Progress

 Today we had to be up early. Tim was meeting with the guy who has the right-of-way across our property. The man who was actually going to build the road was showing up, along with the fellow who was going to do some excavating work. They were planning to come tomorrow, but we have our appointment with the city, and Tim could not make it. They wanted everyone there, so they rescheduled for today. 

I had plenty to keep me busy. I was staining the tongue and groove for the pantry. I was not sure of the stain when I opened it, but once I began to apply it, I really liked the look of it. I think it will be okay with the wallpaper. 

The color is called 'gunstock', and it is a can of stain that Tim had here from an earlier project. I stained 30 boards. I liked working the stain into the wood, and into the grooves of the beadboard. It was a nice way to spend a morning, sitting in the basement by myself, working in the silence, listening to the rain outside, and the occasional rumbles of thunder. 

Tomorrow, I will poly that wood, and hopefully, by the end of the week, we'll be able to get it on the wall. I'm getting excited about it. 

Something else that I'm getting excited about is that this morning, I went down to feed Gaza and her kittens. I make a point of sitting on the concrete and assembling their food. I use a heavy metal pan now, because they keep pulling the dish off away, and I can never find it. When I called, a kitten popped up, yawning sleepily. I stirred the milk into the dry catfood, and then I added the two cans of canned cat food and stirred it all together, and set it in front of me, about maybe six feet from where I was seated. It was not long before Gaza came out to feed. She was very nervous. The men were talking outside and one had a very loud voice. When he spoke, she would growl, run past me to dart underneath the truck behind me, peering nervously out the garage door. I thought that it was very interesting that she was running towards me when she got nervous, instead of away from me. I also was encouraged by the fact that when I spoke soothingly to her in a low voice, she seemed to settle, and walked past me to go back to her dish. 

After probably a half dozen times of this darting, being soothed, and returning to feed, I did something new. When she darted under the truck, I began to hold my hand out to her when I spoke soothingly. She stopped to rub herself thoughtfully against the ladder that leads to the garage attic while considering my outstretched hand. Much to my delight, she finally came to me and gave my hand a little 'boop' with her nose. I made no attempt to pet her because I didn't want to push my luck, but she did come to me four times to give me a little touch during our visit. 

The kittens are very nervous as well, but they too show signs of settling down. They will come out and feed in front of me. They head off in all directions it I speak or move, but if I sit quietly, they will eat cautiously, watching me closely for any sign of movement. When they run off, they don't duck outside. They stay within sight, but out of reach, playing and tumbling and pouncing. 

I changed their bedding for fresh and walked out and got started on my boards.

Two nights ago, I couldn't sleep and came out to read for a while. There was a woman shouting for quite some time in the neighborhood about 1AM. Last night it was Tim's turn to be sleepless. He said that there was a woman shouting about 2:30AM. When we returned home from working today, the man was shouting still. That's one thing we will not have to deal with when we move. 

Tomorrow is the big meeting with the city. 

It will be very interesting to finally hear what they have to say.