Cat Yard Renewal

The cat yard is old.  The fence is old, the cat runs are old and many rotted from age and it was time to do something about it, on my so called break.

I fell into a deal at Walmart by accident.  I'd been searching deck and fence stain online and a Walmart deal came up with stain under $9 a gallon.  I could hardly believe it and rushed to the local Walmart.  The paint clerk was skeptical when I asked him about it.  But then he got his scanner and checked the price of the gallon brand I'd seen online and to his shock, it came up with the sale price.  I bought all three gallons they had.

I started with two sides of the outside of the cat yard fence.   But first, on one of the hottest days of the year, I had to do a dirty dirty job.  That was to clear away and dismantle the disgusting old compost pile.  It was not composting anything anymore and full of roots, old boards, even an old rotting blue tarp.

Newly stained side fence and dismantled compost pile

That was a job all right.  I'd had a piece of aluminum siding between the fence and compost pile, supposed to protect the fence from rot.  But the siding had rusted in spots and allowed dirt through.  I yanked it out, along with the outer circle of an old tire I'd used for growing potatoes at one point.

I'll probably clean up the old tire and make an outside cat sleep haunt of it.  The old metal piece will go to the recyclers.

Took me hours to dig out roots and junk and expose the fence to the base and dig a trench along its base.

After that was done, I was done in, but proceeded nonetheless, to scrape, clean and finally stain those two sides.

The front once stained.  The white powder on the ground is diatomaceous earth.  I'm trying to keep from becoming one giant ant hill.  They're everywhere and this stops them cold.

The fence inside needed cleaned and some of it needs restained, but some, stained before, is still good.  Only painted parts of the fence need stained, not those that got stain not paint, before.  I first scraped and brushed and even vacuumed debris off the fence sides and cat shelves.  Then I washed it down, using the hose with a nozzle.  That will cost me, because water costs so much here, but it had to be done.  I will have to stain the parts of the fence that received paint before, but much of what was once stained is still shedding water.

Many shelves for the cats to lay on up near the wire, so they can look out, were rotted.  I tore some out yesterday and then spent time, late, in the dark, sawing the rotted pieces into smaller pieces to fit in the garbage.  Garbage day was today.

There used to be a shelf attached above the green cross board, but it was rotted and had to go. 

This side of the fence is now cleaned and the stain where it looks brown mostly is holding, while farther down, the boards are simply painted and must be stained now.

The back fence shelves are the process of replacement.   The cat is laying atop one of the new shelves.  I scrubbed and scraped and then washed that back fence yesterday.  But it needs now stained.  I have to deal usually in cheap or found free materials.  Sometimes they don't last long.

The sunflowers out front are growing.  I grow them because I love their colors when they bloom and the bees love them.  I have no other flowers outside of the hydrangeas, however and I realize I should have planted something that blooms earlier, for the bees, whose numbers have severely dwindled in the area.

Sulu finally went to my friends last night.  I was a little worried over it, as she did not respond over when she might come, last night or most of yesterday. Yesterday was the day she was finally going to take him home.  He had waited for her to be ready, after she declared she wanted him, in my bathroom, for two weeks.  I was anxious for him to be in his new home.

She did come in the end, last night.  And I sent him off.  I felt like maybe she'd changed her mind about wanting him but didn't want to hurt my feelings over it. 

I hope it works out for him.   I still feel uneasy over it.  They've rescued lots of cats over the years, she and her husband, so I'm sure it will be just fine.