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Our solution: two apartments
- Thread starter WereBear
- Start date
Wifi extender set up with no issue (lots of moaning in the reviews, but fortunately some nice person left clear instructions for Mac devices - done!) and I made a pot roast in the crockpot downstairs. Got my dish drainer set up, much of the cleaning is done, Mr WereBear papered the drawers and shelves in the kitchen, electricity switched to my name.
I am ready to sleep on the floor in here, I am so eager to be moved in!
And the creative benefits keep coming, even though I am sitting in a camping chair. Doing a pack/sort of the books still in the living room; we are moving down two bookcases. I will let my clothes accumulate themselves; if I only put away in the new place the clothes that come back from the laundry, I will automatically be choosing the clothes I actually wear
I am ready to sleep on the floor in here, I am so eager to be moved in!
And the creative benefits keep coming, even though I am sitting in a camping chair. Doing a pack/sort of the books still in the living room; we are moving down two bookcases. I will let my clothes accumulate themselves; if I only put away in the new place the clothes that come back from the laundry, I will automatically be choosing the clothes I actually wear
Only one more night in the old bed! Tomorrow the movers and new bedroom furniture come. My trampoline, sadly, is taking the long route from California to my coast; was supposed to be here yesterday, now somewhere unknown and supposed to arrive Monday.
We've hit every homegoods store in a ten mile radius (longer than that and it is fifty miles to anything) to assemble our new kitchen and bathroom(s.) We actually have a powder room off the bedroom, which Mr WereBear is calling the "suite" now The full bath is, strangely, off the living room. But we are working with it; if I'm showering in there we don't have guests, and if we have guests I'm not showering in there.
Discovered the combined joys of baking soda/vinegar with a soft bristled brush that brought the tub from "clean but doesn't look clean" to "omg that wasn't a decorative pattern that was soap scum" to "wow." This is how I got rust stains off the vanity, too. Despite the Roaring Twenties era medicine cabinet and window with a blind that only goes down 2/3rd (I hung a pillowcase there temporarily) it's actually cute now, with a turquoise themed shower curtain, bathmat, and soap dispenser.
I have taken on all housekeeping duties in the Shirehouse (1st floor.) It's only fair as Mr WereBear will be completely reorganizing his 3rd floor Aerie. I wound up getting an iPad app called Un%*#@ Your Habitat, from the website of the same name. In the Apple app store it is known as "Unfilth Your Habitat." So, there's cursing. But that's okay, because for me, cursing and housekeeping goes together.
As the oldest child and a girl with a working mother, I had to do a lot of housework. This was compounded by family attitudes about "woman's work" and "men's work." Which essentially let my brothers out of most chores, since we didn't have a farm and still had a house. They were supposed to cut the grass in summer and shovel snow in winter and that was supposed to be even with all the cooking and cleaning women did. (HAH.)
I thought this was a massive rip-off, and this only got worse when I had an abusive stepfather who dragged us out of bed to scrub the bathroom floor with toothbrushes. He made me use rocks to scrub the BBQ racks instead of oven cleaner. Like that.
So it's no wonder I wound up with PTSD on the subject. I used to have to work myself into a towering rage and use that to clean in these marathon sessions that would turn a mess into something that looked great... only it wouldn't last, of course.
So this app is part of my new program of tidying every day. Actually cleaning something that doesn't look like it needs cleaning... yet. So everything always looks clean. I know, what a concept
Here is Tristan, pondering the general lack of furniture yesterday:
Tristan has been the Ambassador of Cats this week. He has made so many trips between the two places that he just sprawls out at the end of the day, so tired he can barely keep his eyes open. The other three cats are not impressed. "We have a working system here."
But not for long...
We've hit every homegoods store in a ten mile radius (longer than that and it is fifty miles to anything) to assemble our new kitchen and bathroom(s.) We actually have a powder room off the bedroom, which Mr WereBear is calling the "suite" now
The full bath is, strangely, off the living room. But we are working with it; if I'm showering in there we don't have guests, and if we have guests I'm not showering in there.Discovered the combined joys of baking soda/vinegar with a soft bristled brush that brought the tub from "clean but doesn't look clean" to "omg that wasn't a decorative pattern that was soap scum" to "wow." This is how I got rust stains off the vanity, too. Despite the Roaring Twenties era medicine cabinet and window with a blind that only goes down 2/3rd (I hung a pillowcase there temporarily) it's actually cute now, with a turquoise themed shower curtain, bathmat, and soap dispenser.
I have taken on all housekeeping duties in the Shirehouse (1st floor.) It's only fair as Mr WereBear will be completely reorganizing his 3rd floor Aerie. I wound up getting an iPad app called Un%*#@ Your Habitat, from the website of the same name. In the Apple app store it is known as "Unfilth Your Habitat." So, there's cursing. But that's okay, because for me, cursing and housekeeping goes together.
As the oldest child and a girl with a working mother, I had to do a lot of housework. This was compounded by family attitudes about "woman's work" and "men's work." Which essentially let my brothers out of most chores, since we didn't have a farm and still had a house. They were supposed to cut the grass in summer and shovel snow in winter and that was supposed to be even with all the cooking and cleaning women did. (HAH.)
I thought this was a massive rip-off, and this only got worse when I had an abusive stepfather who dragged us out of bed to scrub the bathroom floor with toothbrushes. He made me use rocks to scrub the BBQ racks instead of oven cleaner. Like that.
So it's no wonder I wound up with PTSD on the subject. I used to have to work myself into a towering rage and use that to clean in these marathon sessions that would turn a mess into something that looked great... only it wouldn't last, of course.
So this app is part of my new program of tidying every day. Actually cleaning something that doesn't look like it needs cleaning... yet. So everything always looks clean. I know, what a concept
Here is Tristan, pondering the general lack of furniture yesterday:
Tristan has been the Ambassador of Cats this week. He has made so many trips between the two places that he just sprawls out at the end of the day, so tired he can barely keep his eyes open. The other three cats are not impressed. "We have a working system here."
But not for long...
Last edited:
Good idea using a wi-fi extender.
The first place I put it resulted in erratic behavior. Which makes me think those two thermostats on the wall are wireless also, as so many are now. The outlets in the kitchen have those built-in circuit breakers, too, so I figured they are wired right, with good grounding. So I moved it from the living room to the kitchen; and two lights went on in the front. An encouraging sign!
Yesterday I listened to my Pandora radio station that was made by my cat:
Tristan's Favorite Music
All day without a hiccup. So I think that it might be working properly now. We only stream TV, so that's important
Big day finally came -- furniture moving day. While we had measured everything we could, we wound up only placing the couch, the bed, and one table where we planned. Of course.
Between getting things on sale and not sure of the dimensions, to the typical old house throwing in vertical pipes and strange configurations in unlikely places, we had to shuffle things around more than we had anticipated. But I am very pleased with how the living room turned out.
The pink spongeball shows that Tristan lives here. And he has enough enthusiasm for all the cats. He was thrilled to know where the couch went. He found that this place has his favorite kinds of food, water delivery system, and litter.
Was the only cat who slept with us last night.
The others are still lurking upstairs, confused about why the place has changed so much, baffled by our continuing absence, and (I suspect) not believing a word Tristan is telling them about the wonders he has found downstairs.
He was so busy last night he wore his little self out.
Between getting things on sale and not sure of the dimensions, to the typical old house throwing in vertical pipes and strange configurations in unlikely places, we had to shuffle things around more than we had anticipated. But I am very pleased with how the living room turned out.
The pink spongeball shows that Tristan lives here. And he has enough enthusiasm for all the cats. He was thrilled to know where the couch went. He found that this place has his favorite kinds of food, water delivery system, and litter.
Was the only cat who slept with us last night.
The others are still lurking upstairs, confused about why the place has changed so much, baffled by our continuing absence, and (I suspect) not believing a word Tristan is telling them about the wonders he has found downstairs.
He was so busy last night he wore his little self out.
"It was a tale of two litter boxes. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Meow."
"It was a tale of two litter boxes. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Meow."
We brought down RJ, our ten year old cat who is mostly a couch potato, so we thought him seeing where his couch went would perk him up. But he was still too distressed by the "strangeness of it all" to stop asking to go upstairs, so we let him go.
He was all NO NO about the new food dish, the couch reappearing... but the new window? That is when he said no no and it was hilarious. That could be the thing, besides missing us, that will convince him.
Another big thing I am discovering: I am a lot more environmentally sensitive than I had realized.
A chaotic adolescence had me thinking I had a great ability to block out a stressful environment. I was deluded. I may be highly able to do so, but did not realize the energy reserves that I was burning through to make that happen.
I noticed that when I was early to work (after a recent renovation and lots of stuff hadn't been put back yet,) or in the loft at my favorite coffee shop, I loved to just enjoy the uncluttered space. Now, these are public spaces, occurring in a limited time and privacy window... but the experience was instrumental in my realization that this is what I needed.
Now in a home environment that is uncluttered and private, I realize more clearly how we were trying to do the impossible. Despite our periodic throwing-stuff-out-binges, there just wasn't enough room for us to actually do anything but struggle along, because clutter was a given in an environment where there was only half the spaces we needed to put things in just to live, much less run a business.
One of the mantras I am trying to internalize to keep it this new space nice and tidy is "Don't put it down, put it away." Because now that is actually possible.
A chaotic adolescence had me thinking I had a great ability to block out a stressful environment. I was deluded.
I may be highly able to do so, but did not realize the energy reserves that I was burning through to make that happen.I noticed that when I was early to work (after a recent renovation and lots of stuff hadn't been put back yet,) or in the loft at my favorite coffee shop, I loved to just enjoy the uncluttered space. Now, these are public spaces, occurring in a limited time and privacy window... but the experience was instrumental in my realization that this is what I needed.
Now in a home environment that is uncluttered and private, I realize more clearly how we were trying to do the impossible. Despite our periodic throwing-stuff-out-binges, there just wasn't enough room for us to actually do anything but struggle along, because clutter was a given in an environment where there was only half the spaces we needed to put things in just to live, much less run a business.
One of the mantras I am trying to internalize to keep it this new space nice and tidy is "Don't put it down, put it away." Because now that is actually possible.
If I was NT I would get 3 apartments.
That would mean I'm better than you
That would mean I'm better than you
We are only running 25% cat acceptance
Sir Tristan the Bold shows up regularly, and the rest of the time he is trying to "sell" the other cats on the wonders of the new place.
We have had our three year old kitten (he'll be a kitten until he is five, he is a Giant Mutant Kitten) coming down the stairs on his own, and when we bring him into the apartment, he will happily explore. He even took a nap behind the couch, his favorite hiding place (he's a recovering feral.)
So maybe we are at 37% cat acceptance?
Sir Tristan the Bold shows up regularly, and the rest of the time he is trying to "sell" the other cats on the wonders of the new place.
We have had our three year old kitten (he'll be a kitten until he is five, he is a Giant Mutant Kitten) coming down the stairs on his own, and when we bring him into the apartment, he will happily explore. He even took a nap behind the couch, his favorite hiding place (he's a recovering feral.)
So maybe we are at 37% cat acceptance?
We now have had all the cats make their own way downstairs to spend time with us, but half of them still are transparently hoping we will give up this mad scheme and change everything back to the way it was before. Sorry, guys.
This is our recovering feral and our oldest cat who has stress issues, so we aren't pushing their buttons to go faster.
For me, this has been transformative. Having such a private and uncluttered space has been so good for my mind and spirit. I'm exhausted though, and still trying to figure it out. Is it just the newness of everything? I don't have a conscious problem with it. Should I stop relying on the new bed's comfort and reinstate my Brainwaves app and weighted blanket? The new apartment is much cooler than the old one and I might be able to handle the blanket again. (Winter is no problem there!)
Of course, my work decided to move my "office" to another building that I like less... I supposed that alone is the problem. It's enough!
This is our recovering feral and our oldest cat who has stress issues, so we aren't pushing their buttons to go faster.
For me, this has been transformative. Having such a private and uncluttered space has been so good for my mind and spirit. I'm exhausted though, and still trying to figure it out. Is it just the newness of everything? I don't have a conscious problem with it. Should I stop relying on the new bed's comfort and reinstate my Brainwaves app and weighted blanket? The new apartment is much cooler than the old one and I might be able to handle the blanket again. (Winter is no problem there!
)Of course, my work decided to move my "office" to another building that I like less... I supposed that alone is the problem. It's enough!
ksheehan88
:)
What I wouldn't give for a creative space of my own! With three children and all their things in a tiny house I don't have the room for a space of my own. I'm considering asking my friend to allow me to set up an easel and keep some stuff at his in his spare room lol.
Do it! Anything that keeps us sane.
I thought all I needed was a laptop, but it turned out I was spending energy "blocking out" my rowdy space when I could have been using it for writing.
Despite the improved bed and the greater distance from the road noise in the new place, I still need my special things to sleep my best. I always use a sleep mask, but last night I made a point of adding my Brainwaves Deep Sleep program, and my weighted lap pad. And I seemed to have slept better. Letting this slack off might be why I am having such a hard time bouncing back from the week of moving and so forth.
Last year, around fall, I got my weighted blanket, but it is too warm for summer even in the coolness of Shirehouse. The lap pad is big enough to cover my torso, leaving my legs outside the covers, and I was comfortable.
I originally got it to see if it was helpful at work, which it seemed to be, but not as dramatically as when I slept. It turned into my traveling weighted blanket when I need to stay overnight somewhere. Now, it seems like it also works for summer.
The lap pad is much less expensive and cheaper to ship, so anyone considering a weighted blanket might check it out to see how it works for them.
Weighted lap pads from Sensory Goods
One warning: their flannel picks up lint and cat hair like nothing I have ever seen. My weighted blanket was discounted at Amazon, and I had a gift card, so I got the flannel/fleece version. I would not get the flannel again. This thing has the ability to attract cat hair from three rooms away. While the fleece option is much more normal in terms of fabric lint accumulation, softer to the skin, and more pleasing in tactile terms.
I did a custom lap pad and have been even more pleased. Do get the glass beads! It makes the object more conforming; just better performance.
Last year, around fall, I got my weighted blanket, but it is too warm for summer even in the coolness of Shirehouse. The lap pad is big enough to cover my torso, leaving my legs outside the covers, and I was comfortable.
I originally got it to see if it was helpful at work, which it seemed to be, but not as dramatically as when I slept. It turned into my traveling weighted blanket when I need to stay overnight somewhere. Now, it seems like it also works for summer.
The lap pad is much less expensive and cheaper to ship, so anyone considering a weighted blanket might check it out to see how it works for them.
Weighted lap pads from Sensory Goods
One warning: their flannel picks up lint and cat hair like nothing I have ever seen. My weighted blanket was discounted at Amazon, and I had a gift card, so I got the flannel/fleece version. I would not get the flannel again. This thing has the ability to attract cat hair from three rooms away. While the fleece option is much more normal in terms of fabric lint accumulation, softer to the skin, and more pleasing in tactile terms.
I did a custom lap pad and have been even more pleased. Do get the glass beads! It makes the object more conforming; just better performance.
Ahhhhhhh. We now have a functioning living space in Shirehouse, and I have been making great progress on my book. At last! It is wonderful.
75% cat acceptance, especially now that we have moved our biggest cat tree into the new living room. Our oldest, RJ, is still not cooperating. I am not sure if I should force the issue, either.
It is awesome to come home, spend some time & dinner with Mr WereBear, and then he decamps for the Aerie upstairs. I am growing into having all this lovely work time. When I wake up early, and he's sleeping late, I also have time in my studio to myself.
I use the couch and a lapdesk; I work at a desk so much at work that I need the isometric difference. Plus, more comfortable, and Tristan can lie across my shins, the way he likes
The three panel bay window lets in lots of light, and my view from it is 90% forest and other greenery. I put a hanging basket of flowers in my eyeline. It's a charming space and actually quieter about road noise than the third floor.
I have to buckle down and get the book done ASAP. This is the biggest part of our plan; how we are going to pay back the business loan and finance our expanded space. Mr WereBear has already designed the cover, featuring Reverend Jim!
75% cat acceptance, especially now that we have moved our biggest cat tree into the new living room. Our oldest, RJ, is still not cooperating. I am not sure if I should force the issue, either.
It is awesome to come home, spend some time & dinner with Mr WereBear, and then he decamps for the Aerie upstairs. I am growing into having all this lovely work time. When I wake up early, and he's sleeping late, I also have time in my studio to myself.
I use the couch and a lapdesk; I work at a desk so much at work that I need the isometric difference. Plus, more comfortable, and Tristan can lie across my shins, the way he likes
The three panel bay window lets in lots of light, and my view from it is 90% forest and other greenery. I put a hanging basket of flowers in my eyeline. It's a charming space and actually quieter about road noise than the third floor.
I have to buckle down and get the book done ASAP. This is the biggest part of our plan; how we are going to pay back the business loan and finance our expanded space. Mr WereBear has already designed the cover, featuring Reverend Jim!
Only one more night in the old bed! Tomorrow the movers and new bedroom furniture come. My trampoline, sadly, is taking the long route from California to my coast; was supposed to be here yesterday, now somewhere unknown and supposed to arrive Monday.
We've hit every homegoods store in a ten mile radius (longer than that and it is fifty miles to anything) to assemble our new kitchen and bathroom(s.) We actually have a powder room off the bedroom, which Mr WereBear is calling the "suite" now
Discovered the combined joys of baking soda/vinegar with a soft bristled brush that brought the tub from "clean but doesn't look clean" to "omg that wasn't a decorative pattern that was soap scum" to "wow." This is how I got rust stains off the vanity, too. Despite the Roaring Twenties era medicine cabinet and window with a blind that only goes down 2/3rd (I hung a pillowcase there temporarily) it's actually cute now, with a turquoise themed shower curtain, bathmat, and soap dispenser.
I have taken on all housekeeping duties in the Shirehouse (1st floor.) It's only fair as Mr WereBear will be completely reorganizing his 3rd floor Aerie. I wound up getting an iPad app called Un%*#@ Your Habitat, from the website of the same name. In the Apple app store it is known as "Unfilth Your Habitat." So, there's cursing. But that's okay, because for me, cursing and housekeeping goes together.
As the oldest child and a girl with a working mother, I had to do a lot of housework. This was compounded by family attitudes about "woman's work" and "men's work." Which essentially let my brothers out of most chores, since we didn't have a farm and still had a house. They were supposed to cut the grass in summer and shovel snow in winter and that was supposed to be even with all the cooking and cleaning women did. (HAH.)
I thought this was a massive rip-off, and this only got worse when I had an abusive stepfather who dragged us out of bed to scrub the bathroom floor with toothbrushes. He made me use rocks to scrub the BBQ racks instead of oven cleaner. Like that.
So it's no wonder I wound up with PTSD on the subject. I used to have to work myself into a towering rage and use that to clean in these marathon sessions that would turn a mess into something that looked great... only it wouldn't last, of course.
So this app is part of my new program of tidying every day. Actually cleaning something that doesn't look like it needs cleaning... yet. So everything always looks clean. I know, what a concept
Here is Tristan, pondering the general lack of furniture yesterday:
View attachment 34411
Tristan has been the Ambassador of Cats this week. He has made so many trips between the two places that he just sprawls out at the end of the day, so tired he can barely keep his eyes open. The other three cats are not impressed. "We have a working system here."
But not for long...
LOL Tristan. He's the best. I had a family cat when I was a kid that was just like him in attitude and looks, but female. She didn't take any crap from the neighbourhood cats and ended up with a kinked tail, and then a shortened one! I claim to know a ton about how cats behave because of her. Tiger was her name. I miss her.
Glad to see that you found a solution which you can implement seemingly smoothly, and that it is already fruitful!
2 apartments in the same house sounds like the absolute perfect set up, I really hope one day we're so lucky to come across that. Until then, well, we'll need to make do with whatever lets us move out of the current place.
By the way, I don't think I've ever had a chance to thank you for the advice on your blog when it came to explaining absences to cats (I remember saying I'd read it, and I was leaving reassured, but since I wasn't able to type or write upon my return...). So, Charlie actually did OK during the few weeks I wasn't home, and bonded with Mr. Katleya. He was so sweet when I got home, this is the first time I'm not dealing with the payback by indifference, and I'm sure your blog had a lot to do with it. So a thousand thanks, because the return was otherwise pretty rough.
2 apartments in the same house sounds like the absolute perfect set up, I really hope one day we're so lucky to come across that. Until then, well, we'll need to make do with whatever lets us move out of the current place.
By the way, I don't think I've ever had a chance to thank you for the advice on your blog when it came to explaining absences to cats (I remember saying I'd read it, and I was leaving reassured, but since I wasn't able to type or write upon my return...). So, Charlie actually did OK during the few weeks I wasn't home, and bonded with Mr. Katleya. He was so sweet when I got home, this is the first time I'm not dealing with the payback by indifference, and I'm sure your blog had a lot to do with it. So a thousand thanks, because the return was otherwise pretty rough.
I'm so glad my blog was helpful! So many of us, like @S-Head above, pick up understanding by paying attention to the cat, but creating a whole system not only lets people figure out new things, I hope it makes my fellow Cat Appreciators not feel so alone... we were right about cats all along!
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Some phones have such bad quality when you call them
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