Now THAT’S a weird title! First updates on little Tam Tam. She found a colorful friend among my Beanie Baby collection and she thinks he is the perfect companion.

He lets me bite him all I want and he never fights back!

He doesn’t make fun of my wonky ears either.

Tammy had to visit the vet again last week because she had an infection on one of her ears. The road rash tore her ears pretty bad and one spot wasn’t healing. The doc took a piece off the end of her ear and we apply antibiotic ointment twice a day while it heals.

Mulder has taken a shine to her and he keeps trying to pick her up like a mommy kitty and carry her around the house.

Stop it Mulder! You are NOT a mommy! Poor guy has gender identity issues.

The good news is that her broken bone in her leg has grown back together and she is running and playing now. Whew! 🙂

Now on to the house stuff. My kitchen in 80% complete. I got to watch the cabinet guy put on all my KNOBS yesterday! Why so excited? Well, my knobs are pretty awesome. (Did I just say that???)

Piggies!

Moooooo!

Kitties (of course)

frogs

And drum roll please…

Chickens!!!

Mr. & Mrs Chicken

There are more, but these are my favorites. The bunnies are upstairs on the coffee bar cabinet doors. 🙂

I’ll save the rest for tomorrow. I know your excitement level can’t take much more so I’ll stop for today. Thanks for looking.

We took Tammy to see Dr. Glasscock on Monday and she got a thorough examination. After an X-ray, Dr. G determined that Tammy had been struck by a car. Her leg was broken, she had bruising on her head and her ears had not been “chewed on” like I suspected–it was road rash from being scraped on the highway. God bless the little girl! I wonder how she was still alive after all that? She weighs one pound and is estimated at around 6 weeks old.

Zoom in to see her pitiful ears.

She’s too young for surgery and Dr. G determined that if we keep her relatively confined and treat her very gently, her little bones might grow back together. She limps slightly when she walks but does not seem to be in pain. In fact, she has the sweetest personality and will sit quietly in our laps for hours purring loudly.

She met another Burlingame kitty who was curious but not too friendly to her. Rowdy has never been maternal toward any of our foster kittens, but she doesn’t act aggressively at all–Just bored.

And you’re here because????

I had high hopes that Tammy would love me best for once. All of our animals have always chosen Jim over me except for Roger the Wonder Hamster (2005-2008). Roger was my pal and enjoyed my company above all others. Jim says this is because Roger had a very tiny brain. 😦

Dis my favorite.

As you can see, Tammy is smitten by the furry human.

Can I pwease stay here?

Jim do you HAVE another shirt?

The good news is that Tammy will probably recover fully. She may walk funny for the rest of her life, but she is fine with that. She loves to eat, she loves human companionship, she’s sweet and very cute. I know one of you lovely people will help her find a home after we have ensured that she is ready for adoption.

So anyone wanna see some new house pictures???

Finally poured the carport and driveway!

Master bath paint color-Sherwin Williams, Ramblin Rose. This is also the color of the laundry room.

Master bath pink granite counter.

Sitting room coffee bar, looking into master bedroom. Sherwin Williams-Naples Yellow

Close up of the coffee bar. Rain Forest Green. Not a true granite. It’s a natural stone called “serpentinite”. Google it. 🙂

Come back in a couple of days for one-stop-shopping at the Burlingame Home Decor Center and Kitten Rescue Ranch!

Is this title too dramatic? Read ahead and you tell me…

So we’re driving back from the Atlanta airport last evening. It was getting dark but still light enough for Jim to see a small creature sitting on the berm of I-85. He was certain it was a kitten. I was not. Why would a tiny kitten be on this busy highway? I thought it must be some other kind of woodland varmint like a rat or possum. He was going 75 mph and he screeched to a stop on the side of the road, backed up to where he last saw it and jumped out of the car. He again saw it for a moment, then it disappeared. There were cars zooming by and huge 18-wheelers barreling down beside us. While I searched the median, certain that I would find no kittens or any other live animal, Jim searched all around the car. Then he scrambled under the Subaru with a flashlight. Guess what he found up in the frame?

Meet Tammy

I could not believe my eyes. We got her in the car and I held her while Jim drove another hour to get home. She was screaming bloody murder the whole way. I turned on the light to check her out and she had no serious or obvious injuries. The only thing I could tell about her condition is that she was verrrrry skinny and the ends of her ears were apparently chewed on.

As soon as we got home I made her a little kitten hotel suite in our bathroom. Jim crushed up some of our cat food and gave her a dish of water and a makeshift litter box.

Kitty Klub Med

We both held her a lot after we unloaded the car and got ready for bed. We were pooped from our trip, the plane ride, and the roadside rescue adventure. She sat in our laps and let us pet her and then began purring loudly. Eventually we put her in her little cubby-hole. She cried a bit more, then finally fell asleep.

I so HUNGWY! Nom Nom Nom

This morning when I went to check on her, there was a tiny kitty pee & poop in her litter box. What a smart baby! We put her in bed with us while we drank coffee and read. She was perfectly content. Mulder came up to say Hi, but seemed unimpressed. He will warm up to her later and become sweet “Uncle Mulder” as always.

You smell like “interstate”.

We were trying to think of a good name this morning. We were exploring a few themes regarding highways, evasion, rescue, danger, bravery, etc. And finally Jim asked me to mention some “cute southern country girl names.” He’s a Yankee you see, so this doesn’t come second nature to him. I rattled off Dolly, Bobby Sue, Jolene, Dixie, etc. When I said “Tammy” he stopped me. “That’s it!” Who knows what goes on in that boy’s mind, but TAMMY stuck.

She has a vet appointment today at 2:00 and I’ll run by the store for some proper kitten food. I guess we have a new baby for a while. We’ll keep her until she can be spayed and until she’s had all her shots and meds. Meantime, I hope I can find a great home for this little warrior. Please consider adding to your family, or at least sharing this story with friends who might.

Do I have lots of new stuff to post about our house? You bet! But this is Tammy’s day, so you’ll have to check back later for info on the Green House. 🙂

It POURS!  And it has been pouring for the last couple of days. Progress on the house was slow last week but LAWD HAVE MERCY we have a lot going on today!

All the interior doors have arrived as well as the trim pieces for the windows and door frames.

The scruffy little antique door will go on the closet under the stairs. (kitty room). We found it in a junk store in Atlanta. Jim finished it with a sealer to preserve the worn paint and nail holes. It’s short, only 6 ft.

Some of the trim is going up now and it really makes such a difference in the look of the windows.

The little part that sticks out of the bottom like a tiny window sill is called an “apron”. This blog is so educational. You’re welcome.

Ricky is pouring the carport and driveway tomorrow WHILE WE’RE GONE TO A FAMILY REUNION IN PENNSYLVANIA!  We sure did want to be here to watch that, but I know it’s going to turn out just the way we planned it.

Thanks Ricky!

This area off to the side will be the storage shed and golf cart bay/

Both bathrooms have been tiled so far. They’re still applying the grout though.

Downstairs guest bath. Green onyx subway tile around the tub and light green mosaic on the floor.

Upstairs master bath. Random 4 x 4 tiles around tub and burgundy/white mosaic on the floor.

We love the random tiles but it wasn’t easy to achieve. Jim used a random number generator to place all the tiles in a grid on the computer. Then I spent the next three days FIXING the pattern in places where it bothered me. I’d look at it three or four times daily and move the colors around until it looked “peaceful” to me. I can’t describe it any other way. We finally agreed on the final placement of the tiles and printed out the pattern for our tile guy. I do love it, but I’m sure someone with severe OCD could not live with this.

A final word about this tile…I was able to just pick up a box of white from the Home Depot, no problem, but TRY to find pink or burgundy tiles ANYWHERE in the surrounding area. We special ordered these from two different tile warehouses and they took weeks to arrive. When I picked up the pink tile from the store one of the fabricators said he had just ripped out this exact color from a home build in the 1950s. 🙂 Yes, these colors are not on the designers’ lists for sure. We wanted a retro bathroom and I think we achieved our strange vision.

The kitchen floor tile is finished today! We ordered terra cotta tiles from Mexico and I think they look so warm and homey.

And that’s all I’m gonna say about that! 🙂

The last thing that was happening at the end of the day was the installation of the the doors.

French doors separating our master bedroom from the “sitting” room.

The sitting room will be where we have our little wet bar and sink. We’ll also watch movies in here, plus it will act as an overflow guest room when needed. These doors will always be open unless we have company.

Whew! I hate to leave tomorrow with so much fun stuff happening to our house. But I know we’ll enjoy hanging with Jim’s wonderful and crazy family so I guess I’ll try to be patient. I look forward to seeing more surprises Sunday night when we get back. Till then!

Sorry, I’m fresh out of clever titles. This is the best I can do today. So my kitchen cabinets are installed. It will be a while before the doors, knobs and granite counter tops are added, but for now I am so happy with the progress.

The’ll be the same color as the interior trim (cotton white) except the hood and island are green. Same green as the house exterior (recycled glass).

We were a military family for twenty four years and we’ve lived in some not-so-great houses. We’re not complaining! They were provided for us on Air Force bases (Reese, Keesler, Columbus, Nellis, Pentagon (twice) and we enjoyed living on base housing. (Thank you taxpayers)

But one thing we knew we really wanted in this house was a GREAT kitchen. Jim and I both like to cook (and eat!) The kitchen we had in the yellow house was pretty good, but living there twelve years made us realize that we could make a few improvements.  I think we really nailed it this time and I can’t wait to get bizzy in the kitchen with Jim! (Did I just say that?)

Our kitchen in Lubbock TX was so small you couldn’t open the fridge and oven door at the same time. I don’t think that will be a problem here.

The tile guys were here today too and you can see they’ve begun putting down the backer board for the kitchen floor. They should start the floor tile tomorrow and I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT!

The island is small but space efficient. We’ll have granite counter tops. (rain forest green) The raised front will have a wooden bar with room for a couple of stools.

I’ve always wanted an apron-front sink. 🙂

Sorry the photo is dark. I love the little open shelves on the sides and the Juliet casement windows that I’ll open when we have cool weather.

My title tomorrow will be FLOOR TILE!  Unless some creative person can help me out. Until tomorrow then. 🙂

I mean really, can you ever get enough? Seriously!

Standing at the front door looking toward the back wall. The dining table will be situated in front of the French doors.

The kitchen is the large area to the far left, and the door opening beside the kitchen is the downstairs bath.

Downstairs bathroom. Both baths are the width of the tub. Big enough, but no wasted space.

Next to the downstairs bath is a room we call “The Office”. It will act as a guestroom as well, but our computer and book case will be in this room, as well as a sofa bed. Not really a “guest” room, but we can make you very comfy here if you wanna have a sleepover.

French doors separate this room from the living room. Sofa bed will be against the back wall with small end tables on either side.

I LOVE this picture! It was taken from the far corner of the kitchen toward the front/left side of the family room.

Our TV will be in the corner to the right of the fireplace. This way I can make you a nice snack and watch cartoons with Rowdy without having to leave the kitchen. 🙂

Great job Jim! Mission Accomplished. I love the pretty arch too. That was not in the original plans. Thanks Chris!

I gotta say, the guy who actually SANDS all this sheet rock EARNS HIS PAY!  He’s been doing this for three days and he finally finished this afternoon. I hope he has a great Independence Day tomorrow.

Here’s a picture of the back of the house. It’s still messy and confusing back here, but GT’s clean up crew (Thank you Janet & Kat!) really cleaned up the inside and outside of the Green House and it looks so nice.

There will be a storage room and golf cart bay attached to the left of the car port. It’s hard to visualize how it will fit, but trust me, It’s gonna look very cute.

If you’re wondering about this little area under the stairs, it’s probably not what you think. This is the “kitty room”. The only stuff in here will be kitty food, supplies, water bowl, and of course the dreaded litter box. They’ll have their own little cat door to go in and out. You may not be able to tell from the picture, that’s a very small door opening. (6 ft.) We found a funky antique door at a flea mall.  Jim cleaned it up and put a varnish on it for protection. He even found some antique hardware for it and I bought an old porcelain doorknob for a finishing touch. It should be very cute despite the less-than-cute usage for the space.

Meeeeow-velous!

You may be asking, “Why a whole room for cats???” Understandable. But we do have four and we love them. Their stuff is messy and this is a good way to hide it. PLUS…

Rowdy made certain demands.

And this girl usually gets her way.

🙂