Pre-Thanksgiving calm

Not much happening around the ol' homestead these days. I still haven't cleaned out the gutters or finished raking leaves. That wet snow from last week broke some of the taller perennials, so I may cut those back now rather than later.

Artsy pic of milkweed fluff

The usual suspects have appeared at the bird feeders - sparrows, house finches, goldfinches, nuthatches, chickadees, downy woodpeckers, blue jays, bluebirds, but not starlings... YET. Nothing exotic.

I have been looking for a TV couch where Clio and I can lounge while streaming my favorite shows. The requirements were something clean and comfortable but not expensive. Habitat Restore to the rescue! If you see something you like there, you have to act quickly, and I did. The pets took to the new loveseat right away.

King of the couch

This piece is in such good shape I kind of hate to let the dog up there, but that is why I purchased it. An old mattress cover should provide enough protection.

Cue up "Better Call Saul"

Another reason I wanted a TV couch is the recliner is perfect for bird watching. So now that is across the room, facing the backyard with a good view of the main feeders and the birdbath. I look forward to spending most of the winter out there, watching birds by day, watching TV by night. After all, it is the dormant season.

Quickie

Last weekend I assembled the bookcase and put it in the West Wing.  Most of the stability is provided by the cardboard backing, so I anchored it with knitting books.

The clock was an xmas gift from my son.

And I did bake dog biscuits, but forgot to take good pictures of them.

These are Plaque Busting ones - extremely crunchy - and should last at least a month.

Tonight we went to Lowe's and I bought a cupboard thingy for over the toilet in the laundry.  More furniture to assemble - yay.  I also bought grow light bulbs.  Still looking for a retractable clothesline.

And I ordered some seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds.

Litter Box Dilemma

Once upon a time, I kept the cat's litter box in the laundry room, in front of the dryer. This blocked a door I never used and also caused some swearing when I occasionally dropped a sock into the litter, but in general it worked okay.

Somewhere along the way, the cat box moved to the Florida room. This was better because the door I never used was no longer blocked, I stopped dropping laundry into the litter, and the mess was confined to a room that was a glorified mud room.

Now the Florida room is gone. During construction, I moved the cat box to the main bathroom. This is okay except when I have visitors or when the dog is looking for a snack. I contemplated moving the box into the bottom of the linen closet but this would mean either leaving the door to the linen closet open all the time or cutting a cat door in the linen closet door, something I was not all that enthusiastic about.

Then I saw this in the Plow and Hearth catalog:



Believe it or not, this "cat washroom" would fit in the laundry room, in the corner between the kitchen door and the new room doorway. The only bad thing about this location is stray litter may get tracked into the kitchen and/or new room. But it is a possibility.

Plow and Hearth also has some Dirt Trapper rugs I am interested in. And then there are the insulated curtains. I have them in my livingroom and bedrooms, and will now probably add them to the patio door and the new room.

An aside on cat litter: A while ago I switched from a clay-based clumping litter to Swheat Scoop. It doesn't clump quite as well, but my cat has stopped urping. I am probably jinxing myself by writing this, but seriously, she went from being The Urpomatic to being a non-urping feline. She gets an almost-daily dose of Petromalt, too, which probably helps, but still. No urping. Really. My SO tried Swheat Scoop in his cat's self-cleaning litter box, but it didn't work well, so bear that in mind.

An aside on the room: I was wrong about the building inspections being done, because there was one more final inspection. I'm not even sure what it was for, but whatever it was, it is done. I think the only things that remain are some electrical things (the outlets are supposed to be tied to a switch on the wall and the light kit for the ceiling fan needs to be installed) and a floor thing (there is one plank that looks flawed). I still don't like the feel of the wood laminate when I walk on it barefoot, but if I am wearing shoes, it is tolerable.