Friday, February 12, 2010

The Ice Age Has Begun - one more time

Howling dogs, advancing glaciers, creaking wood - snowdrifts forming around everything, and great trees bend under the weight of snow. Overly bundled people saunter out into the cold, struggling against the elements that have bound them to their homes. A new ice age? Nope.

In WV, we call this February.

The snowstorm retreats southward, and the city tries to dig out. This picture was taken by my friend Jose'. It's a street on the other side of town from mine.

Franklin, Julius, and I decided to take a walk in the snow (18 inches of it). It was very cold, and we weren't out long, but it was a nice break after being stuck in the house for two days. The above picture is of me and Franklin in front of the pine tree in the backyard, what you can see of it. It is nearly buried in the snow.

Julius is the more adventurous of the two cats. Above he's bounding through the snow around the car. He eventually got stuck under it, so I had to dig him out.

And he spent the rest of the evening napping in the living room. He'd had enough of the snow.

Ah, Sanford St. Can't see it? It's that flat space between the telephone pole on the left and the parked car on the right. The city hasn't plowed the streets yet, so the neighbors all got out our snowshovels and cleared our own street, and put down salt. By the end we had the clearest street in Morgantown.

Here's the giant white oak in the backyard. It's beautiful anytime of year, but simply enchanting with all this snow.

Here is a further view of the oak tree.


Strange how the snow "grew around the clothesline, even. Just odd. This is really wet, heavy, sticky snow. It has partially melted and refroze, so it is now partly turned into tiny 5 inch thick glaciers in various places around.

Where is the sun? I will take spring and summer any day now. I know that freezes are good for planting, gardening, and insect abation, but dangit I am DONE with winter!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Thinking of Granny Sue

It is with a sadness in my heart that I write this tonight. One of my best friends, a great storyteller, Susanna "Granny Sue" Holstein has experienced an unparalleled tragedy in her life. While travelling home from Iowa, her son Jon passed away in an automobile accident.

Words cannot express how greatly saddened I am for my friend and her wonderful family. She is a wonderful woman, a great West Virginian, and is one of the strongest, nicest people I have ever met. I have faith that she and her family will pull through, although it is certainly a pain that no one should ever have to bear.

If you would like to leave Granny Sue a message, you can do so on her blog:
http://grannysu.blogspot.com

Love and Peace to all.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Key West Bedroom


Hello, it's Franklin Cat again. Today I am coming to you from one of my favorite places. It is the Key West bedroom in my house. This white bedspread is one of the first places I slept when I was a kitten, and I still love it.

Below is a picture of what the room looked like when we started. White box, light fixture of depression, and industrial ceiling tile. Not to mention dark pine wood floors that had seen better days. Oh, and that carpet? Nasty. Just nasty.



Above is how the room looked when the renovation began. The ceiling tile is gone, and the ceiling is now blue.

The closet needed help. There was only one long pole in it for hanging clothes, and the doors were "ugh" brown.


Despite all these challenges, it all worked out. You can see below - paint, crown molding, new light fixture, and flooring really helped. We used Key West as the inspiration for this room. Can you see it?

The closet doors are painted as well, the money tree in the corner is very tropical, and the bookcase pays homage to Key West's literary figures, like Ernest Hemingway.


There will be a picture above the bookcase eventually. It will be of the Key West Lighthouse.


Below is the headboard we made out of old closet doors and some trim from Lowe's. The shell on top and the leaves are painted to match the wall colors.

The only missing element so far is the picture/s for this wall. They're going to be photographs of Key West that we took on our vacation, but they've not been framed yet.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of the Key West bedroom. It's been a long, difficult renovation but I think it's been worth it.