Abandoned

We recently moved back to - well, are in the process of moving back to- an old family place, which has been rented out to various different people over the last seven years.

The most recent renter may be a few marbles short of a bag. He left the most incredible mess I have ever seen in my life, I kid you not.

The #@^&@*# also left his cats behind.

I know he knows he left them - we talked to him on Sunday on his cell phone. He said he'd be finished moving on Monday and told us where he would leave the key for us to pick up on Tuesday. It appears that the last thing he did before he left for the last time was to bring in a twenty five pound bag of cat food, lay it on the floor and cut it open so the kitties would be well fed until we arrived, and left the front window open about ten inches so the kitties could come and go at will.

Two of the cats were at least acquainted with people and were clearly lonely for human companionship. One would come right up to us, talking, rubbing against our legs. The other one was slightly less friendly but not unfriendly - was a little more cautious, but was talkative and almost approachable.

The third one was talkative, but would not let anyone near him/her. He/she would talk to us, but if we talked back, he/she would give us that "Oh, no you don't!" look and run away.

Given that my own cats are aging, and judging by the MESS this guy left (I am not kidding, I have NEVER seen anything like it), even though I saw evidence of things like flea treatment, litter buckets, and cat food, I could not say with any certainty that these kitties have ever had any veterinary attention, in terms of being current with shots and whatnot. In addition, there is that whole thing of the cats using the entire house as a catbox. These factors, plus more I haven't mentioned, led me to the decision to call Animal Control.

Fortunately, the woman in charge of Animal Control in Mustang has a good working relationship with the local vets and tries very hard to find homes for animals that come under her care.

She came out and easily caught the two "people cats," who are now in quarantine at the shelter as I write. They really tugged at my heartstrings, these two, but I have no doubt that they are quite adoptable and will find good homes as soon as it is feasible to release them.

We made a plan about the third kitty and set about, then, to clean the place up. We also have some serious renovation to do there, and once we got all the garbage cleaned out, we began demolition on the parts that have to be rebuilt and replaced, noise of which has further convinced the third kitty not to come near any of us.

So we took up the food for twenty four hours, then set a live trap with food and water in it and were immediately successful in capturing the third kitty, who now awaits transport to the shelter first thing in the morning.

However - now that the house is empty, we have discovered TWO MORE kitties that we hadn't seen before! They were hiding under the dumpster (crying) when we finished work today. I don't know how successful we will be at capturing them since they might associate "food" with "cage," but if they're hungry enough a cage with food in it might be attractive to the poor little things. Since we never saw these last two until we got the house empty, it makes me wonder if there are yet more kitties. These wild ones are the ones whose outcome I worry about. If they can get their shots and be neutered or spayed they could make decent barn cats. They certainly aren't interested in being people kitties right now, that's for sure.

Since all these kitties have had free run of the house for who knows how long, and have done their business in every nook and cranny, it seriously smells like urine and poo in there, even with all the furniture, carpet and trash out of the house. Steve found a super concentrated odor eliminator on the Internet, which we have ordered. It should arrive sometime next week. I'll be sure to post an entry on its efficacy.

Meanwhile, my kitties Muffin and Cookie are sequestered here at our little one bedroom extended stay apartment...where they LOVE it! Nice and cool, all they have to do is sleep all day,thank you very much, and eat once in a while, and if they feel like it, allow us to brush them - the life of Riley, as my mother would say.

April 22, 2009

Earth Day,
Earth Day,
Oklahoma's Birthday!

Tuesday April 21, 2009

This mini suite we're in here at the residential hotel has a main living area with a television and a kitchenette, a good-sized bathroom and a bedroom. Like a teen-inesy apartment. Carpet everywhere except in the bathroom, so that is where the catbox is.

Muffin totally loves being this close to "Mom" all the time, but I am also seeing that I may be able to socialize Cookie a little more in this small space. She still spends most of her time hiding under the bed, but she is coming out a little more - every once in a while I enjoy the pleasant surprise of velvet against my ankles, and even more rarely she will join me on the bed at night or let me pull her into my lap for an ever-so-brief love-fest.

There is a lot of debate among cat owners as to whether cats should ever be let outside or not, but I do let mine out under certain conditions...one being that I can get them back in at night! So over the years we have formed the practice of taking up the food dishes in the morning and feeding in the evening so I can get everybody to come when I call. With a cat who may or may not answer when you call, feeding time can be an excellent motivator. Another plus for me with once-a-day feeding is that I can see who is eating what (yes, I watch them eat).

We started this feeding-at-night thing when we first lived on the acreage, and then more consciously when we lived in Cooperstown - if one, some or all the cats happen to go outside during the day, it's my way of making sure they all come in at night. Believe it or not, even in Cooperstown there are scary, dangerous things about at night - raccoons, skunks, dogs, foxes, and the like. In the hills around the village they also have bears, but those guys rarely enter the village. (Notice I did NOT say they "never" enter the village!)

At the acreage in Oklahoma, we have all that, plus owls, coyotes and bobcats, so while I occasionally let my creatures out to enjoy the day with me, I'm nearly anal about making sure everyone is securely inside come nightfall. To this day, wherever I am, if I awaken in the night to the sound of coyotes I sit bolt upright in a panic until I have taken a mental roll call of all my pets.

This tiny room at the residential hotel is showing itself to be a good way for Cookie and I to rebond, which will be good when it's time for the cats to go to the acreage.

The former renter is all moved out, so we're going out there today to evaluate, to triage what needs to be done, and to work in the garden. Overalls, work gloves, notebook, camera, ice chest and sack lunches; I'm just sorry the cats don't get to go yet. Big job ahead, I know that, but I so love that place.

The day awaits!

Renay and the Chicken Car

We pulled off the highway in Doolittle Missouri for gas and a bite to eat, saw this Chicken Car and had to have our pictures made with it. Here's Renay!

'Nay and I luv chickens!

The Trip Down

We closed on the sale of our house on Wednesday April 9, picked up the money Thursday morning, and hit the bricks before noon in a caravan of three.

Steve drove a 22 foot Penske truck, our dear friend Renay drove a 12 footer, and I drove Sunshine the Bright Yellow Van, pulling a white 15 foot trailer.

There's a story on the trucks.

Okay, I'll tell you.

First, we were supposed to close in late May. I looked forward to being able to go through everything, having a yard sale, making several trips to the dump. We reserved a 26 foot truck to move all our stuff.

Then, around the middle of March the buyers notified us that they had secured a really really really good deal on a mortgage, but they had to close within 30 days to get that good deal. This pushed the closing date into the time range of April 7-17 instead of May 27.

Yikes! Just like that, our prep was shaved by a hefty seven weeks, from ten weeks to three - no time for sorting, definitely no time for a yard sale - just instant decisions to "pack" or "toss."

Let me pause to relay two important things we have learned from previous moves:

1. Sure, you can get a lot of stuff in great big giant boxes, but who has to carry those boxes, and how far? and what happens to the stuff in those boxes when someone drops one because they're too big and awkward or too heavy to carry, or what if the box falls apart because it's got more stuff in it than it can old? Not-too-big boxes are better.

2. Liquor store boxes are a great size in general, big enough to hold a good amount, not too big (as per item#1), but they're not of a uniform size. Short, medium and tall, liquor store boxes come in a whole mixy mess of sizes. Fine if you're moving in your car and a couple dozen pickup truck loads - not so great if you have a big truck to fill and need to do the whole move in one trip. Many boxes the same size are better.

So I ordered 150 file-size "banker" style boxes with lids, 75 longer boxes of the same type, and 50 18x18x12 boxes for things that wouldn't fit in either of the other two size boxes. I ordered these boxes from Uline, by the way, if you should ever find yourself in such a position. They were GREAT, Uline was. If you ever need a bunch of boxes of a uniform size, check them out. Check them out anyway. They have lots of cool stuff and are a very professionally run company. Uline.

My precious daughter Misty and our dear friend Renay came over every day for two weeks, taking time off from work, recruiting other family members and mutual friends to come help, and they were absolute life savers in helping us get packed. No way in God's Green Earth I could have gotten all that done in the time allotted once the closing date was accelerated. Another dear friend of ours, Keith, came on several successive days as well and helped us get packed boxes and furniture downstairs and then helped Steve get the truck loaded.

Trucks.

Trucks, multiple.

We had reserved a 26 foot truck, the biggest you can get without hiring a semi. We went to pick this big truck up, and a couple miles from the rental place Steve became concerned that there was a pretty scary problem with the front end. What a drag it would be to be, oh, miles from nowhere and have the front end fall out from under the big truck, so Steve took it back to the rental place.

They got him fixed up with another 26 footer, and he was about halfway home with that one when the engine light came on. Again, looking at a trip of over 1600 miles - what a drag it would be to have the engine blow, oh, say, in the middle of rush-hour traffic in some hurry-up impatient road-rage city between Cooperstown and Oklahoma City. Such places do exist, you know. No, really. So Steve took that one back, too.

Unfortunately, they did not have another 26 footer. Best they could do was the 22 footer, so that's what he came home with.

4 feet , the difference between 26 feet and 22 feet, doesn't seem like that much, but when you consider the width and the height of the box, we're talking somewhere over 400 cubic feet. That space can hold a lot of boxes.

Steve loaded that 22 foot truck and when it was full we still had a lot of stuff left to load. There certainly hadn't been time to go through everything when we were trying to get it all done in that abreviated time frame, and there was no time to go back through anything, either, now. Criminy, what to do? Leave it all? But I had packed the less-essential things first, saving the things I need most and use most often to pack last. There was not anything not yet on the truck that I could comfortably say I could do without.

After some stewing and fretting, we decided to see if we could get someone to drive a third truck for us, and Steve called Penske and cut a deal with them for a 12 footer.

Our first ask was for our brother-in-law David Bradford, but he was not available on such short notice. Steve and I wracked our brains as to who might be willing, able, and have the time on immediate notice to drive that third truck for us. Between Steve, me, and Renay, I think we, the three of us, know just about everyone in Otsego County, and in talking to Renay, she said she would like to drive that truck! She consulted her family, cleared her schedule for about a week and voila! We were all set! Saved our beans again, Renay did. Go Baby!

So here we are in Oklahoma City.

As I write, we are all set to go out to the acreage tomorrow to see what all needs to be done to clean things up. It looks like someone who has lived there at some time in the last seven years must have collected junk to recycle, and didn't make it to the recycle station with quite a bit of the material. Garage door panels, old appliances, beer cans... Anyway, we're going to go triage and evaluate what is there and what needs to be repaired, replaced, etc.

I thought we would live the rest of our days in Cooperstown, and I love and miss my friends in Otsego County (thank God for phones and emails!), but I must say, I am glad to be back, and am seriously looking forward to getting a garden in. Probably too late in the season to start chickens this year, especially with everything else that must need to be done out there, but chickens next spring for sure. I'll keep you posted.

We Have Returned to OZ

Back in Oklahoma.

The house on our acreage in Mustang has been rented to several different people over the last seven years, the most recent of whom is in the process of moving out now. He'll be out by the 20th. Now, thinking too much again, I wonder if that means he'll be gone by the end of the 19th, or will it be the 20th? Just to be safe, I believe our plan is to show up on the 21st ready to get some things done. In the meantime, we are trying to keep our hands and minds busy until then.

We have taken temporary lodging in a place called Candlewood Suites, a residential hotel.

The FAA (that's Federal Aviation Administration) has a training center in Oklahoma City, so people come from all over the country (and maybe beyond?) to attend training at FAA here in Oklahoma City. Rather than haggle with uber-expensive nightly rate hotels or long-term apartment lease requirements and whatnot, a lot of those folks stay at places like this.

It's sort of like a cross between a hotel and an apartment. Our unit has a kitchenette with a little two-burner stove, microwave (unfortunately no conventional oven, so no fresh-baked bread for a while), a decent sized 'fridge, a dishwasher, garbage disposal, a little coffeemaker (YEAH!) and two televisions - one in the living room and one in the bedroom. They allow pets, thank goodness, so Muffin and Cookie are here with us.

We expect to be here from one to three months (or longer if required) while we whip the A-frame into shape.

We've been out to the property a few times to look around, see how things are, see if we might run into the soon-to-be-former resident. We haven't met him yet.

I, Mrs. Bright-Side, am happy to report that:
* The chicken house is intact and will only require some cleaning up and a little repair.
* Apparently no one ever harvested the garlic we planted the October before we moved to Cooperstown and it has naturalized! Garlic where we planted it and beyond! So with no effort on our part, we will get to harvest garlic this summer!

On the other hand, a LOT of work will be required to bring the rest of the place up to snuff.

We'll have to bring in a load of gravel to fill in the driveway. It looks like heavy vehicles have driven over it and it is deeply rutted right now.

When we left seven years ago, some agency (I'm not sure if it was City of Mustang, Canadian County, or State of Oklahoma) had come through and cleared back from the road and cleaned out the drainage ditch. I thought they were going to put the fence back in (which they may have done) but there is no fence there now.

The house is an A-Frame, covered with cedar shake shingles. Shingles are warped and loose all over the building and completely missing along the bottom. The apex of the roof has come dismantled, unmanufactured, and without even seeing inside yet, I am as sure as I am sitting here that it leaks in the rain. We'll know more once we can get inside.

After having lived in a big house full of hardwood floors the last seven years in Cooperstown, I had already decided we would pull up the carpet in there and put down actual or facsimile of hardwood flooring.

You try to screen your residents, but people with secrets to hide ... Anyway, one of the renters SOLD the 12x24 metal building we had out there as an out-building! We see that the iron gate that used to be on the front door and one of the front windows are missing as well, we suspect cashed in as scrap metal. Turns out that guy was a fugitive, a wanted man. Apparently the government figured out where he was and he skipped. His day will come.

The central heat and air unit is missing. There are sections of garage doors all over the place, too, out by the sheds and over in the woods. The little shed buildings that we'd used to keep our tools and smaller equipment and where our first chicken house was, are now full of garbage, as if some of the renters had declined to contract with the city of Mustang for garbage pickup. Appliances all the heck over the place... I do know the current/soon-to-be-former resident has had burn-pits out there - one right outside the back door, next to the house with the cedar shake shingles - that was a disaster waiting to happen! He has since moved the burn pit away from the house, but we prefer to avoid burn pits ourselves as the fire danger is way too high.

Anyway, come Tuesday morning we will be out there in our overalls, boots and heavy gloves to triage the situation and fomulate a plan of action. I'll post pictures when I have some to post.