Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Thursday’s Thoughts. #13 DIY Day!
Good morning everyone and welcome to something new for our Thursday reading! Each Thursday for the next little while I will be sharing some simple DIY projects. Some may not apply to you or what you like to do, but I will try to have a few different ideas along the way, so please join me each Thursday for a new and simple project to enjoy.
Today is one for us people who have cats in our lives. Muffin thought this was a purrfect project to begin our new series. And she helped all the way through this project too, making sure I did things just right. This is for making, or in this instance, recovering, a scratching post for your favorite feline.
Muffin’s scratching post was looking rather bad, as you can see in the pic above, and was in desperate need of new carpet, plus a new top on it. Muffin had outgrown that small top it had and she does like to sleep on her scratching post.
So I stripped the old carpet off and took the old top off the pole, as shown above. The pole itself is a 2×4 (that is what they are called here), really it is a piece of wood about 1 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches (3.75cm by 8.75cm) and is 3 feet (90cm) long. The bottom is 16 inches (40cm) square and is 1 1/2 inches (3.75cm) thick. For Muffin the base needed to be heavy enough so the post would not fall over when she ran and jumped onto it. It will sometimes rock a lot, but has never fallen over.
I turned the carpet over so I could mark the bottom of it and cut it easily with a sharp knife. The piece for the bottom needed to have a hole cut in the center for the pole.
Muffin helped me with that, so my marking did not come out too well. But it worked and fit nicely on the base.
I then used large staples to attach the carpet to the base. I also used staples for the rest of the project. These staples are large and strong so they will hold the carpet in place quite nicely. I forgot to take a pic of the staples used, but any large staples from a hardware store would work.
I made the top larger, 11 inches (27.5cm) by 14 inches (35cm), a perfect size for Muffin. I made one end rounded, as shown above, to make it easier for Muffin to climb onto the top. She likes to climb up the pole, then pulls herself onto the top to look out the window or have a nap.
You can see she approves of the finished project in the above pic. It looks so much better than the first photo and Muffin is enjoying it very much. It needs to be recovered about every 6 to 8 months, but that could vary depending on your cat.
It is definitely a worthwhile project, cats do love to scratch and something like this saves on the furniture. It was simple training her to use the post and she has never scratched the furniture since I made this for her. Plus, it is far more solid than the ones sold in stores around here.
Sorry I did not have more pics for actually making the post itself, but it was made a few years ago, before I started blogging. I did not even have a camera at the time. I think next week we will try reclaiming an old picture frame for display purposes. Have a great day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Ringing Resort Case. Chapter 11. Escape.
Once things had gone quiet, Tamara and Carrie got people together from the hotel to help carry our wounded team members back to the hotel. Ralph and Mac helped too, but then Mac told Ralph that maybe he should take the chopper and leave before the police arrived. Several people from the hotel had called the police, but fortunately their largest boat was in for repairs and they were unable to find another suitable large boat to use.
So, they had to use small boats which meant it took them longer to get here. Mandar tried calling me, and Tamara answered this time and explained to him what had happened. Sky asked her to do that as she was nearly ready to collapse from all the excitement and from her wounds. She had been shot twice, though neither wound was serious. But she did lose quite a bit of blood.
“You need something to calm you down,” said Bridgette, “I have something here that will help.” “No, I do not need anything to knock me out right now,” she said, “I want to be alert.” “You will still be alert, just calm,” said Bridgette again. “No, nothing for me,” said Sky firmly. Mandar told Tamara that he had a boat coming to get everyone and it should be docking in a few minutes.
Tamara said they would have to use the main beach and anchor offshore as the water was too shallow for a large boat. That is what they did and used smaller boats to carry everyone to the yacht, which was larger than the one Brandish had, by quite a bit. Mandar and Baldwin like to do things in large ways. His yacht was to take us to Australia where Baldwin had his big jet waiting for us, along with Rock, Saranna, Marlene and a couple other girls.
“I guess everything worked out okay,” said Sky, “no one was killed at least.” She sighed. “No one stands against the fury of the Kat!” “Who said that?” asked Sky. “No one said anything,” said Bridgette. “But I heard that voice again,” replied Sky. “I am giving you something to help your nerves,” said Bridgette, “and you are not arguing this time. Right now I am your doctor and you must listen to me.”
“Yes, I guess maybe this stress and everything is getting to me,” she admitted. “Thank you Kat…I mean, Sky,” she said, “maybe this stress is getting to me as well.” Sky giggled. “Who is this Kat?” asked Carrie. “She was Steve’s previous wife, until she was killed by a man named Toledo,” said Bridgette, “that was before I joined the team. Did you ever know her Mac?”
“No, never had the pleasure,” he said, “but her and her twin sister were quite a team John said. Kat used to say a phrase, something like, Now they will feel the fury of the Kat.” “That is what I heard, twice now,” said Sky, “first when we were fighting, and just now.” Meow,meow!” It ghost!
“Muffin, stop that, you know there are no ghosts,” said Sky. Meow,meow?=Human Kat dead, you hear voice, so must be ghost. “No, it is just in my head,” she told Muffin, “not a real voice. I think. Steve will tell you when he is better.” She turns and looks at me lying on the bed, not moving. “Please get better Steve, please,” she said softly.
Bridgette went to check on me and give me some of a new medication that Ralph had brought. Mac helped turn me over onto my back. Bridgette checked my pulse and frowned. She put her head down to my chest. Then she started to pound my chest. “Let me do that,” said Mac. Bridgette was in tears now and Sky collapsed.
Tamara and Carrie picked Sky up off the floor and laid her on the bed too. Muffin lay down on top of her, the two kittens on each side of her head and all started to purr loudly. “Steve is okay Bridgette,” said Mac. She came back and checked to make sure things were okay. Then she called Saranna and she told Bridgette to wait on the medication until they got to Australia. Fortunately we all got out of there before the police arrived.
But before we left, Mac gave the stolen items to the older couple to give to the police. They were so relieved to get their things back, but more relieved that we would all be okay. They asked Mac to call them when we got back home so they would know we arrived safely. He promised to do that. It did not seem long and we were flying back home again…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 