Note regarding the sick cat mentioned previously...

HOME!!, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Mister Kitty came home today, with an adjusted insulin dose, insulin kind and antibiotics. I moved him from the ER to my regular vet and once again, Village Vet of Mount Washington conspired to execute a near miracle. I love that they're on the same page as me regarding treatment. We go with stabilizing and maintaining Mister Kitty's quality of life. I don't need to know what caused this, just find something that stops it and returns my cuddly old man cat to relative health.

I mean, this is a near 20 year old cat who has had diabetes for at least 8 years. His problem? It's called age and a chronic condition. Anything can knock him off kilter. So we just try to knock him back on track and hope I get a few more comfortable months from him.

Sometimes, it just doesn't go according to plan.

So I got up and painted the door for a second time

Second coat, still taped, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Door after second coat, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Turned out pretty well, just a few spots that need a third coat.

Then I planted four pots of flowers.

Pretty pot, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Salvia, snapdragons and marigol, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Salvia, dianthus, something, something else, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Normal ones, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Malevolent ones, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

As I started cleaning house, I noticed my diabetic, geriatric cat, Mister Kitty was staggering.  After administering some Karo syrup, and him now acting disoriented and trying to hide under the bed (he never does this) it was off to the emergency vet.

And then it started to storm.  Nothing I could do from the hospital.  Good news is old man just was having a blood sugar crash, though who knows what caused it.  He's staying overnight to get him stable.

Bad news:  it was a torrential storm.  Water was (apparently) running down the door.  On the bottom half of the door, several places where it is bubbling, so I'll have to wait until it is completly dry, sand it off and start over.  Including the bottom of the window trim.  Ahrg.  Had my cat not been, you know, trying to die on me, I would've put plastic over the door (as I've done now.)

2nd coat, door, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Water damage, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Ah well.  It's just paint, right?

Exterior started! Weather foiled! NEWS AT 11!

  Or something like that.

Weather looked like it was going to hold long enough for me to work on it tonight.  Nevermind the $50 of flowers and dirt I'd just bought.  I can plant those in the rain if I must.

So I taped up and primed.

Primer, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

The cats LOVED this state of affairs, since it meant they could come and go to the deck at their discretion.  For hours.

My audience, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.


Mister Kitty, Loki and Devi, left to right.  And all those flowers I bought.  Doesn't the deep plum/purple one look freakish?  It's a salvia, which I always like for their weirdness.  They look like a flower elegantly puking up its insides.  AWESOME.  And the purple-black and yellow petunias just looked malevolent, so I had to get them too.


Alright then...there is a problem with this state of kittendom.  My cats don't listen to me.  Twice I had to drop the brush to remove Devi from the rail, and once I had to go fetch her from my neighbor's deck.


And then at some point, when I was in the thick of trim work (and it was dark out,)  Loki's war cry starts.  Now Loki is a big cat with a kitten head, and likewise kitten voice.  Very high pitched.  But the war cry...ok, Devi's is deeper, but still.  He was truly warning anyone and everyone that they were going to DIE if they dared encroach on his turf!  He was fully inflated and pacing madly along the side of the deck, rubbing the slats  and staring intently at something beneath my neighbor's deck, hissing and growling between the caterwauls.


I couldn't see anything. He was completely bottle-brushed and if there was a flat hair on him, it was only on his ears.  He can inflate like WHOA.

There are rats in the alley, but he usually goes predator over those.  This was the Defender and Chief Bowel-Ripper.

I tried shutting him in the bedroom upstairs.  Since none of the doors latch, he escaped and went back to the raaaaage.

 I thought I could take it, but then he started acting like he might consider jumping off the deck, and so, paintbrush firmly gripped in teeth and hoping I wasn't accidentally painting him or the deck, grabbed and threw him in the basement.  Which doesn't latch either, but I have a U-security lock to, uh, keep the cats out.  Point:  Sara But I was at my wits' end and little man needed a reboot, since I'm pretty sure our dangerous intruder was long gone.

And then I finished the first coat.  In all its glory below.

First coat, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.


Loki was clearly confused by the basement visit, but forgot the marauders from hell.  And is now chilling on the deck while I wait until it is safe to shut the door without gluing it to the seal.

One side painted!

Deck door, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Put a coat of semi-gloss on this morning. Was able to remove the tape and paper from the windows. Only peeled on the window trim in a couple of places, which I'll repair tomorrow. Put a coat of primer across the jamb where it was a) faded and b) I spilled a few drips...

Still have to do the exterior now.

Today's work...

I epoxied up the holes, then once that set, sanded them down with my handy electric hand sander.  It was AMAZING.  You could hardly tell there were holes there!

Here is is, pre-sanding.  I forgot to take a picture post.


Epoxied and ready for sanding., a photo by sarameg on Flickr.


Then I primed.  And added some tape.




And here we have the first coat.  As you can tell, it needs another.



What you can't tell is that I need to sand it in places.  Beginner's stupidity.  Have some drips and, since this is a high gloss (I probably should have gone semi...sigh,) places where my brush work was lacking.  That's tomorrow morning, I guess.  Still have to do the exterior.  MAYBE it'll get done tomorrow.  But I have evening plans, so....

I love the color.

eta:  looking at it, I think I'll go out and get semi-gloss tomorrow for the last coat.  Live and learn.  At least I have another $10 off coupon!

For the record...

This is the new, non-deathy deck at the end of the summer 2009. With Loki, the youngest kitty.  All those pretty flowers are dead now.  Will plant more soon.


I restain and lindseed-oil the bistro set every winter.  It stays indoors until planting season.




My deck, floral, a photo by sarameg on Flickr.

Gonna paint the door.

So it's been a while.... I've been taking a break from the great banister project. (Avoiding sanding!) 

I'll get back to blogging my experience with that, but in the meantime....

Spring has sprung!! And with it, wild hair to paint doors. So, step 1, remove peeling latex paint from door. Next step, buy paint, primer and prime and paint!  It's gonna be blue.  A brilliant, vibrant blue.


Here you can see most of the paint removed.  Need to do some scraping around the edges, but FNL is on (final season!) so I'm done for the night.  

Gonna paint the door., a photo by sarameg on Flickr.