C’est Fini

The dresser is finished (but not finished – painted that is). All the work is done and all the pieces are together. Now it is back to the toddler and full size bed pieces.

Dresser Update


I’ve made good progress on the dresser. It actually looks like a dresser now. Right now the top is not attached. It needs to be cut to size and attached. Then the curved crest goes on top and some trim and the thing is done (except for some fine tuning).

Here is the curved top to the crest being glued into shape. Got clamps?



After I finish and fine tune the dresser I will assemble the toddler and full size bed parts - sand everything and start painting.

6 Days in June

Here is what's been happening for the last 6 days:

14 June - Blood, Shoes, Books and Sawdust.

Today started with fasting lab work in preparation for a doctor’s visit next week. The phlebotomist took one look at my feet and said, “I love those shoes!” Now, my fashion sense is usually determined by sale signs saying 75% off plus an additional 40% and that is exactly how I bought these “Shark Tough” water sandals for use when kayaking. But this is the second time someone has said they loved these shoes. Karen described them as almost trendy. I just bought them because they were a great buy.

After returning home and getting some food in my tummy Penny and I went to the library. I needed more to read out in the shop. I’m averaging a book plus every 2 days.
The rest of the day was spent in the shop.


15 June – Pancakes, Wine, Kitties, Tomatoes and Sawdust.


Banana pecan pancakes again for breakfast today. We did our normal Friday morning visit to Target. Today they had a bunch of wine at 75% off so we bought about 8 bottles. It’s probably a year’s supply at the rate we go through it. I just couldn’t not buy decent wine that only costs $3.24 a bottle.

Each time I feed or clean the kitties in the cage all but 1 of them run to the other side of the cage while I work. But one of the white ones comes over to my side and watches everything I do. When I set the food down it is the first one there and gets its fill before I close the cage and the others come over to feed. When I fed the kitties today I started with a plastic spoonful of food and held it out to them. Of course the white one was right there. With a little patience and time I had all 4 kittens eating out of the spoon. The older gray kitten, whom we are beginning to call Meredith, won’t come anywhere near the food until I close the door and go away.

Here is what the dresser looks like today. A basic box. I had fun drilling the 64 holes for the adjustable shelf supports. It’s a lot easier than it looks. You just take a piece of pegboard and use it as a template. The holes are automatically spaced correctly.Tomorrow I start on trim.

I haven’t had good luck with the garden this year. I put it in hastily while I was doing the sprinkler system and the plants are not growing well. I think I got the soil mix wrong. All of the tomato plants except the 2 bush cherry tomato plants got wilt. That’s a fungus that must have been in the soil. It causes the plants to – a – wilt and die. We are getting a bunch of cherry tomatoes though.

The squash and cucumber plants are not forming fruit. Caterpillars are eating the parsley. The “Bell” peppers were actually hot banana peppers. I do have lots and lots of basil growing and sage, thyme and oregano. I lost the cilantro again this year. The 2 eggplant plants are now forming fruit and 2 of the blackberry plant cuttings I took while kayaking have taken root and are growing. I will be feeding the birds blackberries next year.

16 June – Mahi-Mahi and Sawdust


We went to Harbordock’s for my Father’s Day lunch today. I had the usual fried fish, cheese grits (yum!) cole slaw and sweet tea. We got Penny’s favorite table – all the way at the end with windows on 2 sides. A gray heron visited on one of the dock timbers and provided a nice wrap-up to a very pleasant lunch. We hit Fresh Market on the way home and then it was back to the dresser. Today it was side legs and trim. It's not just a box anymore.

17 June – Fathers Day and Lots of Sawdust


We were treated once again to Walt Richardson and one of his singing homilies at church today. He volunteered to do the homily today. Father asked him what his qualifications were and he told him that he raised 8 children. Father jokingly told him that that wasn’t enough. Walt, who is African-American, told father that he would give the homily in high definition and living color so father let him do it. Each time I hear him sing I wonder if it will be the last. He has a hard time getting around now.



My Dad’s birthday always falls close to Fathers day so it was easy to remember. There was always some confusion whether his birthday was the 16th or the 18th but I would always send both cards together and that way the date didn’t matter.

Both Karen and Christy remembered Fathers day and called me. Karen called while I was sanding the dresser and I almost missed her call. The sander disguised the vibration of the cell phone. Today I cut down some ¾ inch thick poplar to ½ inch thick to use as parts for the 3 drawers and did some finish sanding on the dresser.


18 June – All Saw Dust All The Time


Today was all dresser day. I cut and sanded the drawer sides and assembled them.



19 June – Wet Cats, Knocked Up and Sawdust

We had a big rainstorm move through yesterday and we ended up with some damp cats. Today I made for a more rainproof set up for the cats. We’ve had so little rain that the cover they were under hadn’t been tested. It kept the cats mostly dry but needed some improvement.

We have 2 movies that we want to see and we knocked off Knocked Up today. Penny had a haircut appointment near the mall so I joined her after that. We got lunch at Krystal and ate it in the movie parking lot while listening to a book on tape. That’s the way we spent many lunch hours when we were working. We caught the reduced price matinee movie. I thought the movie was great. I laughed so hard during the delivery scene that my eyes were tearing. The movie touches on many serious issues but doesn’t loose its comic touch. I like it when I forget that I’m watching actors and just enjoy the story.

Back home again I put the bottom pieces in the drawers. My hands have been getting very sore so today was a mostly rest the hands day.

We had another rainstorm today to test the new set up. They came through this storm better.

Some Assembly Required – The Sequel


Since there are so many sequels this summer it is only fitting that I do one myself.

After Penny and I went Kayaking this morning (we also went on Monday) I spent the rest of the day working on the dresser. The result is that all the pieces are cut and now I am ready to do the fine tuning – routing trim and making shelves, drawers and the box that is the dresser itself.

I mentioned the rain we had yesterday. After kayaking on Monday we left the Kayak on the CRV because the sprinklers were running where we store the boat. I meant to take it off later in the day but forgot. So it sat top open to the downpour we had yesterday. Today when we drove to the beach the kayak would literally rock forward or back straining on the ropes as the water inside sloshed around. We had to dump the water out of the kayak before we put it in the water. It is not smart to use a kayak to collect water.

Crib Update – It’s a Crib!


Today I did the final work on the crib and assembled it. The assembly takes some time because it requires 8 blind connections – that is, trying to align and thread a nut balanced at the end of a screwdriver inside a hole. I’m going to work out an easier way to do this but for now I’m doing it the hard way. Here is the crib all assembled up on blocks in the work shop.


I’ve made the first cuts of all the major pieces of the dresser. Now I have to cut everything to the proper width and then I start assembling the dresser. The dresser should go together faster than the crib.


We finally got rain today. It made me quit early because the next cutting I do will be done outside on my bench saw. Weather permitting that gets started tomorrow.

All my time is going to the crib and the kitties so there is not much of interest to blog about.

8 June


I don’t have much in the way of “blog worthy” information. This is what I’ve been up to the past few days.


The kitties have settled in nicely. Marmalade and Unsub are back to their old routines with the addition of visiting the kittens in the cage. All 3 of the released cats come by and spend time with the caged ones. They even play through the wire mesh.


I began cutting wood for the dresser/changing table. I’m multi-tasking, finishing up on the remaining crib pieces and starting the dresser. My goal is to have everything ready for painting by the end of June.

In preparation for hurricane season I changed the oil in our generator and I’m using up our “old” gasoline supply in the cars. Next is to refill the gas cans with fresh gas and hope that, like last year, we won’t need to use it this year.

Finally, the next time you see a kid eating dirt he may just be depressed. There is an article in this month’s Discovery magazine about a certain soil bacterium that may be able to alleviate depression. The results of a study indicate that you can get a dose of it simply by inhaling it. So if you take a walk in the wild or root around in the garden you might elicit a jolly state of mind. You can also ingest it through water sources or eating plants like lettuce and carrots. So, someone telling you to go eat dirt may be a good thing! Dirt may be the new Prozac.

Kitty Trek II – Catch and Release


We made the round trip to Gainesville again today, picked up the 3 cats and brought them back home. We got to eat lunch with Christy which was nice.


Upon returning home I brought the cats still inside the cage to the back yard. When I opened the cage and stood back all 3 cats just sat there. They were so conditioned to being trapped that they didn’t realize they could now get out. I guess there are all sorts of deep philosophical lessons involved here. Finally Marmalade slowly made her way out, then Unsub and then the kitten. I didn’t have any idea how long it might take for them to return.


Then I cleaned out the cage and transferred the tabby to it. The cage is designed to attach to the cage I currently have the 4 kittens in, sort of a modular cage design. So I put the 2 cages together and now the tabby and 4 little kittens share a nice roomy 2-section cage. Food, water and litter box in one section and a big carpeted play area.


This change was good for the tabby. The kittens are a ball of constant play and action and after a while the tabby couldn’t help but start to play too. It also started to clean itself, something it had stopped doing.


I got food and water ready for the cats in the cage and when I turned around there were Marmalade and Unsub wanting to be fed. So much for never seeing them again. So I put some food out for them and they ate without hesitation. It's as if nothing has happened.

Unsub visited her kitties. She can’t understand why they don’t come to her but she stayed around the cage with them for a while.

Today’s trip was only about 650 miles. Seeing the cats come through everything OK makes it worthwhile. Now we have a month to rest up for Kitty Trek III.

“:” oscopy

I know, that’s too much information already. The reason we are waiting until Tuesday to go get the 3 kitties is because I had a colonoscopy today.


Colonoscopy is the minimally invasive endoscopic examination of the large colon and the distal part of the small bowel with a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus.(Oh, way too much information.)

The procedure itself is a piece of cake. They give you nice drugs that make you doze off and then they wake you up and it’s over. The preparation, drinking 2 regimens of something called “Movi-prep” to clean you out, was worse than the procedure. After the procedure your system is full of gas (air) and it is every guy’s dream. Everyone encourages you to pass that gas! That’s exactly what you do for the rest of the day. The good news is it doesn’t smell. Oops, too much information again.


Tomorrow it is another kitty trek.

731 Miles


Yesterday I made the loop from home to Gainesville, Jacksonville and back. Total mileage, 731 miles. Total time with short visits to Christy and Christian and Karen and Tim 14 hours.


The 3 cats didn’t seem to be too disturbed by the trip to Gainesville. Every so often on the drive one cat, Marmalade, I think, would let out one big “MEOW” and remind me I was not alone. Then there was silence for and hour or so and repeat.

I ran into rain from tropical storm Barry east of Tallahassee intermittently going both directions. Fortunately the traffic was light and the rain, while heavy at times didn’t cause any serious problems. Knowing I would be driving in rain I put a fresh coat of Rain-X on the windows before this trip. Visibility was not a problem.


In Gainesville I delivered some goodies to Christy and got to see pictures of a house Christian is interested in. In Jacksonville I delivered some goodies to Karen and Tim, played with their new camera and felt the baby kick.


Today I was tired from the trip but otherwise OK. I left the cat trap set in case the little tabby cat got hungry. It did and I was able to catch it. That cat did not like being trapped. I caught him around noon. It’s 9PM now and it still hasn’t eaten anything. I’m hoping it will eat overnight and settle some tomorrow. So now we have the 4 little kittens and the tabby to hold on to for a month until the kittens are old enough to be altered. Tuesday or Wednesday it’s back to Gainesville to pick up the 3 cats and bring them back home.

It is tough doing this with the cats. I’ve had a knot in my stomach through this whole process. I know it is necessary to do this. This all started with Marmalade a year ago. Now all 7 of the additional cats are here because of her. We can’t let each of those 7 make 7 more and we don’t want to have them killed. So this is the way it has to be.


At least it has been a challenge catching all the cats. Now I’ve got a trap to try and get that pesky raccoon that is raiding the cat feeder.

Paul Plans, Kitties Laugh.


You will remember last time we left our hero with a dilemma of a burgeoning cat population. He had devised a Plan “A” and a Plan “B” to catch the kitties, have them altered and then to release them back to the wild of his backyard.


Today we find our hero executing his plan(s) and things did not go exactly as he would hope.


PLAN “A”:

Get the cats used to feeding inside a dog crate. Each day add a piece to the crate until it is a functioning trap. Observe the kitties feeding habits and spring the trap to catch as many as possible in one fell swoop.

Execution: After missing one feeding to make the cats hungry the food was placed in the crate. I went to the kitchen window where the trap release was. Marmalade, Unsub, 3 kittens and to my surprise one of Marmalade’s kittens went right in. Meanwhile the little black kitten was playing with a piece of cellophane on the patio and didn’t seem interested in food. So I waited. I had to watch Marmalade because she is always the first to stop eating and leave. She then sits right in front of the crate and this prevents any other kitties from entering. Finally the black kitty tires of the cellophane and jumps in the crate. With my heart pounding I spring the trap and I have 7 cats in the trap. My one fell swoop has worked!


I have rigged up a cage that fits up against the crate to transfer the kitties into. When I step outside and slide the cage up the kitties realize they are trapped and start trying to get out. Before I can open the door to the cage I see a seal point blur run beside me and then a black and a white. The kittens are squeezing out of the crate and escaping. I open the cage and get the 2 adults, 1 white kitten and marmalades kitten safely locked up.

This is what they squeezed through!

Now I have 3 kittens and Marmalade’s other kitten still loose.


PLAN “B”:

Reset the trap, put narrow wire mesh in cage. Hope the kitties return.
This didn’t have a high probability of success so I developed-


PLAN “C”

Make the entire Patio a trap. Once I was sure all 3 kittens were hiding on the patio I used old pieces of paneling and other wood to completely seal up any escape route the kitties might have. It had to be tight since I found that they can squeeze through a very narrow opening. I would then either herd them into traps or net them.


Execution: I set up obstacles to funnel the kitties into the open cat carriers I set up at the end. Then I went to scare the kitties from their hiding place. Of course, they went the opposite way so it was chasing and catching by hand. I caught the white one when she jumped in a bucket. I saw the black one hide himself inside the feeder. I found the seal point wedged deeply into a little space by the fence and caught it. It was a good thing I had on thick work gloves ‘cause those suckers were biting! When I flushed out the black one I didn’t get a good grip on him and he got away. He ran into a corner of the fence and when I got there he was nowhere to be found.


I stopped looking after a while and put the 2 kitties I did catch with the other cats. Then I came back and searched every nook and cranny and still didn’t find that black kitten. I was fairly certain that it couldn’t escape but I sure couldn’t find it. Finally I found it squeezed in between two pieces of paneling. He was so still I wasn’t sure it was him. A little black kitten can be mistaken for a shadow quite easily. I pried him out and he is now with the others.

Plan “D”

Leave the trap set and watch for Marmalade’s other kitten. There is a slim chance I can get him.
Tomorrow morning I take the older cats on their great adventure. I have to wait a month to do the kittens.