Flying kittens

This is the last post about the kittens before Christmas, I promise.

Due to the kittens extreme love of our plants, we have been forced to cloister the plants on the washing machine for their own safety (along with other things we don't want the kittens to drag under the sofa).

From December

However, I'm afraid security has been breached. The Amazing Flying Esme has been caught on camera.

From December

From December

From December

From December

Perhaps this explains the odd scratches on the rose's pot....

From December

(and also perhaps this is why there is no Amazing Flying Lilith?)
Regardless, we have re-arranged the furniture.

From December

Kittens on the hunt

Observe our poor, terribly hungry kittens who have been forced to find their own means of sustenance.

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Case #1: There's tea in that there cup.

.....Esme can smell it, but her tongue is too short.

From December

Enter: the paw.

From December

Sweet success!

From December

Case #2: Or, why we won't be storing the unopened bag of kitten food in the open any more....

The kittens have found that persistence can open any bag.

From December

And spill out many tasty rewards.

From December

In the tent

The lean-to, you may remember, is lovely and sunny....so lovely and sunny that it is both an extremely tempting place to work when I can work from home and also nearly impossible to work in due to glare on the laptop's screen.

So, I got out my trusty sewing machine and with the help of L. and HouseGuest, we created the perfect working environment.

Curtains, up:

From October November 2010

Curtains down:

From October November 2010

Poor HouseGuest has been kicked out of the lean-to and it's now mine, all mine. Who wouldn't want to spend the day working in a circus tent?

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

Kittens causing more trouble...

When we last talked about the kittens, they had been temporarily displaced from their favourite sleeping/playing/possibly peeing place (also known as L.'s beloved houseplant). Unfortunately, the combination of weed barrier plus stones were effective for all of one day before the kittens decided to remove the stones to various places in the house and to dig under the weed barrier. Sigh. So, it was back to the internet, which informed me that cats dislike tinfoil.

From October November 2010

After the test strip seemed to agree, we added more.

From October November 2010

And surely enough, the kittens only slept in the non-foiled section of the pot.

From December

And that's when L. and I made our mistake. If a little bit of tin foil works, a whole lot of it should work even better, no?

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Initially, the cats were flummoxed.

From December

But then they discovered how much fun it was to sit on the foil and eat it.

From December

Which resulted in us covering the tin foil to save their digestion....

From December

....and another win for the kittens.

From December

Bathroom: before & after

Thanks to Paul-the-builder's final push on Saturday, the bathroom is now (mostly) complete. But, as we need a bit of a break and the rest of the work we're doing ourselves, I think it's best to show it off now.

When we bought the house:

From Briar Crescent

Now:

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

And let us not forget the floor - before:

From Briar Crescent

And now, L.'s beloved slate (which I suspect was also Paul's most hated slate)

From October November 2010

Needless to say, we are very pleased. Now, we just have to decide on a colour for the walls....

Enter: the sink

With a new bathtub and a glorious new toilet (eco flush! very exciting, as you can imagine and a popular topic for dinner conversation recently), the only thing our little bathroom needed (besides tiles and floor) was a sink.

From October November 2010

As you can see, the space between bathtub and toilet is rather smaller than average....in fact, it turned out to be rather smaller than the usual 'compact' sink and cupboard. So, we had to get inventive. Once again, our beloved Recycling Centre came to the rescue with a darling little cupboard (for only £5). Here, the kittens are modeling its usefulness as a fortress.

From October November 2010

However, it needed a wee bit of height. So, we attached some lovely little legs....which started life as the ends to curtain poles.

From October November 2010

We fashioned a top out of a few left over boards and Paul-the-contractor plumbed and installed it.

From October November 2010

Feet in action.

From October November 2010

And we shortened the drawer so it would still be usable.

From October November 2010

And here, complete with the narrowest sink we could find, is the completed project.

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

Things get smoother

It is amazing what a thin layer of plaster can do. Compare, if you please, the difference now:

From October November 2010

So smooth and beautiful compare to the ugly bumpy paint from before:

From October November 2010

And, here in one picture, is the before (left) and after (right) of the plastering efforts.

From October November 2010

And finally, a taster of the tile loveliness to come:

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

Putting the 'bath' in 'bathroom'

A mere two days ago, the bathroom hosted a shower, red carpet, vinyl panels on tile, a very tired toilet and numerous affronts to good taste. And worst of all, it was bath-less.
Before:

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

Well, it's lacking in pretty much everything now.
Current state:

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

However, as of 15 minutes ago, it now hosts a working bath.

From October November 2010

Things are definitely looking up (not to mention soon to smell better....)

From October November 2010