Monday, February 22, 2010

Staying in the Cabin

J. and Raisin his cat, huddle rather morosely on the futon this morning after a poor night's sleep. 
Teasel took the move to the cabin quite badly.  She has never lived anywhere but in the main house with us.  She, along with Chester, Jemima  and Mrs. Beasley, fled to the bedroom when the men began to carry out furniture on Sunday afternoon.   They soon advanced to dismantle our huge lodge-pole pine bed frame, which left the cats feeling defenseless.  They dashed in here in a panic and flung themselves through the open closet door.
Daughter G. prudently shut them in.  I plopped Charlie and Maisie into the big cat carrier as they were all too interested in getting under the big clumping feet of the menfolk.
The carrier was then too heavy for me to lug, so grandson D. took them to the cabin and unceremoniously decanted them.
Eggnog is so upset by cat carriers that I simply scooped her up and headed out the front door carrying her.
J. took his precious Raisin down at my request, then G. and I dealt with the closet cats.  Jemima was burrowed in a blanket which remained on the closet shelf, Chester, Mrs. B. and Teasel were in a hot trembling pile behind a box on the floor.  G. insisted that she was going to carry Teasel, while I carted the weighty Mrs. B.  [Teasel detests G. who loves to stalk her, but she was so traumatized that she barely twitched a muscle.]  We got all the cats transferred to the cabin without incident.
When I went down a few hours later, the three older girls were obviously remembering that they had lived there before.  Charlie and Maisie spent several weeks there when I was fostering them for Pet Connection.  If you picture Onslow of "Keeping Up Appearances" you have a profile of Charlie.  I could just imagine him strutting about demanding that someone produce a snack and see him comfortable in his new space.

Teasel and the "kittens" didn't put in an appearance until we went down for the night and collapsed with our respective books on the futon.  The rooms were rather chilly, so I put my boots back on and crunched up through the snow to find some fleece throws which had escaped the packing frenzy.
I also fetched the ratty rug which the cats love [and which they scratch!] and a handful of dried catnip. 
After a snort or two of catnip and a wallow on the rug, feline nerves were somewhat restored.  The cats alternately piled on our laps for reassurance and got up to explore their new abode.

It was not, sad to say, a restful night.  A double bed is no fit size for two adults and 8 cats.  The cabin's little bedroom didn't feel familiar any more. The traffic on the road below was more audible than at the main house.
J. has just gone down for the night with the wistful remark that he hoped our fellow boarders would feel more settled tonight.  I expect that is a vain hope.

It is cold and bright.  It was below zero F. last night and early this morning, so cold that the snow squeaks underfoot. When I plunged off the porch yesterday with Eggnog in my arms the snow was up to my knees and somewhat over my boots.  A good many trudges back and forth created this narrow slippery path.
You can see my meandering trail through the drifts and around the side of the cabin to the steps.
Standing at the end of the porch [shivering] I zoomed in on Pebbles having her breakfast hay.

The packing goes on.  I hoped to have the entire kitchen finished and ready to clean, but there are still oddments to be stuffed in cartons. Why on earth do we need so many skillets, kettles, mugs, ranks of glass canisters and stacks of baking dishes and casseroles of every description?
A rhetorical question, no doubt.

I am reading my favorite blogs in harried snatches, without much time to leave comments.  I do appreciate the comments left here, and during my time without internet will feel that I am absent from true friends, just as much as I will be missing those friends who are part of my physical home.
J.'s laptop is going for service on Wednesday and on Thursday, our last day in the house, mine will go to our tech man's shop to be cleaned and upgraded while we are away.
Hopefully we will stay at motels with internet access along the house-seeking journey.
I'm still hoping to snatch time to create some posts which can be scheduled for a later day.
Just so you don't forget me!

9 comments:

  1. Your resigned and weary footsteps tread resolutely through this post accompanied by cries from disatisfied felines, all seeming to call for an end to the slog of packing.
    A temporary bed and home is no reward for, and no respite from, the constant grind of preparation over the last few weeks so I hope your time there is mercifully short.
    Your buyers will no doubt arrive to perfection, little realising the cost in time and effort paid by you and J.

    I'm sure they'll be delighted with the lovely house with its new rooms and the space so recently created.

    I truly hope that you find the house hunting more of an exciting adventure than a continuation of the daily slog and pressure you have both been feeling over the past weeks. I hope you find it's a buyers market and get just what you are hoping for.

    Blogging will of course have to come down the list of priorities but I'm sure that you wont be forgotten or unthought of during the time it takes for phase two of the operation. I'll look forward to the briefest of updates or a rant of 'war and peace' proportions if time and circumstance demand.

    I'm sure we all understand that comments may have to be sent as kind thoughts when time is short or opportunity is denied.

    I'm sure we'll keep in touch regardless.

    Kind regards....Al.

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  2. Looking at that shot of J on the futon I can see that he's still not recovered from the comments of you lassies about the car in the snow. The poor guy looks crushed!

    campaign! Big cheer for J day!!!

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  3. MM,

    sorry 'bout all the comments. Too much coffee, too little sleep.

    {J for president!!!}

    Al.

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  4. Poor cats! They do so hate having their well-ordered little worls changed in any way don't they? You certainly haven't got the ideal weather for moving house, I hope all goes well and that you find a wonderful new home very quickly.

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  5. Oh never forgotten dear, and you will be sorely missed on your travels and until you have broadband in Your New Home - the one with the Wonderful Garden!!!

    Looks like the cats will have to get used to "slumming it" in the guest cabin, but now they have their favourite rug and some cat nip I am sure they will come round. You have some depth of snow there - it wasn't anything like as deep here this winter, but then just an inch keeps us from using the car on That Hill . . .

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  6. We won't forget you dear MM. I will be thinking of you, house hunting and camped out in the cabin. I wish I lived nearby, you could come for supper in my new kitchen!

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  7. Dear MM, my heart goes out to you and family, and oh! the poor cats! What an upset for everybody, but just keep thinking how far along the path of moving you are now...just a bit more endurance and the reward of a new home to settle into is getting ever closer.
    Have you decided on a particular area of Kentucky to search in? Such lush and beautiful vistas await you there...whenever this long winter finally goes away!

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  8. I shall miss your blog but I shall not forget about you ...I shall eagerly await you settling in your new home and resuming your wonderful blogs. I find it amazing how you are still blogging now.

    re Onslow ...do you watch our one from about 20 years ago or is yours an American production?

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  9. You are a saint to go through all this and your eight cats just don't know how fortunate they are. I do hope things get sorted out for you soon. I'm intent on orderliness that I can't work when things are so discombobulated. If I have it organized in my head, I can handle the mess around me. I just hate it when I can't find what I'm looking for. But really I'm no neat freak.

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