Cat in the Woodstain and a Cleaning Rag...

Okay - have you ever had one of those days where you just wanted to toss a match in the door and walk away?

Well, yesterday was one of those days for me.

It was my first full day back from our trip to Missouri. I had a ton of e-mails to deal with and a much neglected house to clean. I also wanted to get prepped for working on that wainscoating.

So I go about my day doing some cleaning and such. At one point I decided to go ahead and clean the part of the basement I have finished out (I ought to get some pictures of it and post them - perhaps tomorrow).

As part of the cleaning I decided to take the stains I knew wouldn't be used and store them in the storage area of the basement.

Before I continue I guess I should tell you that we have a cat door, w/porch, for the kitties. It is located in the garden level window in the finished part of the basement. You can see Chloe sitting next to it in the picture below.

Anyway, to make a long story short you could say I was the unwitting participant in a 'Series of Unfortunate Events'. It all culminated in me tripping over myself, and a cat, resulting in a quart sized can of Red Oak stain exploding at the bottom of the steps.

I was so flabbergasted, and miffed, that taking pictures never even entered my mind. If someone would have been there and suggested this they would have ended up with the camera someplace 'special'.

Well, now that a day has passed and I can look back on the ordeal I can laugh and cry AND take a few pics. Unfortunately the mess, for the most part, has been cleaned up, but you can still see the signs.

Here you can see down the steps of the basement.

To the right you can see a door that leads outside. I was standing at this door's landing when it happened.

Shalimar jumped through the pet door and onto the landing right when I was taking the step. I lost my footing and while trying to right myself I lost one of the cans.

The can hit the corner area right under the light switch and popped open upside down (from what I can tell).

SWMBO had a carved, wooden rabbit sitting in the corner and the litter box was next to it. Yes - we keep an auxiliary cat box in this area during the cold months.

Any who...you can see the 'splash' if you look - especially on the box we keep the litter box in.

Do you see the stains in the corner areas on the wall? There are also some on the wall down by the lower edge of the box. Luckily we still have paint and I can touch it up.

If you look hard you can see the shadow caused by the stain on the wooden areas.

The main spill area was on the bottom landing, but you can see splash marks on the stairs as well.

It took a roll and a half of paper towels to clean and I had little time to do it in - you know - before the stain really sets in.

Unfortunately it is noticeable enough that I will need to do something. Fortunately, the stain color looks good and I can do the whole thing.

It could have been worse. As you can see to the extreme left we have Berber carpet. Not a drop landed on it - even while i was cleaning up the mess.

Okay, now for more of the story...

Remember the cat that help do this? Well, don't ask me how, but she got the stain all over her! I thought she had jetted either up the stairs or back out the window. Unfortunately, several hours later, SWMBO found Shalimar and saw she was covered!!

Needless to say, I had to give her a bath - TWICE!! Do you have any idea how hard it is to bath a freaked out cat?! I have a few more scratches on me from this task as payment.

Luckily Shalimar is fine - but there is a slight smell of stain about her. We are playing it safe by pushing fluids and keeping an eye on her.

The pathetic thing is that Shalimar is now VERY clingy towards me. In fact, she is trying to be so close (so she can sleep) she is trying to bed down on the laptop keyboard while I type!

Today went better.....

One last little bit. In case you noticed, the stairwell, leading down to the basement, isn't completely finished. I have as yet to put the trim up. I'll need to do some work on the stairs and see no sense in ripping out what I have put up.

BTW - did you like the post title? Read it again but think about the tune 'Cat in the Cradle'.

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry ~