finished the front room over the weekend. Fred spent most of Sunday working on the wood shed, and I spent all of Sunday painting and painting and… oh yeah! Painting. Because I love it so much, you see. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store and I got my ass (or, strictly speaking, my GUT) insulted. Hmph. We’d intended to make Monday a short working-on-the-house day, but I informed Fred that I very much wanted to have the two downstairs bathrooms painted and crown-moldinged before the guy came to do the floors (which he’ll be starting next Monday, woohoo!). Fred pulled the toilet and sink out of the small half bath off the computer room and started painting it. And it’s such a small room that he actually finished painting it, and could even have gone so far as to put up the crown molding except we didn’t want to stand around and wait for the paint to dry, so we left around mid-afternoon. Before we went to the grocery store on Saturday and I was practically told point-blank that I was FAT, we went to a supply store and looked at fencing. Basically, it ended up that we could get a Fred-installed field fence around the back yard for a quarter of what it would cost to have a professional install a chain-link fence, so I told Fred it was okay with me. And then I suggested that since we were saving so much money, we should hire a professional to replace the linoleum in the laundry room, the upstairs bathroom, and to tile the area around the bathtub/ showers in the two full bathrooms. And Fred agreed, and not only did he agree, he actually called and set up an appointment to have someone come out and give us a quote. Things are really coming together out there in Smallville, and I’m getting really excited about moving out there in a few months. On a side note, I should send the fence guy a thank you note for not bothering to show up and mark the yard for the fence we were hiring to have him put in. It gave us enough time to consider alternatives, and save a buttload of money. I just don’t get these service people who make appointments to give quotes or provide a service, then simply don’t bother to show up or ever call again. Because in the future, if someone in the area says “Hey Robyn, who do you recommend to put in a fence?”, I’ll be saying “I can tell you who I do NOT recommend, that’s for sure!” When Fred was removing the toilet and sink from the back bathroom, we decided to put the sink by the road so that if anyone driving by wanted to take it, they could. Less than half an hour later, someone knocked on the door and asked if it was okay that they take the sink. Not only did they take the sink, they took the toilet, and left their name and number for later this week when Fred removes the sink and toilet from the front bathroom. Recycling at its finest.
“I’m prettier than that cat on the bag, right? The bag of cheap cat food you only feed the cats you don’t love as much, right? MUCH PRETTIER! SAY IT! I’m the prettiest boy in the world!”
On particular days, I hold my hands before me
and silently exalt their singular growth
like they are the rigid-nylon of a yew’s bark,
a thousand-years-old, here to witness my grandmother
and her grandmother and her grandmother.
I love the mini tree-rings of my fingertips,
how I leave stump-marks everywhere I go
like the imprints of galaxies, skimmings
of the universe’s flesh and blood.
I’ve lost 151 pounds, and though you’d think I’d spend time staring at myself in the mirror, looking at the places that once were fat and no longer are, the body part that has me most fascinated is my hands. I didn’t think I had chubby hands before, but I guess you don’t weigh more than 300 pounds and have slender fingers. My largest ring size was a 10; I’m now wearing a size 6. I’m not a graceful person, but there are times I look down at my fingers, and I see a flash of grace.
If Sugarbutt’s the happiest cat in the world, I think Newt runs a very close second.
When I was a kid growing up in suburban California, we always had a few chickens (it was the granola in my mom shining through.) We each had our special pets, and one of mine was a little black bantam rooster named Rooster Cogburn, who did, in fact, ride around on my shoulder.
Great recycling! I heard a story recently about someone who put out some household stuff during a remodeling project with a sign that said “Free.” No takers after two days, so he put a new sign that said “$10” and the next day the stuff was gone … stolen.
Chickens in the backyard? Chicken-shit on the floors of your house. Just sayin’
Is anyone else going to point out that six cats plus Moondance and Moonman plus Maxi and Newt equals 10 cats…….And though I know Maxi and Newt “aren’t really yours” and Moondance and Moonman are “fosters who are no bother and pretty sweet”…….still admitting you have a problem is the first step. =)
The smallville house looks beautiful. I’m so excited for you!
I like the bit you wrote about being able to see grace in your hands- that’s a poetic way to put it. Most people’s hands have a little bit of poetry in them.
Also, my sister, who works at a vet clinic says that orange male cats tend to be the most mellow and sweet, and Mr. Newt looks pretty mellow indeed! 🙂
Jules: I demand pictures! 🙂
Leslie: Well, they won’t be invited into the back yard all that often. And chicken shit will sweep right up off the hardwood floors. Or so I hope!
Dora: Sweet as Moonman and Moondance are, there’s no way we can keep them. Mister Boogers scares them too much to introduce them into the household on a permanent basis.
I’m just giving you a hard time. I think you have a wonderful cat family! Mister Boogers too!!
Dora: I think what you were really saying is “Please bring Moonman and Moondance to me, thanks!” 😛
(I’ve almost accepted that Maxi and Newt are ours. I figure any cats we’re treating on a regular basis with Frontline we bought ourselves, who aren’t from the shelter, are probably ours!)
Old toilets are power flushers for megapoops and are the equivalent of gold to some people… you might want to rethink replacing them!
Would you mind sharing the paint color & brand that you used in the living room? It looks beautiful.
Amanda: They’re not old-old, like original-to-the-bathrooms old, they’re probably only about 5 years old, if that. If they were old-old, those babies would be staying, but there’s nothing powerful about their flushes (unfortunately!). The tubs are original to the bathrooms, though, and will definitely be staying!
Jamie: I know it’s called Celadon, but I don’t remember the brand. I’m going to make a note to myself to write down all the colors and brands of all the paint we’ve used next time I’m at the house (tomorrow), and I’ll post them before the end of the week.
Dora, your first comment about Miz Robyn’s cat family made me laugh so hard I snorted. Thanks!
(Were that all people with such a collection of animals be as good to them as the Anders0n family…the world would be a happier place.)
I read Marley and Me awhile back and thoroughly enjoyed it. The fact that “we” (the Dog and I) did not get kicked out of obedience class still surprises me. I mean Marley was at least friendly!! I’m not kidding….the flippin’ dog tried to EAT everyone’s face off within a 3 foot radius the first day of class. He was known as the “Malingator” prior to being known as the “Freaktard” 😉
Male orange tabbies are always happy!
-Tiger’s mommy
I loved Marley and Me. It made me laugh my butt off, and cry too. I can only imagine having to deal with all the drama that came with that dog. Made me love my cats even more! (if possible!)
I didn’t like Marley and Me. The story was well written, but I thought the way they treated that dog was cruel. Keeping it in the garage. Wife freaking out and hitting it. Telling people to knee the dog in the chest when it jumps on them. Sorry, I’m a big dog lover and can’t imagine treating my dog the way they did. It did have some funny parts, but over all, thumbs down from me.
I love the house! Chickens will be very fun. Make sure you only get one rooster though, or they’ll be some cock fights. HAHA (I’m such a child, I know)! We used to have pet chickens. Mine was named Tutti Fruity. She was such a sweetie. I never carried her on my shoulder though. Good luck 🙂
Hey Robyn, is it just me or has KatG not posted a new show since Thursday? Wah!
the cat on the bag looks like Pickle.
Yay for skinny fingers!
I remember back in university I had a friend who was on Jenny Craig and losing weight. None of it and her achievements hit home until I noticed her hands. Her hands were all of the sudden lithe and light, delicate. She was touched that I noticed.
Your new house is looking fantastic, you two have really outdone yourselves.
Pregnancy comments. I swear after making my biggest embarassing comment ever to a woman at FabricLand I will NOT comment on anyones belly unless they SAY they are pregnant or they are complaining of labor pains. (I was 5 days post partum with twins with babies on the brain, does that excuse me??) Sadly not 🙁
Which is reassuring, hopefully others will do the same. Like you my weight is focused on the gut and I do NOT like close fitting clothes anywhere near.
Newt is too cute and looks really sweet. I just kinda see him bumbling around much like Bubba Gump though. heh
On a dog note, I wanted to share a (hopefully) quick story. My fella has been pestering me for a while to get a dog, but I was nervous. I grew up with all kinds of animals – dogs, cats, birds, fish. Anyway, I do not believe in paying for a dog and wanted to get a rescue. I had previously tried as y’all did in getting a dog from the pound and it did not work out so well. For the last month or so, I had been looking at dogs from a no-kill shelter of sorts. They have no facility, and all of the animals are in foster homes. I liked that idea due to the fact that you can read a bio about the animals (they have dogs and cats). It tells about their personalities, their ability to get along with other animals, and can give a reflection of how they are in a home setting. These are mostly pound puppies that had been bailed out of doggy jail or are owner surrenders for various reasons. Here is the site for the place we got our puppy in North West Ohio, but I am sure there are more places like this one all over. . I am sharing this as I have met and heard of a lot of people who have gotten animals from here and have had good luck with their new pets and is a good alternative to rescuing an animal. I also learned that black dogs are the last to be adopted and generally do not survive in the pound. We got a black dog and she is wonderful!
I hope I did the link right. If not, it is http://www.plannedpethood.org . I am not so savvy with the web writing stuff.
Hi Robyn – I’m sure you’ve mentioned this a dozen times, but I can’t seem to find the answer! You take such great pictures, what kind of camera do you use?
Also, I’m really impressed with the self-portrait of *both* hands – how did you do that??
We’ve lived out in our “Smallville” for 5 years now and I’ve really enjoyed reading about your new adventures at your country house. I remember when my husband bought his new tractor. He was just like a kid at Christmas…just like Fred. Aren’t they cute?
Seeing as you brought up chickens I wanted to share my little bit of knowledge I’ve obtained about them…from a past city girl’s prospective.
First of all, a positive statement. Chickens are are stuuuupid…but funny as hell to watch. OK, that was sort of a positive statement.
Our neighbors have chickens and we occasionally get some “farm fresh eggs”. I’ve decided I hate farm fresh eggs. Why? It’s because I’ve been raised (for the past 50 years…yes, I’m still being raised) on the month old (or older) store bought eggs so I’m not used to the strong flavor of fresh ones. Ack. I’m a borderline egg liker anyway, but if I had to eat fresh eggs all the time I’d give them up for sure. Another thing about fresh eggs…you can’t use them to make hard boiled eggs. You won’t be able to shell them. Old eggs work better.
Chicken’s also attract other animals to your yard…like eagles and hawks, who like to swoop down and steal them out of the pens. Our neighbors ended up having to put netting over the top of the pen area. It doesn’t stop the birds of prey from trying to get through the netting though and this can be quite comical to watch. My daughter and I have watched an eagle dive bomb himself into the netting before. I couldn’t believe what they’d do for a chicken dinner! Now this means if bird’s of prey will pick up a chicken they will pick up a cat…right? RIGHT! Or other small animals. We haven’t had our cats picked up (our neighbors have) but I had a scary moment with my daughter’s little dog once. I had him outside on a leash to do his business when I see the shadow of a large bird on the ground by the puppy. I looked up and see this very large hawk circling about 20 feet above us!!! I yanked him back to me and quickly picked him up and ran back into the house. Now, hawks are around our area even without chickens being around, but they’re even more prevelent with the chickens here.
The animals I hate seeing around here more than anything else are the coyotes…and them coyotes love them a bit of chicken dinner…and cat dinner. I think all of our neighbors have lost a cat or two to coyotes. We haven’t…yet. That’s pretty good for living here 5 years. We’re also right on the edge of the woods where they like to hide out and wait for an innocent widdle kitty to walk by. Again, the chickens do get the coyotes attention even more so than the cats. The neighbor used to let the chickens out into a grassy area of her yard. Our house is up the hill from theirs and it gives us a full view of the chickens and grassy area. I’ve watched as 3 coyotes tried to played out their coyote ways with the poor chickens. Two of them stayed back behind some bushes and sent one out to scout. I called the neighbors, of course, and she was able to get them into the pen in time. I was surprised to see the coyotes weren’t all the scared of her being out there. They kept their positions…which were about 25 feet from her and the chickens. For the next several days they hung out waiting for the next time she grazed the chickens. She has stopped doing that now.
Foxes also really like chickens and will bend the chicken wire or dig underneath it to get themselves a chicken dinner. We don’t have a lot of foxes around…not like coyotes…but it only takes one. One night the neighbor told us that a fox had gotten into the coup and killed 5 chickens. Yikes.
The last bit of chicken knowledge I’m impart on you is that roosters aren’t the only ones that can alert the neighbors of impending sunrise. Yes, hens can send out the alarm too…at least my neighbors chickens can. On summer mornings that means at around 4:45 am (I’m in the Pacific Northwest) we hear the wonderful country sound of a crowing chicken. At first it’s sounds so enchanting. By the third morning you’re conspiring with the coyotes and foxes on how to get those damn chickens!
These are just my experiences with chickens. Others probably have lots of positive experiences…right?