Kitchen for kitties

In winter my house is more crowded than ever with cats, so I've added sleeping quarters in the kitchen. That's Liesl on the fridge and Roger on the range-top loft.My recently renovated kitchen has a folksy streamline theme. I did all the work myself, even making new door moldings and corner shelves. Below, Hooch drinks from the sink while former feral Buzz eats from a vintage lazy susan. The kitty door leads to the back porch.The countertops are real linoleum, and the floors are original pine.

Roger the Codger

This photo is like a portrait of Roger's melancholy soul.Though I usually refer to Roger as a grumpy old man, he has lately been mama's sweet baby boy. He's still limping from a nasty abscessed cat bite on his shoulder. (Though Roger is neutered, he always picks fights, so he must have been axe-ing for it.)

Kitsch and cats

I'm overhauling my 1944 kitchen, and the kitties as usual are very paws-on with the process. Siamese kitten Sailor oversees the messy sink while Roger stocks the kitchen shelves. I can't wait to show some "after" photos of the finished kitchen in a few weeks.

Fall rummage

I emptied the garage (something that hasn't been done to that musty shed in 60 years) to build shelves for my scrap lumber collection.The temporary junk piles in the back yard make fine kitty entertainment. Roger, Betty and Olga check it out.The new garage shelves, to be made of these wood scraps, will be feral-oriented, with a series of cat steps to the rafters and even a sort of spiral kitty staircase.

A cat's work is never done

I may let my laundry pile up, but cats do not. Betty and Roger are seen here in serious tidying-up mode.When Betty looks up from her work, she has the expression of an underpaid laundress.

Spring-a-ling

The kitties and I are in hyperactive spring mode. Our current projects include tomato plants, metal roofing, and a new rescue kitty.From top:
- Olga assists with tomato planting. The cats adore playing in freshly dug soil, dirt holes, compost, and mulch -- even more so if there's water involved.

- Note the absence of cats on this hot tin roof. While I was installing metal roof panels on this detached garage, Betty Bob climbed up to join me. But neither of us was prepared for the slippery metal surface. I heard a sliding sound behind me and turned around to see a blur of black-and-white spots as Betty slid down and over the edge of the roof! She landed safely on the ground and was not hurt.

- Roger is our newest kitty, a big sweet older neutered fella. I believe he was dumped at my house -- he was found in my garage curled up in a box for the ferals. He's adapting well to his new home, though our bustling kitty population and indoor-outdoor lifestyle seem exotic to him.