. My husband thinks Livvy smurgles because she was taken from her mother when she was too young (only a few weeks). Since I was so affectionate to her, she adopted me as her mom.

She’s such a sweet, affectionate kitty. She doesn’t like to be held or carried. She won’t sit on laps, she’d rather sit on a towel or coarse chevy monte carlo custom floor mats instead (none of my cats have ever been lap cats!). But she likes to plant herself under my neck like in the first photo above. My guess it’s because it’s warmer there, and she can hear my little cooings to her.

I love my Livvy.

We’ve been away from the house so often this summer (a roofing project) that Livvy has spent long periods of time alone. I’m starting to get a little concerned. LOL

Seriously, when we leave, she moans and howls quite loudly out the window. As we drive away, we can hear her pleas through the window. Sheesh!

So the husband turned to me the other day and said quietly, “She needs a buddy.” I looked at him, my eyes shining. I knew exactly what he meant. No, not another stuffed animal, not a golf garmin buddy— another KITTEN!!!!! This from the guy who has to hold me back from becoming a crazy cat lady!

We *may* get another kitty, then. I’ll keep my eyes open for a Siamese or Siamese mix. Maybe by winter, Livvy will have a pal. And I’ll have another tiny feline to squeeze!!

Oh she’s a BIG BAD PUMA when she’s outside. But put on a great big Uncle Sam hat for the Fourth of July, and Livvy’s a little baby cat who needs her mommy. LOL.

My husband got a huge patriotic hat for Independence Day. Think “Cat in the Hat” size. Yeah, it actually spooked me, too, when I first saw it. He wore it for the first time around Livvy today, and this is her reaction.

Good thing we don’t have fireworks!

She’s so cute when she’s spooked.

Well, well. This will take care of the weeds in the garden.

I came right up to the thing, about 3 feet away. It’s a young buck, can you see his stubby antlers? He kept rubbing them on his leg. When I tried to touch him, he jumped out of the garden and wandered around the backyard for a while.

The deer here are incredibly tame. He sat in the grass, swishing flies from his tail and munched on my lawn.

Later, I was sitting in the screened gazebo with Livvy when the deer came around again. My other cat, Fuzzy, was with us, too. Fuzzy was oblivious to the deer, because he was facing Livvy with his back to the deer. The deer spotted Fuzzy and for some crazy reason, started to approach him quietly. It looked like the deer wanted to play with Fuzzy! Slowly, slowly, the deer gingerly crept closer to Fuzzy. Livvy and I watched, spellbound, from only about 3 or 4 feet from them.

Suddenly, Fuzzy turned around and saw the deer. BOING!!! His tail exploded into a bushy rod and he sprinted for the basement doors (where he sleeps). The deer snorted several times and chased after Fuzzy!!! It was pretty wild! I’d never heard a deer snort, and I don’t think Fuzzy had, either. Fuzzy peeped his little head up from the basement steps as if to ask, “Is the coast clear?” The deer stared after him, wondering why the pretty kitty didn’t want to come out and play. It was a “Bambi and Thumper” moment. LOL.

Well, the deer eventually gave up and wandered back into the garden to eat more weeds.

It’s one of her favorite chores. Can ya guess?

From what I have seen on your blogs, it looks to be one of a kitty’s favorite things– “helping” to make the bed. LOL. Livvy LOVES it. She races all around the mattress as the sheets and blankets flap up and down, snagging and grasping the flying materials. It’s so cute. Even though Livvy is now a mature young lady (she’ll be three next month!), the kitten in her rises up when she helps to “make” the bed.

It’s so amazing how quickly Livvy has grown up. I wish kittenhood lasted longer. I really miss the cuddles and the squeezes; I miss carrying her around in my pocket all day long. Now, she’s too grown up for that. I am SO tempted to get another kitty. But then, reality hits. I can’t have too many more pets, we are busting at the seams now. The last thing I want is to have more critters running around, needing their shots and needing to get “fixed” (which is incredibly expensive, yikes!). Non-neutered male cats, especially, are a pain in the butt. They walk around with this chip on their shoulder (or maybe it’s just the kitty testosterone patches), whizzing everywhere, ugh. I have sworn off male cats FOREVAH.

But kittens are soooooo cute!!! Must. Resist!!!!