birthday come early
My parents gave me my birthday present early so I could set it up before it snows tomorrow (hopefully for the last time this year):
We'd had a pair of old white-painted wicker chairs out there, but they needed repair and repainting badly *before* they suffered through last winter. I'd gone out there and touched one of the chairs recently and was unhappy to see the wicker had gone soft- a sign of rot. It made me sad to drag them out to the dumpster (although I will admit a moment of glee when I tossed the chairs over the railing rather than carry them down the half-flight of stairs and through the hallways) but they've served well and it was time. With the new chairs and matching table, we will likely use the space more. I'd gotten out of the habit of using the balcony when Ethan and I moved in together, as he would smoke out there and the resulting allergen bath would keep me away.
Motoko watched me set it up with great frustration- she, too, wanted OUT to play on the balcony. We're planning on letting her out there while supervised, but not until we get some chicken wire up. She paced and watched with her ears tilted back- a sign of great irritation/anger. I tried leaving the screen door open, but she climbed it (!) up almost to the top of the screen- I was on the outside and could not open the door without dislodging her (painfully). Ethan came to the rescue and the door is now firmly shut. She's guarding the porch door now:
I am thinking after that little escapade that we may need to get her declawed, despite our opposition to the procedure. She's simply way too handy with her claws, and we've tried both positive and negative reinforcement of the no-clawing thing and it's not working. We need to decide fast, as we've made an appointment to get her spayed and microchipped, and it would be preferable to do them all at once. I need to talk to Ethan about it.
We'd had a pair of old white-painted wicker chairs out there, but they needed repair and repainting badly *before* they suffered through last winter. I'd gone out there and touched one of the chairs recently and was unhappy to see the wicker had gone soft- a sign of rot. It made me sad to drag them out to the dumpster (although I will admit a moment of glee when I tossed the chairs over the railing rather than carry them down the half-flight of stairs and through the hallways) but they've served well and it was time. With the new chairs and matching table, we will likely use the space more. I'd gotten out of the habit of using the balcony when Ethan and I moved in together, as he would smoke out there and the resulting allergen bath would keep me away.
Motoko watched me set it up with great frustration- she, too, wanted OUT to play on the balcony. We're planning on letting her out there while supervised, but not until we get some chicken wire up. She paced and watched with her ears tilted back- a sign of great irritation/anger. I tried leaving the screen door open, but she climbed it (!) up almost to the top of the screen- I was on the outside and could not open the door without dislodging her (painfully). Ethan came to the rescue and the door is now firmly shut. She's guarding the porch door now:
I am thinking after that little escapade that we may need to get her declawed, despite our opposition to the procedure. She's simply way too handy with her claws, and we've tried both positive and negative reinforcement of the no-clawing thing and it's not working. We need to decide fast, as we've made an appointment to get her spayed and microchipped, and it would be preferable to do them all at once. I need to talk to Ethan about it.