Cat Yard Shelf Replacement

 I worked all day yesterday, with lots of breaks, cause it was mid 80's, to replace a couple cat yard run shelves and add one new one.

I never seem to make a plan first, just wing it.  I'm known for scrounging unwanted wood and reusing wood til it completely disintegrates.

I'd had a bad day the day before.  I've been trying to get my cage returned I'd loaned to a Sweet Home woman for a couple months for some kittens, born to a mom cat she took in, that are by now teens.   I knew it might be difficult, even to ask, since when I trapped their large colony, about a year ago, when I asked for the holding cage back she'd borrowed then, I had to go get it.  I then, seeing it was dirty, asked if they could clean it before I put it in my car.  This had provoked some very mean messages from her.  She has a short fuse.

Well, this year same thing.  She had another cat with kittens.  I took the mom up to FCCO in Portland to be fixed awhile back, then the kittens too, once big enough, in early July.   Both times I drove up to Sweet Home to get them and returned them clear to Sweet HOme.  Nobody home to help unload the kittens and return them to MY cage either, after they were fixed that day, except 80 plus year old grandma.  I couldn't let her do it, so did it myself even though drop dead exhausted by the time I got to Sweet HOme with them, after the day in Portland.  

But all this just wasn't good enough for the granddaughter and when I asked for my cage back the messages began, about how rude I am, etc etc etc ad nauseum.  It's very important for her to let me know how awful a person I am.  I don't know why given I don't even know her, other than doing so much free labor for her.  This is one entitled woman.  She has no gratitude for the hours upon hours upon hours of free labor they received from me.  It can be very very discouraging to take abuse after an extreme effort for someone, just to get back something that's mine.  I barely slept Friday night, discouraged with people and wrestling over whether to just quit the whole helping thing.

I got it back yesterday with a sigh of relief.  It is currently my only working holding cage and I needed it.

I needed to replace one rotted shelf in the cat yard for sure and got that done yesterday, and even added a new shelf.  But it did take me all day long.   I was happy with the results.

This is the new upper shelf I made.  I'll be adding some other things to its support legs.

New upper shelf from side

Blondie was first to use the upper shelf.

This is the replacement I made for the shelf that had rotted.

I got two cancellation spots Monday and tried to get another Sweet Home woman to contain the last two there, but that failed once again.  I wanted her to get them yesterday, so if she didn't get them, I could find others today.  However, a Lebanon woman has one more unfixed male cat in her trailer park needing fixed.  One More!  That's it.  She's done well there rounding up and catching unfixed ones, even though one big male she caught accidentally and he had to be done at a private vet.   She also knows a lady with a stray female and her kittens and knows someone who will foster and tame the kittens.  So hopefully that mother cat will get caught too.

I found a new (used) computer chair.  My old one was like sitting atop a teeter totter.  I knew it was about to break and that might hurt bad.   Saturday morning I went to garage sales looking for one.  I'd also messaged a friend, asked her if she might know of someone with one they don't want.  Turns out she had one out in her driveway she was trying to rehome.   Nabbed it!  I gave it a quick cleaning and moved it into my exclusion room with my computer.   I took apart the old one thinking, I'll make something of the seat and back, at least, but they were shot and I finally conceded defeat and tossed the parts.

It is far more comfortable than my old one ever was.

Today I take paperwork over to the Lebanon woman, to have the caretakers of the two cats she plans on getting, for tomorrow's appointments.   I'll start another cat yard replacement project.   I'll clean the car out and wash it.   And, after the Lebanon woman brings the cats over this afternoon, I'm going to the computer chair woman's place.  She has cat shaped cookie cutters and we're making cookies.   I got invited by neighbors to the Bird Lady's neighborhood night out block party. I want to take the cookies there for the party.   Evelyn loved cats.  That's how I knew her, when I knocked on her door, asking if she knew of unfixed cats in the neighborhood.  She had quickly invited me in.  Then we teamed up to get dozens fixed and many into local shelters to get homes.  

 Her parrot hated me though.  She'd taken him in from a relative who didn't want him and cared for him, taking him everywhere with her, until he finally died.  That's why I called her the bird lady.   The parrot resented any visitors, was jealous of them, wanted Evelyn all to himself.  They even ate together.  

 Evelyn always asked me to come, to their block party.  She had organized all the previous night out parties for their block.  This year, they're holding it in her driveway and invited me, out of respect for Evelyn and of course I'll go.  I didn't go to her graveside service because it fell on the day after I got that cold, in early June.  There was no way I could attend with my dripping sneezing and coughing.    It's hard for me to think about Evelyn, knowing she may have intentionally starved herself to death over losing her ability to walk and get out much at all.  I have to respect her decision.