Feline Friday

  When someone tells Lily to sit like a lady...

Feline Friday

Lily has PURR-fected the ordinary Cat Nap, crafting it into a work of art! She has a different napping position for each day of the week.

Monday -- hunkered down!

Tuesday -- totally posing!

Wednesday -- barely staying afloat!

Thursday -- wake me when it's over!

 

 

Finally...Feline Friday!

 

 

 
Wishing everyone a great weekend!

 

 

 

Feline Friday

I don't know how she does it, but Lily knows what time her automatic feeder will drop its delicious bounty of food! 

 She can be in a deep sleep but wakes up just a few minutes in advance to prepare.

 

Every Single Day she does some version of this. She starts to wake up, very slowly but still aware of the time!

 

Within a few minutes, she's sitting up. She's sort of in zombie mode at this point, but she has her eyes fixed firmly on the feeder. Sometimes this stage of the process starts a full 30 minutes ahead of the food drop. It's quite hilarious!

 

 Finally, she steps out of her basket and moves closer to the feeder. Can't be even one second late!

I will never understand how she does this. It's every single night...and every single morning, too.

Smart kitty!

 

Feline Friday

Maybe it's because she loves bread (with butter, of course), so I can't help but see the similarities between Lily's poses and some of our favorite artisinal treats!

This week, she posed as a croissant --- one of her favorite treats because there is SO MUCH BUTTER in the dough!

I also found her posing as if she were a loaf of sourdough bread, another of our favorites!

Who knows which baked goods she will imitate in the coming days? Stay tuned, friends!

Feline Friday: Getting Organized with Lily

 Lily spent some time getting organized this week.
I usually keep extra toilet paper in this drawer, but Lily decided it would be better for kitties!

 

I have to agree!

Of course, now we'll have to find another place for the toilet paper! 😃

It's so good to be organized!

Feline Friday

 A few years ago, our daughter's kitty Rory competed in a Halloween costume contest at her vet's office each October. One year, she actually won (you can imagine how ridiculously excited we were!). To our surprise, she received a huge gift basket full of goodies.

One item in the prize package was this velvety soft purple blankie. Rory didn't care for it so Bailey passed it on to us to use for Lily, who naturally took to it immediately.

 

 

Now because I live under a rock 😉, I had never seen a blanket with an animal sewn to it. Since the back of it is covered with the Feliway product logo, I assumed it was a promotional item the vet's office had aquired and tucked into the gift basket. I actually envisioned that Feliway sprays and collars could be arranged around the stuffed cat to make an attractive display in the vet's waiting area. 

 

That's the story I've told myself about this blankie for YEARS. I've told it to people who've come by the house. "Oh, that's a promotional display item from the vet's office to use with Feliway products like sprays and collars..."

 

 

 

  Anyway, when the kids were home at Christmas, Bailey and I were talking about the blankie and I mentioned something about it being a promotional item for the vet's office.

MOM.

Haven't you seen these baby blankets?

 

What? No!

Or these? 

 

MOM...they're everywhere.

 So...indeed they are! I have now learned that blankies with animals sewn to them are a THING. The Feliway blankie is NOT a promotional item but a cat version of this type of blankie.

Who knew?

 Regardless of its purpose, Lily absolutely loves her purple  blankie and uses it all the time. I now call it her "weighted blankie" when she's sleeping comfortably under it.

Now if only it were a tiny bit bigger!😻

 

 

Feline Friday

 It's not even the weekend yet, but it already looks like someone partied a little too hard!

Happy Feline Friday to all the coool cats and kittens!

Feline Friday

 Is it Feline Friday...or should it be Meercat Monday?

Whatever the day, Lily loves a tiny taste of butter!

 

 

Kitchen Makeover

Awhile back, I posted about the updates we've been making to our house in the laundry room and guest bathroom. Those changes were welcome and, especially in the laundry room, long overdue.

But the biggest change we've made was to the kitchen. Back in June, we had our cabinets, woodwork, and walls painted. We knew it was way too much to even consider doing ourselves so we hired it done. This process was a little more disruptive than I'd anticipated but I love how everything turned out. If you're considering doing a similar kitchen project, read on!

This is a BEFORE picture of the kitchen with our golden oak cabinets and olive walls. A few years back, we replaced the original white counter tops with black Formica solid surface which we decided to keep. In addition, we've been replacing our all-white appliances with stainless steel. The goals for this project were:

1) Paint the cabinets and woodwork
2) Paint the walls
3) Replace a few windows with rotted sills
4) Add a backsplash

Here is the AFTER with the changes done. It's hard to overstate how much lighter and brighter the kitchen is with these changes.

To prepare for a kitchen update like this one, it was necessary to unload all the cabinets. This is no small task, especially when they are as ridiculously full as ours. But it made for a good opportunity to sort through stuff and I vowed to put back ONLY the items that we need in the space. Everything else was donated or stored.

Lily and I worked on this task for a couple of days.

 

 Everything that came out of the cupboards went into the dining room for sorting. For the most part, our cabinets are filled with dishes, pots and pans, and utensils. Once everything was out of the cupboards I covered it all over with sheets in anticipation of the dust  -- and also just to conceal the mess!

Meanwhile, we picked out backsplash tile to match our cabinet paint color. Since our contractor was available, we had him go ahead and install it. I have wanted a backsplash for years but had been hesitant to take the plunge. I absolutely love how it turned out and wish we had done it years ago!

Next, the painters came to set up for the project. I guess I was mentally unprepared for the amount of kraft paper and plastic that would be installed. This part of the project took a solid three days! During this time, the crew also removed all the cabinet doors and drawers to take them to the shop to be painted.

 

Lily was a good "snoop-ervisor" throughout this project. In spite of the fact that cats tend to get stressed when their routine is upset, she did quite well with the kitchen being torn up for a bit. She loved being able to go into cabinets at will!

 

 

The painters sealed off the doors and openings to the kitchen. We went in and out through slits. There is a lot of sanding involved in a project like this. Even with the plastic, a fine dust travelled all through the house.

 

 

 As careful as I was about removing all the dishes and such from the cabinets, for some strange reason I had the idea that I could leave all the food behind the bi-fold doors of the pantry cupboard. NOT A GOOD DECISION! 

 

 

 

I guess I thought that because the shelves sit back a bit from the doors, we'd still be able to access them. But alas, our pantry shelves (with food) got sealed in, too, along with the fridge! We had to use a knife to cut a slit in the plastic to access Lily's (and our) food. Eventually we 

 

 

Had I thought this all through a little better, I would have set up a temporary "kitchen" in our basement area where we have a small fridge and sink. If you're doing a similar project, that would be my advice for you! As you can see from the picture below, you will not have access to your kitchen for several days.

 

 Once the taping was done, the crew sprayed the cabinets in place. We had a darker color (same as the upstairs bathroom vanity) sprayed onto the island. I initially wanted to do all the lower cabinets in that same color and I still think that would have been nice.

After the cabinets were done, it took another week or so to get the doors back from the shop. Meanwhile I sorted through everything and tried to "curate" the items I put back into the cupboards. I will say that sorting process was long overdue. 

 

The walls remained olive for awhile before we could get the painters scheduled again. I really loved how the olive color looked with the new cabinet color. 

But alas, it was time for a change. The walls were painted with a neutral taupe, the same as in the laundry room and upstairs bathroom. Although I loved the olive color, the taupe is much more restful. 

I never would have predicted we'd undertake this kind of kitchen update but I'm really glad we did. I have really enjoyed our "new" old kitchen!

With the kitchen done, the dining room is up next, hopefully starting sometime this spring. Then we will be mostly done with house projects, other than smaller ones we can do ourselves!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!
jp

Feline Friday

 While making dinner one night this week, Lily appeared on the chair. 

Her Cheese Detector had indicated shredded mozzarella was in the house and she was determined not to miss out!

 

 I see it! Cheese!

Here it comes!

 

 I smell it!

 

 

 And now I'm tasting it!

 

 

 YUM! So delicious!

Happy Feline Friday to our friends!
Hope your weekend is filled with a treat as tasty as shredded mozzarella cheese!

Feline Friday: Winter Wonderland!

Last Friday, a big snowstorm hit us, just as the weather folks predicted. It took a long time to move through and in its wake, left us 11 inches of snow!

I might be in the minority, but I always say that if the weather folks predict a snowstorm, there'd better be one! I love a good snowstorm. 

 

 

Lily was all bundled up during the snowstorm with not just one but TWO blankies!

In the morning, it looked like a winter wonderland in our back yard! Now keep in mind that I do NOT like driving on slick roads and I do NOT like being cold. But I do think the snow looks pretty, at least at first -- until it gets all dirty!

Spouse especially doesn't like the snow because it falls to him to clear it! The snowblower got a workout this time around. Shoutout to Spouse for doing a great job clearing the driveway and sidewalks after this storm and all the snowstorms through the years!

 

 Lily says thanks, too! She wants Cat Dad to keep the driveway clear so Meowmy can get to the store to buy Temptations! 😍