He was coming to understand that...he was really and truly safe. They did not love him for his glossy tiger coat, nor for his white shirt front and white paws...they loved him because he was himself. –May Sarton, The Fur Person

Lexi and Mr. Creme’s vet visit went well.  The doctor was happy with Lexi’s improvement.  Seems the combination of the allergy pills and the new antibiotic, Veraflox, finally helped the congestion.  We still need to give the allergy pills each day and we have the Veraflox to give “as needed”.  Since it's an antibiotic, it shouldn't be given continuously because it could lose it effectiveness.

Mr. Creme is feeling pretty good about himself

Mr. Creme had blood drawn to make sure the bladder infection had cleared up.  The results were good.  His infection was gone.  Doctor gave us kudos for noticing a difference in Mr. Creme’s behavior.  That was why we took him in.  We know him and we can tell when something is different.  Since we caught it early, we were able to clear it up.  We’re happy that his blood glucose is good too.  We love our Mr. Creme.  He was 13 years old on March 22.  Hard to believe.  We’ve known him since he was born.

Old patio 9'x12'

New patio 12'x22'

A few weeks ago we decided we wanted to replace the enclosed “cat patio” with a larger one.  We have had that patio since we moved back here from Virginia in 2004.  It has been nice to have because we were able to have a place for cats who didn't do so well in the house with the other cats. 

Lexi and Jezibel didn’t get along well with others, so we put Jezibel in one 4x4x6' kennel and Lexi in the other.  They were there only at night and were in the yard during the day. 

Then we rescued Kiki, so Jezibel was “promoted” to Charlie’s work room upstairs.  That was fine since she likes being near him.  Kiki took over Jezibel’s kennel.

But, the patio had always had problems–it had a leak in the roof which we could never get repaired.  It was built around a chimney and was not properly flashed.  The people who installed the patio came out several times to try to stop the leaks.  We never knew the leaks weren’t fixed until the next rains came.  We’d call them again and they finally stopped returning our calls.  We knew they couldn’t help anyway.  So we called our roofer.  I think he came out three or four times.  He thought he had it fixed, but as soon as it rained, the leak was still there.  He didn’t charge us for the work after the first failure.  He was determined to fix it, but just couldn’t. 

We gave up trying to get it fixed and kept a plastic pail nearby if it rained.  It was awful.  But, the cats stayed dry since they were not near the leak.

Because we were getting a bigger patio, we had to have the sprinklers and water faucet moved.  Our yard maintenance guy came to move the sprinklers that were near the old patio and he would wait until the new slab was laid to put the new ones in.  He also moved some bushes that were near the old patio.

The plumber came over and re-routed the faucet and added a new faucet near the other end of the patio.   

All of these were expenses in addition to what we were paying for the patio installation.  It was adding up!

When it was time to demolish the old patio, we had to clear everything from it.  We moved Kiki’s 4x4 kennel to the garage.  Lexi was moved to my work room.  Everyone has adjusted.

Old patio slab almost gone!

New patio footprint

The patio was taken down and the concrete floor slab was broken up.  A new floor was poured.  The old patio–9'x12', would be replaced by a 12'x22' patio.

New patio slab

5 cats and an incomplete patio

After the new slab was poured, it took a few days for it to dry enough to walk on.  It was going to be another couple of weeks before the patio structure would be installed because all of the materials were not in yet.  It was nice to walk out on the open patio and see the whole yard for a change.

Our yard guy came over and finished the sprinkler system.  When the sprinklers came on, the outside edges of the floor were wet and we noticed that it was also wet next to the house.  I thought since we had fog and some drizzle overnight, it was probably due to that.  The sprinklers would have to be adjusted because I didn’t want the water hitting the outside of our new patio.  Plus the water would make spots on the glass windows!  Can't have that.

On that Tuesday, the day before the new patio was to be installed, the sprinklers were due to come on early that morning.  Later, I noticed that the patio was wet again.  But, it hadn’t been foggy or misty.  The day was sunny, so everything dried.

The next day, Wednesday, the guys came to install the patio structure.  They were done by that Friday.  It looked great.  Because of the tools and materials in the yard, we had not had the sprinklers on since early Tuesday morning.  They were due to come back on Sunday.

When I got up Sunday morning, I went out to the new patio and was horrified to see that the floor was wet in the spot next to the house.  I called our yard guy and told him, but didn’t ask that he come over since it was his day off.  He came right over. 

He found the problem, worked on it, adjusted the other sprinklers and left.  We thought it would be fine....until Tuesday, when the sprinklers came on again.  Sure enough, the floor was wet in the same place. 

The yard guy came back and realized the leak was from a different area.  This time he got it.  But, he will have to come again and route a sprinkler to a couple of spots that lost coverage. 

A finished wall & a promise of no leaks!

Kaci checking out her new digs

So having the patio is great, but not without a few problems and extra expenses along the way.  We expect to have the floor sealed next week and when all of that dries, we can start using it.  The floor will be shiny and will look like tile.  Also, supposedly easy to keep clean!

Inquiring minds want to know:  Who's Buffy?

Stay tuned.......
My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D =^..^= 

"Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday." ~Napoleon Hill

OK, it’s been more than a “few hours”, but I have finally made myself write again. 

Our solar panels were activated February 20 and we received our first electric bill on March 6. There were only partial savings from the solar since it had not been working for the full billing period, but it was significant.  Of course, now we get a separate bill for gas, but with the combination, it still will be much lower. 

With solar, we would not be required to pay the electric portion of the bill monthly if we didn’t want to.  The entire year’s bill would be due in February 2014.  But, we will pay it each month, as always.  They do require that the gas bill be paid monthly.   

We can monitor on the computer how much energy the panels are producing each day.  The graph shows the hours of sunlight and also the diagram of the panels.  When they are blue, they are working. 

Last month we took a “day off” and went up to Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Presidential Library.  It was on a Friday.  We left home at 10:00 a.m.  Our ticket time was 1:45-2:00 p.m., but it’s a three hour drive and being Friday, we had to allow for traffic.  It was sometimes slow, but not that bad. 

I was looking forward to seeing the Air Force One exhibit.  Going through the plane, I did expect it to be much bigger.  Of course, that particular plane had been used in a couple of previous administrations and was upgraded to the 747 used today, after Reagan left office in 1990. 

Another highlight of the Library was the replica of the Oval Office.  It was set up the way it was when Reagan was there.  There were some items that had actually been in the office then.  Even though it wasn’t real, there was a certain feeling to it that made it seem so. 

Our last stop (after the gift shop!) was outside to the gardens.  It was landscaped to look like the South lawn at the White House in D.C.  There is a beautiful view of the hills and orchards below.  The day was clear, so we could see the ocean in the distance.

President Reagan’s gravesite is on the grounds.  It is very simple, but beautiful and peaceful.  We left the Library after three hours of touring and it was a very nice visit.

Updates on the cats:

Mr. Creme had blood work done a couple of weeks ago.  They did a full panel as well as a fructosamine test for his glucose levels.  The doctor called and said that MC had a bladder infection!  We had no idea, although I had noticed that he was not eating as well as he should and that was why we had the tests done, but we thought it was something to do with his diabetes.  She wanted to put him on antibiotics ASAP because she didn’t want the infection moving to his kidneys.  I took him into the clinic and he received an antibiotic injection to get into his system and some Clavomox pills to take for 10 days.

Lexi’s congestion was just not getting any better.  I was giving her the allergy pills, but they didn’t seem to have any king of effect.  We took her back to the vet, hoping that she could suggest something else.  We were getting to the point of considering taking her to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital to see a specialist for help.

The doctor listened to Lexi’s breathing and determined that her chest was clear and the congestion seemed to be just in her nose.  She said to continue giving the allergy pills and gave us some liquid to try.  It’s called Veraflox and it’s new.  We gave it once a day for about 10 days.  There was noticeable improvement after a few days.  By the time she had her last dose, her breathing was almost clear.  Definitely a difference we hadn’t seen in a long time. 

Mr. Creme and Lexi will go back to the vet tomorrow for a recheck.  We will find out if the Veraflox is something we can use as needed or if it is something that Lexi will have to have regularly.  We also don’t know if there will be any changes in Mr. Creme’s insulin dosage.  Dr. didn’t go over the blood glucose test two weeks ago because she was more concerned about Mr. Creme’s bladder infection.  I suspect there is something that will change though.