Sadie loves birds....

Sadie spends a lot of time in the window in my craft room.  The cardinals are new to the little feeder on the other side of the window.  Usually we get titmice, chickadees, the occasional blue jay and now the cardinals.  Sadie will lay with her nose on the window with the birds a scant 1/4" away and just watch.  Sassy, on the other hand, chatters at them and gets so excited she chases them off most of the time.

Carl got home late last night and didn't lock Sassy up but we didn't have any messes.  Hope our luck continues.

Walking on egg shells....

Everything is fine here.  Carl said when he puts Sassy in the laundry room at night, she just walks over to her blanket and plops down.  She's usually only there from tenish at night to fiveish in the morning.  She's very playful in the morning running from room to room.  Sadie is still Sadie, she's taking a pill every other day, she's quiet, seldom plays, spends her day under the bed, on the bed or in the window.  They play chase every once in a while with no discernible aggression.  Sadie rules on the top floor and Sassy rules the family room level, they share the basement and living room level.

I don't know what we're going to do when we travel next.  Keep Sassy locked up full time?  I doubt that our sitter will want to keep our hours for feeding and locking her up.  And I suspect Sassy is only good because we're home with her during the day.  We're eight days with no mess now.  I continue to check on Sassy numerous times a day, interacting with her each time.  Since no news is good news, if you don't hear from me for a while that means all is well.

Accordion Circle Card

I am loving these new Karen Burniston Pop It Ups dies.  This is the number 769 Accordion Circle with a few adjustments.  I also ordered number 770 Square with Circle Frame Edges.  I cut one circle frame, taped it together, scanned it, imported it into MTC, traced and then had a file with a complete frame that I could cut out on my Silhouette Cameo.  I've used both my file and the 770 file and like them both equally well.  The 770 file comes with three different designs, mine only has one so far but I could alter that.  I pulled out my small Penny Black stamps for this card and colored them with my Copics.  This card is perfect for those little images.  My white circles were cut from the Spellbinder Classic Circle Large set, the third one in.  I also cut frames for the back of this card to create a more polished card.  The paper is Recollections Black and White Paper Pad, the stamp sets are Purrfect Day and Hugs.  I chalked the cheeks with Pebbles Inc Chalk and added some Stardust Stickles to the flowers. 

Accordian circle card....

I am loving these new Karen Burniston Pop It Ups dies.  This is the number 769 Accordion Circle with a few adjustments.  I also ordered number 770 Square with Circle Frame Edges.  I cut one circle frame, taped it together, scanned it, imported it into MTC, traced and then had a file with a complete frame that I could cut out on my Silhouette Cameo.  I've used both my file and the 770 file and like them both equally well.  The 770 file comes with three different designs, mine only has one so far but I could alter that.  I pulled out my small Penny Black stamps for this card and colored them with my Copics.  This card is perfect for those little images.  My white circles were cut from the Spellbinder Classic Circle Large set, the third one in.  I also cut frames for the back of this card to create a more polished card.  The paper is Recollections Black and White Paper Pad, the stamp sets are Purrfect Day and Hugs.  I chalked the cheeks with Pebbles Inc Chalk and added some Stardust Stickles to the flowers. 

Still in the Big House (aka the laundry room)...

We took a road trip yesterday along the Illinois River to Havana, IL.  It's only an hour and a half drive straight through but we were looking for eagles so we meander.  We stop at boat ramps, lakes and wildlife refuges along the way.  Our count for the day was 35 eagles and 16 hawks, not our best, but a decent count.  Fifteen eagles in Havana alone.

Sassy spent our day out locked up.  If we aren't home to check on her all the time, she's in the laundry room.  When we go to bed at night, she goes into the laundry room.  Sassy has lost her privileges.  This morning both girls were in the family room and Sassy did a two hop toward Sassy, I swear she looked just like a bunny.  She got within six inches of Sadie and then turned around and headed for high ground (the footstool).  Sadie didn't even blink, she sometimes looks like she's carved out of stone, she just sits and stares.  But she hasn't hissed or growled at Sassy in weeks.  She's sort of like the teenager with a ten year old sister.  Whatever!

This was just a few minutes ago.  With temps due to rise to the 50s today, I opened up the front door.  We have a full length glass storm door on the outside and right outside that door is a birdbath and bird feeding station with tons of activity.  Both girls like to watch either from the hallway or in the bay window.  Sassy is a little skittish around Sadie but Sadie is a rock - I think she's just decided that Sassy is a figment of her imagination and if she ignores Sassy, Sassy will just go away.  We are encouraged by the lack of aggression.

Parole violation ....

Sassy went 3 nights and the 4th one she got the footstool and the chair that Sadie sleeps in once in a while.  Back in lockup.  Today the girls decided to help me craft, one more than the other.

Sassy never misses a chance to lay on my desk - of course she gets a good head and face rubbing when she does which means she's training me well.  We're pretty much resigned to keeping her locked up when we go to bed.  And then we just keep a close eye on her during the day.  She really doesn't seem to mind overnight, it's only when she's locked up and we are awake that she cries.  Yesterday the gate was leaning against the hall wall, extending out into the family room about a foot.  She kept running over and laying down right next to the gate and she never minds going into the laundry room when the gate isn't up.  Her food and blanket are in there and while she doesn't sleep in there when the gate is down, she does eat, drink and use the litter box.  I suspect if she hated being locked up she'd avoid that room. 

The cow jumped over the moon....

Supplies:

Spellbinder's 5x7 Elegant Labels 4

Peachy Keen Over the Moon

Debbie Mumm Baby Boy Designer Paper

Debbie Mumm Noah's Ark Designer Paper

E51, E95

I have you in my heart ...

Supplies:

PTI Pure Poppy card stock & ink

Hero Arts CL 272 - All Occasion Messages

Memory Box Woodland Branch

Memory Box Precious Hearts

Stardust Stickles

K&Co Rhinestones

I have you in my heart....

Supplies:

PTI Pure Poppy card stock & ink

Hero Arts CL 272 - All Occasion Messages

Memory Box Woodland Branch

Memory Box Precious Hearts

Stardust Stickles

K&Co Rhinestones

Thoughts on technology...

I was working on a computer in the early 80s when a portable computer was the size of a sewing machine and weighed more than a box of bowling balls and "reboot your computer" was the best fix when it broke down.  We programmed in DOS so I'm fairly comfortable with computers.  I've learned a ton of software over the years and still use a lot of it now that I'm retired.  I have a good 17" Dell laptop for editing photos in Corel and Elements.  When my husband has problems with his computer he always calls me first and I'm usually able to figure out what's happened and can get it fixed.

I have an electronic cutter that combined with my computer and software, allows me to design files to cut in paper, card stock and vinyl.

I have a home recording set-up that allows me to transfer all of our VHS tapes (we had hundreds) to DVDs because we ran out of storage.  I have a VCR that probably won't be around much longer, a BluRay DVD player so I can watch DVDs in my craft room, a DVD recorder for recording from the VHS player, a gizmo to stabilize video to make old tapes look a little better, a splitter so I can choose either the VHS player or the BluRay player to watch - and a Samsung TV.  And I hooked it all up myself.

I spend a lot of time in my craft room so I can pop in a VHS tape and hit record on the DVD recorder, pop out the DVD, put it in a case in the DVD cabinet and place the VHS tape in a box for storage.  Pays to have a backup of tapes that deteriorate every time you watch them.  Finding a good new DVD recorder without a VHS player in it is virtually impossible in the U.S.  The movie industry in their zeal to keep people from duplicating their DVDs have stopped the electronics industry from selling them individually.  When you buy a DVD recorder with a VHS player in it, you double your chances that something is going to break on you, one side or the other.  Electronics are designed to be thrown away, they are too expensive to have them repaired compared to the cost of buying new.  But that's the way of the United States, we're a disposable society.

I am in that position now.  My Panasonic DVD recorder is on the fritz.  I was unable to record Justified on Tuesday night (oh, the pain!) and finding someone to fix a Panasonic DVD Recorder was a treat.  Panasonic.com referred me to three companies, two in Illinois and one in McAllen, Texas.  One company in Illinois had six reviews, almost all negative - too expensive, took too long and finally couldn't repair.  One is over an hour away but no bad reviews so I guess we'll try to get the Recorder repaired there.  I'm amazed at how lost I am without it.  In the meantime (thank goodness for e-bay) I purchased another Recorder like mine as a spare and to use until my original one is repaired.  I will edit this post to add information about the shop we're going to, their prices, and what electronics you can have repaired there.

BTW, I still don't have a cell phone.  

Updated:  The shop in Abingdon, IL, Bradshaw's Repair Service was reasonable in price and the time it took to repair the DVD recorder.  And the upside, The Packing House in Galesburg serves a primo burger. 

Free at last...

Sassy spent most of yesterday in lock down.  Her litter box had a little pee in the morning but nothing solid.  We decided to keep her locked up until she pooped, so she was in the laundry room until early afternoon except for an hour in my craft room.  Last night we closed off everything - the spare bedroom, the basement and the living room.  There were two boxes left, my craft room on the top floor and Sassy's box in the laundry room which had two pees and a poop in it this morning.  And no messes.  I think we closed off every spot she's used inappropriately.  And, of course, we covered my chair and footstool again.  I've ordered a new product from PetCo (Earth Care Clear the Air Pet Odor Remover for Carpet & Furniture) that I hope will remove enough of the odor where she's gone before that it will discourage her from going there again.  We've used home remedies and a spray we got from PetSmart but so far nothing has worked (even the fabulous Martha Stewart, she said tongue in cheek).  This stuff got rave reviews and we've got four or five places she uses consistently.  So, if we can get the odor out, we'll consider opening up those rooms again.  In the meantime, as long as she's good, she can have the laundry room, family room, dining room, kitchen and the upper floor.  One miss-step and she's back in the laundry room.    Right now she's asleep on Carl's chair, Sadie is under our bed and all is quiet.

Sassy and Sadie hope Diane and her family get well again soon.

Chocolate therapy....

Supplies:

SVG Cutting File:  M&Ms

Air sprayed with Copic E74

Clear Stamps - Chocolate Therapy

Chocolate therapy....

Supplies:

SVG Cutting File:  M&Ms

Air sprayed with Copic E74

Clear Stamps - Chocolate Therapy

Lockdown - Day 1...

Sassy spent twenty four hours in lockdown.  She was installed in the laundry room yesterday morning about 5:30 a.m. with her dry food, water, blanket and some toys.  I rescued her for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and brought her to my craft room for some playing and leg stretching.  She spent a lot of the time by stretching up on her back legs and scratching at the door to get out.  She was locked up in my craft room on our last trip so maybe having the door shut is stressful.  Every time she tried to claw down the door (she doesn't have front claws), I called her over to play with her string for a bit.  Eventually she settled down on the window seat and talked to the birds coming up for peanuts.

The upside of locking her up is we didn't have to cover my chair and footstool with a pet carrier so we stored those for a while.  And this morning, I went into the laundry room and she had used the box multiple times, lot of pee but just a little poop.  We let her out to eat but I kept an eye on her.  I played with both cats for half an hour, and when I went upstairs, I went back down to check on her every twenty minutes or so, inviting her each time into the bathroom to 'go potty' and she finally rewarded my patience with both pee and poop (a much larger amount this time).  So, I hugged her, praised her, chased her (she loves that) and will continue to do that all day.  However, tonight she goes back into the bathroom.

A long article by the ASPCA on retraining cats to use a litter box says nine months is a cut off point.  If you can't get a cat retrained in that amount of time, it isn't going to happen.  November 11th is our date (272 days).  We won't get rid of her, but might consider keeping her locked up past that date, at least at night.  Our only problem will be our cat sitter won't be amenable to the regimen we're planning so Sassy will need to stay locked up while we're gone.  She won't have the time to wait in the morning until Sassy does her business, she just comes in to clean the boxes, feed the girls, love on them a little and then leave - she has four kids and a housecleaning business to run.

No problems with Sadie.  Since she's so crazy about sleeping on our bed, I went on an internet journey to find a cover (other than the thin piece of plastic we've been using that she's already poked holes in) so if she decides to pee on our bed again, it won't soak through.  I was unsuccessful in finding something.  While cleaning a litter box in the spare bedroom, I had an aha moment.  We had purchased waterproof pads that were on the bed in the spare room under a plastic tarp and covered with the tubs I keep my finished cards for craft shows in.  I sneaked them out under the pile, sewed three of the long ones together and it fit our king sized bed just fine.  We can wash it and it doesn't look crappy on the bed, more like a quilted spread.  Sadie is pleased with the comfort and we're pleased the bed is protected. 

Kitty Prison....

Sassy made another huge mess in the spare bedroom sometime between bedtime last night and waking up this morning.  She does her smaller messes in the litter box but saves the big ones for the carpet.  Easy to clean up, they are healthy bowel movements for the most part, just more volume than the ones in the litter box.  If we could figure out why the small ones go in the box and the big ones go on the floor, I think we'd have the key to her problem.  But since we don't, she's back on lock down in the laundry room for twenty four hours.  Carl showed her the mess and put her in the laundry room.  He didn't yell or scold her, just showed her and locked her up.  We're going to leave her locked up for twenty four hours or one bowel movement.  Show it to her (hope it's in the box), praise her, love on her a bit and let her out.  But, we'll continue to lock her up at night for as long as it takes for her to get it in her thick head, in the box - good, out of the box - bad.

I sometimes think my husband thinks this problem is because she's mad at us.  Since she's been doing it since the day we brought her home, it isn't Sadie's fault.  I personally think she's got a screw loose.  We still haven't talked about taking her back to the ARK, she's too much a part of the family and if we had an incontinent relative living here, we certainly wouldn't take them to a shelter.  At least with her locked up at night we won't have a mess to clean up.

The cow jumped over the moon...

Supplies:

Spellbinder's 5x7 Elegant Labels 4

Peachy Keen Over the Moon

Debbie Mumm Baby Boy Designer Paper

Debbie Mumm Noah's Ark Designer Paper

E51, E95

Sixteen days and counting....

We've had a bit of a mix-up here and I'm not sure what's going on.  Sassy has been spending time hiding in the spare bedroom, either under the dresser or on a towel covered tub on the spare bed.  She hasn't been joining us in the family room, she's not sleeping in my chair or Carl's chair.  Sadie has been spending all her time in my craft room on the window seat.  She hasn't been joining us in the family room either.

This morning both of them joined us in the family room and now Sassy is on the window seat in my work room.  Sadie has been up here but saw that Sassy got the seat first and Sadie moved under my desk.  Now Sassy is talking to the birds and I'm glad to have her back.  I hate to admit that she's my favorite.  It makes me feel bad that I don't adore Sadie the way I do Sassy.  Sadie is harder to love, she's stingy with her affection and even though I know why, it doesn't help the way I feel.  I can count on ten fingers the number of times I've heard her purr.  She seems to want to stick close to me, everywhere I go she's pretty much behind me but she doesn't want to be touched or picked up.  She doesn't play like Sassy does, when Sassy plays she puts her whole heart into it, Sadie might lift a paw to bat at something but she hasn't learned how to really play and that makes me sad. But we're very happy to have her here, perhaps someday she'll learn to trust us.

As the title implies, it's been sixteen days since we've had any mess outside of a litter box.  Yesterday I was refilling the air freshener in the laundry room, Sassy followed me in, I asked her if she wanted to go potty and she hopped into the litter box and pooped and peed.  Then she ran out like her tail was on fire so we played chase for ten minutes.  She was so tickled with herself that she ran all over the living room, up the chair back and into the window.  Silly girl.

They have different ways of relieving stress, too.  Sassy pads on soft afghans and her pet bed.  Sadie bathes us.  Anytime Sadie lets you pet her, she must be grooming some part of you while you do.

We got a ton of snow last night and after the last snow fall, I ordered hubs an electric snow blower.  While the extension cord is a hassle, the snow blower rocks - and blows.  I'm very impressed with how quickly we finished cleaning the drive but since it's still snowing, we'll wait a while for the second pass.  The girls both helped pull it out of the box and put it together.

Twelve days and counting....

Silly to get our hopes up again but it's been another long stretch without an "on purpose".  Not our longest, but we're happy with it.  Sassy must have been sucking down speed this morning.  She was all over the house running up and down the stairs, the furniture, in and out of rooms.  She didn't slow down for a couple of hours.  Strange....  Sadie was asleep in my work room, sacked out, dead to the world.  Before she crapped out, I watched them in the living room.  I watched Sadie chase Sassy under the Jimmy Buffet chair, Sassy laid down and watched Sadie walk away.   When Sadie got about six feet from Sassy, Sassy ran out from under the chair and followed Sadie out of the living room.  I lost them because I was headed to the bathroom but I didn't hear any noise and both are sleeping the sleep of angels now.  I've cleaned all the litter boxes twice today so both of them are making major contributions - which is OK with us, by golly.