Herron Family

Muncie has been adopted!

I am absolutely thrilled to share that I've learned that Muncie was adopted about an hour ago!!

As you know, we had to surrender him to a shelter because while he got along with us terrifically well, he did not get along with our four (at the time) cats.  So we took him to the Humane Society in Englewood, a good 45 minute drive south of us,

     

because we knew they were a "no-kill" shelter.  Muncie was such a special cat that we did not want to see him euthanized just because a place had run out of room.

Well, he showed up on their website as a cat available for adoption yesterday (you can check it at:

http://www.humane.org/index.php?a=1

so I wrote to send them some photos, since there wasn't one there yesterday.  There is a photo today, and if you enlarge it, you can see that he wants attention.  He does not look happy.

However, it is my fervent hope and prayer that he is purring with delight as he goes home with his new humans.  He'll have them wrapped around his tail in no time!

This is good news to warm our hearts as we continue to mourn the loss of Tasha.

If you would like to make a donation of any kind (not just cash) in his name, please read of all the ways you can help the shelter at:  http://www.humane.org/index.php?b=1 .  They probably need a refill of their catnip supply as well!

 

Have a wonderful "forever life" Muncie!

Update since yesterday - pass thru and library

Bill was sitting in his office yesterday afternoon showing a friend a few photos on this blog.  Every time he went back to the home page, it had changed.  Then it dawned on him that I was updating it while he was viewing it!

In any case, he reminded me we still had photos in the camera that I might want to include on the blog.  Like the ones of he and Curt putting the blue quartz top onto the brace for the pass thru ...

 

I'm told this piece of quartz weighs quite a lot, so the two of them were working to pick it up.

Phew, let's push this sucker into place!

Curt loves this pass thru.  We do too!  It sparkles in the light, and there will be a variety of sunlight and article lights on this counter.

Here's my view from the kitchen sink out the old kitchen window into the new Feline Room - still filled with my library!  Oh, well, we'll be getting to that soon enough!

Big Block had to test this counter out to be sure it was OK before they permanently attach it down.  I knew she'd be the first up on that counter!  She wanted to sit on the window opening when it was open block, so we put cutting boards across it so she wouldn't fall in.  It does not surprise me that she's enjoying her new breakfast nook.

And speaking of the books still packed up in the Feline Room, here's today's view of the library.  Mike and Bob finished putting trim up today I believe.  Clamps are hanging everywhere.  It's actually a rare gloomy day in Florida so it's darkish outside.  Good thing we put in those track lights circling the room.  Now imagine this all nicely sprayed with polyurethane, the paper removed from the floor, a cushion on the huge bay window seat with a pile of comfy pillows, a cushy love seat in the center of the room, watching someone else put up a few thousand books on those shelves.  Heaven?

The Library continues

A quick update on the library ... Mike and Bob continue to build the shelves in the library.  I believe all the cases are made now and they are beginning to put the trim in place.

You can't see it from this photo, but it's really quite exciting to watch all this go up, one cabinet at a time.  I see I jumped ahead by telling you all the cabinets are in for in this photo they're working on the corner cabinet that is laying down right now.  They do have that in plus the cabinets across the top of the bay window to join up with the shelves Mike started down the other wall.  I can't wait!

Unpacking studio supplies

We have also been getting the built-in cabinets for my craft/scrapbooking studio.  We made the walls so colorful because we knew the furniture was going to be all white, hence not to distract the creative process.

I've divided the room in half, in my mind.  One side has the computer and all the peripherals, the printers, the scanner, and so on.  This particular photo shows where I'm sitting right now.

The other side holds all the scrapbook supplies.  Or it will, one day, when I've got this all sorted out.

Just where will these go I wonder?

I even have the paper bin.  I don't have it set all the way up yet, but there will be columns for three things.  Here you can see the bins of paper which are scraps, all organized by color.  The next section to the left will hold 8 1/2 x 11 paper, and the next three columns to the left of that will hold 12 x 12 paper, the main size for scrapbooking.  I'll have thinner shelves than you see here to hold that up.

I think I have a LOT of things to do!  And a lot of fun to be had. 

New kitchen cabinets and sink

We have most of our new kitchen cabinets plus our beautiful new Corian countertop!!

But before the cabinets went in, we had our re-plumbing re-plumbed!  When they re-plumbed the house, they couldn't get into the wall with the pipes, so they ran them inside the old kitchen cabinets.  When the cabinets were removed, the plumbers were free to then put the pipes into the wall.

The pipes go from the kitchen sink and dishwasher on the left toward the right of this photo and into the wall shared with the guest bathroom.  This is also the access to the plumbing for the bathtub, if there is ever a problem.  (Aren't you glad you know this?)

This photo is the bare kitchen.  We'd had a backsplash that's been removed.  The microwave/hood over the stove has been removed.  All the old cabinets have been removed.  Looks barren.  

Now, watch this change!

And there's more!

And even more!

The new Corian countertops were installed, and this gentleman is drilling a hole for the faucet for the new sink, which you can see has already been under-mounted.

Now that looks much better!

We will be putting up a tile backsplash that will incorporate our three main colors - the adobe color of the walls and countertop, the maple, and the cobalt blue of the pass through countertop. 

We'll let you know when it is in.  Right now, we're still adjusting to not having to wash dishes in the bathroom sink any longer.

 

 

Pass through from Kitchen to Feline Room

The pass through from the kitchen into the feline room where the kitchen window used to be (eons ago, or before we began this renovation) is finally getting its countertop!  We had a beautiful blue quartz top made as a half circle to sit just outside the opening.  The quartz matches the same as that in the bathroom.  However, a circle this large needed proper support, so ...

 

our friends who made the spiral staircase welded together this frame to go underneath the quartz.  The vertical supports will be placed inside the blocks that make up that wall that used to be the back of our house.

 

Looks a bit messy now, right?  Well, it gets worse.  When they placed the brace in place, they realized that all that weight would push the square where the brace is screwed into the wall right into the drywall since there wasn't anything more solid immediately behind it - there were no firring strips right there.  So...

Curt managed to get some wood just behind where that brace will be screwed in.

Then he could magically put the brace in place.  But, you ask, how will it stay there?  Just wait ...

Concrete!  Rick mixed up some concrete and troweled into those holes in the block.  Curt is tamping it down all the way.

Now the brace has been inserted into the block wall, concrete put over it, everything leveled so that when the weight of the quartz top (standing next to it against the wall) pushes it down, all will be perfect.  We just need to wait for the concrete to dry now.

You may spy something new through that pass through, but that's another post ...

A new name for my lonely ones

I have received the most lovely condolences from Carole Nelson Douglas, the author who writes the Midnight Louie mystery series, as well as many other books.  She was the person who named my group of four cats - Big Block, Tasha, Riley, and Indy - The Fab 4.  We loved it!  When Zora joined our family, we became the Fab 5.  Yet somehow, renaming them the Fab 3 felt so lonely. 

Carole came to our rescue.  In signing off, she sent her best wishes to ... The Terrific Three!  I love it!  It sounds so joyful and happy and whole again.  A new beginning rises up out of the ashes.

Bill swears he saw Tasha at the bottom of the bed this morning when he awoke, a position she used to be in all the time until recently.  We know she's safe at the Rainbow Bridge until we see her again.

 

We miss you Tasha. 

Tasha, may she rest in peace

Tasha Herron

April 8, 1994 – June 30, 2008

 

Tasha was our lovable grey tabby cat adopted from the Humane Society.  We thought our long-haired calico Big Block needed company.  We went to the shelter looking for a grey kitten.  They were so full, they were doubling up some of the kittens, and they’d put the cutest white cat in with the grey tabby I wanted.  Hmmm, we thought cats had to be from the same litter to get along well, yet they proved us wrong.  When the door of the cage opened, Riley climbed on top of Bill’s head, and Tasha sat contently in my arms.  When we let them into a small play cage, Riley climbed to the central platform while Tasha zoomed from side to side of the enclosure.  She was so pent up with energy! 

 

 

 

 

Tasha was always so easy to please.  She loved to play with “da bird.”  She loved a pink teaser so much that it ended up a nub on a stick.  When not playing, she was our “kneader.”  When we’d cuddle, she’d knead my upper arm as I surrounded her with it.  I felt such unconditional love and trust.  She also had a habit of finding you sitting down and mewing to pet her and then backing up just out of your reach and mewing again! 

 

 

 

In her third year, we adopted a stray cat named Indy.  He passed on from complications of diabetes we didn’t know he had at seven years old.  That got us watching our other cats much more closely.  We had blood work done on all of them, and we found out that Tasha was hyperthyroid. 

 

Thankfully, we have the Cat Thyroid Centernearby where they could treat her with a single shot of radioactive iodine to cure her.  After a couple days in isolation, we brought her home, and within a couple months, her thyroid values were normal.  We support the Snuggles program at Hugs for Homeless Animals, and they published a story on their website about Tasha’s treatment, with photos.  She was famous!

 

 

Along with the hyperthyroidism, we found the beginnings of chronic renal failure.  It took awhile before we even needed to treat her with pills every day.  Then it was a pill twice a day plus a liquid.  Then another pill to help her upset tummy.  From reading the CRF Center’s website, we learned how intertwined all the body’s systems are with the kidneys.  Tasha tolerated that regimen well and was just as loving as before.  She was one cat you could always pick up and hug.  With time, she no longer kneaded very much.  She didn’t even get into “her” position on the bed when we all turned out the light.  She was declining, and we couldn’t stop it.

 

 

 

 

 

Her labs got worse, and we added subcutaneous fluids. We watched Tasha lose weight.  Her empty skin hung down from her belly, and we could feel her backbone as we petted her.  I was alarmed at how skinny she was getting.  She’d been pudgy before, topping the scales at 15 lbs. Now she only weighed a smidge over 8 lbs. 

 

We entered an acute crisis when she stopped eating and drinking.  We had to give fluids every day and force feed a particular type of canned food.  We’d soften her favorite hard food in water so she’d eat.  We gave her bottled water so she’d drink.  Still all the pills and liquid meds.  She began isolating in a tiny cubby hole under the bathroom counter.

 

We wondered privately for days if this was the time we should let her go.  The day we voiced it out loud, she told us to let her go.  Our vet released her from her misery, held in our arms as she went to sleep for the last time.  When we arrived home, Riley, Big Block, and Zora all wondered where she was.  Riley had taken to sleeping in the hallway outside the bathroom to protect her.  He kept looking in her cubby and all over the house.  As a very intelligent and compassionate cat, I think he finally understood what we were saying … that she had gone to the Rainbow Bridge.  We told him we wouldn’t leave him alone.  After all, he’d lost his buddy Indy, and now he’d lost his first friend Tasha. 

 

 

Author Carole Nelson Douglas, who writes the Midnight Louie mystery series, dedicated a short story to me and the “Fab Four.”  We were all thrilled and read the story out loud together.  Tasha will forever be honored in Carole’s book.  Any mystery including cats that I have signed by the author, I ask that they include the “Fab 4” in my inscriptions.  When Zora arrived in 2003, they became the “Fab 5.”  When Indy passed in 2004, we fell back to the “Fab 4.”  Today we are the “Fab 3” for the first time.  It feels lonely.

 

I will make a scrapbook about Tasha and her life.  We’ll include all those funny quirks about her so we don’t forget.  She always had “toilet seat radar” and would show up in the bathroom as soon as you sat down and expected to be petted.  She’d also earned the nicknames “Tashanator,” “Meowzer,” and “Tashakins.”  She loved any kind of cheese and always knew when pizza arrived.  She had the “Silent Meow” down cold.  She could guilt you into giving her just about anything!  She’d even put her head under Riley’s chin as if to say “go ahead and lick me now.”  She’d nuzzle in under anyone eating something that looked better than what was in her bowl.  When she peed in the litter box, she always left a “corner pee.”

 

I’ll fight to remember those fond memories, not the sad ones.  After 14 years of mostly good memories, it will take a while to scrapbook and will help me grieve.  I’ll stay especially close to Riley and take care of his sisters.  Maybe we’ll even adopt a kitten after a while, but not grey.  No cat could replace her.  Rest in peace Tasha.

 

 

Sandie and Bill Herron

Parents to the Fab 3

The Kitchen

The time has finally arrived to re-do the kitchen!  Bill spent the better part of this weekend taking off cabinet doors and relocating or packing up everything.  We were able to take some platters and bowls we don't use often and store them in the pantry.

You can sneak a peek at the Feline Room through the next photo.  You can see the pile of boxes through the opening to the room.  You can see the "old Kitty City" that Bill built through the hole where the window used to be that will be a nice pass through to a blue quartz half round counter.

 

The plumber arrived first this morning to remove the pipe that is inside the cabinet.  It's hard to see but just under the blender is the access to the bathtub in the bathroom next door.  When they re-plumbed the house, they had to run the new pipes through the cabinet, which they could remove now that we're getting new cabinets.  They had to shut off the water and remove the pipe before the cabinet could be removed.

These guys were flying in taking these cabinets out.

Well the plumber didn't schedule enough time to wait for the cabinet removal before he could put the pipe in the wall, so all of a sudden, everything stopped!

We had to cover up the hole in the wall where the pipes entered the wall so the cats wouldn't go in.  I'd hate for one to get stuck.   You can see the three colors we've painted our living room.  First was the builder's almond (I'm dating myself), and next our first step at adding color to the house in a mild peach, and third is adobe dust, our current scheme.  The tile backsplash will bring together several colors from the house and tie them together.

We were delighted the plumber came back in the afternoon to re-plumb the re-plumbing!  He's cut a channel in the dry wall and removed the foam isulation so that he can run the new pipe inside the wall, not the cabinet.

Now he's got the stubs of the old cut off valves capped, and he can begin to install the new.

 

The grounds

Thought it was time I show you the outside of the house again, all pretty with flowers planted and the grass growing.

My uncle recently asked what the house looked like now compared to how it look when we started, so here's an old picture:

 

Guess we didn't keep those bushes in the front very well trimmed.  Actually, what's blocking your view of the left side of the front of the house is the oak tree we tried to move.

 

Here's the side view in which the garage is most evident.  Wow, did it change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a photo of the new side view.  And this one doesn't even have the new landscaping.

Here's the old back side:

And here's the new back side without any landscaping yet:

Might as well go for the 4th side.  Here's the old:

And here's the new, but sorry, not with landscaping yet:

I can see a few differences.  Can you?

 

I have a chaise to relax in

I've been patiently waiting until the day we'd be able to order the blue chaise I found in a catalog.  We'd looked everywhere locally, and we even found one that was perfect at Rooms to Go, except the fabric was totally wrong. 

So we kept our eyes open, and I happened upon one in a rainbow of colors in the Home Decorators catalog.  When they sent an e-mail offering 15 percent off, we knew it was time.  It arrived yesterday in a huge box.  Bill had to put the legs on, and then the fun began ...

I won't be the only one enjoying this plush chaise in microsoft fabric.

"Screenhouse"

All the circumstances were finally right to get our front entryway screened again.   A screen door, of course, faced the front.  However, we have an opening to the side of the entryway as well.  I've kept my Christmas cactus there for years.

I inherited one plant from my grandmother more years ago than I'll admit, and as pieces came off, I'd stick them back in the dirt, and they'd grow new plants.  I ended up with so many plants that we had some shelves installed in that opening to hold them all.  Rickety at best, I had to tie the pots down so the wind wouldn't blow them off.  Plus, they were pretty smooshed up against the screen, so much so that

they were growing through the screen!  So as part of our renovation, we had a pad of concrete poured at that opening.  It was screened in, not straight across the opening, but out to the edge of the soffit, over the width of the opening, and then back in to the edge of the opening.  We will have some shelves made up so that we can put the plants back there without being quite so cramped.

When I came outside to peak at how he was coming along, I saw that he was definitely constructing a sturdy structure.  Take a peek at the size of these screws!

It was interesting to watch him work because it was completely custom made except for the door.

All along we've called this space the greenhouse.  Bill didn't like that name because greenhouses are made of glass.  Therefore, he penned the name "screenhouse."  And it stuck.

 

Library

Mike is back to finish building the library!  It's very exciting to watch Mike and Bob at work and see how much they accomplished just this last week.  Take a look:

The shelves that will be put into the bookcases as they build them, which they did with perfect precision.  Mike made sure that he had a line placed from one end of the room to the other so that the shelves lined up with each other at the support box for the railing for the rolling ladder.  He explained it all to me but I can't recall each step.  I just know that just making each shelf wasn't as simple as cutting a board.  They had to be rough sanded.  Then another piece of wood applied to the front edge for trim.  Then sand again.  Then they could be nailed into the bookcases.  From there, there will be even more trim added to the bookcases.  And many more steps! 

Each step done with such precision ...

You can even see the line he has strung across to stay even with.  Unfortunately, the two outlets in the wall were at a height that the shelf would have dissected, so they moved the outlets down.  No problem.  The bit of drywall missing won't ever be seen.  Watch how it disappears...

Can you believe it?  An entire wall in a week.  OK, they still have to go over / around the circut box, and that will take some time, but Mike says another couple weeks and they should be done!

Kitchen & Bath & Garage

I think it was all a ploy.  A conspiracy.  A plot!

Bill had Curt install the studio before the kitchen so that I would be occupied putting things away in the studio while they ripped out the old cabinets, fixed the plumbing that was run inside the cabinets, and installed the new. 

Guess what?  Curt will be here on Monday to start the kitchen!!  I'm so excited.  The final things are being done and soon we'll actually have our new house all done.  Well, Bill's Garage Mahal will still need some work, but if we can get the inside of the house done, at least I'll be happier.  :) 

I think I'll find a comfy chair on Monday and stay out of the way.  Curt will be here with the cabinets.  The plumbers will be here to re-do their re-plumbing which was inside the cabinet and they'll put it in the wall.  Mike, the carpenter, and his assistant Bob will continue working on the library ... pictures in a minute.  And Deo will seal the tile he re-grouted today! 

Unfortunately, some grout in the master bathroom shower cracked, so Deo came today to fix that.

 

Deo also began repair on the cut in the wall Mike had to make to fix the pocket door going into the master bathroom.  As it turns out, the reason the pocket door to our master bathroom was not opening or closing was yet another comedy of errors.  When the framers installed the separate frame for the door (by flashlight I might add), they did not secure one side of it well enough so that when the drywallers screwed into it, they pushed it inward making the frame too narrow for the door.

 

Plus, the drywallers' screw was too long so that it was gouging the door.  Mike opened the wall and carefully repaired all this through a straight opening (now covered by the trim around the door) on the bathroom side of the wall and the corner of Bill's closet on the other side.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They had to take all the trim off in order to gain access to the right places.  They put it all back on when they were done, and that covered the slice they made on the bathroom side, but inside Bill's closet needs some drywall repair. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deo also fixed the red grout in the Feline Room at the door ways where the sills had been installed.  We had a swarm of ants coming in a few weeks ago (sorry, no pictures, I was too busy catching them!).  It turns out that there was a set of three holes in the concrete under the weatherstripping that they were coming through because the grout was cracked and there was a small hole on the outside.  He's sealed that hole with clear silicone and put red caulk at the sills.  Since the only tube Bill could find at the store which was red was the expensive one, now we've got fireproof caulk at the bottom of the doors!  That includes the big doors into the garage. 

That might come in handy when Bill uses this new toy.  He's already put a welding helmet on his Christmas list!

Or the Motorhead Lounge starts hopping.  Curt installed our old entertainment unit from the living room which has now been painted red into the MHL:

They've even painted the black stripe on the unit in line with the stripe on the wall!

Progress on the studio

I continue to move into the studio.  The doors are up on the cabinets now, yet I still need the shelves! 

Until Curt puts up the big shelf under the tall window, the electrician can't measure for the appropriate under-cabinet light fixtures. 

I'm starting to put things into all these drawers.  Bill brought the boxes they were stored in to the studio so that I could begin sorting all the small things that go with scrapbooking: the brads, the adhesive, the chipboard letters, the punches, the stamps, the ink, and I could go on listing things for quite a while.  Now you know why I have 38 drawers!

I'm trying to keep the studio divided in two, in a way.  The right side has the computer, the printers, the scanner.  Once the shelf is up under the window, my reference library and books will be there.  Cabinets will hold extra paper, photo paper, inkjet cartridges, etc.  Mike, the carpenter, installed a great clear acrylic organizer for paper on the wall above the computer to store stacks of different papers I use constantly and some other items as well.  Since that's an outside wall, it took some doing to get the tapcons through the block wall.  That organizer isn't going to fall down, that's for sure!