Monday, October 26, 2009

Space Paws is Back On The Air

Hi folks! Thanks again for your patience! My family and I had a great week with Dad, who came up from Florida for the festivities, and my nephew's wedding was a blast!

The reason for the hiatus: Mark and Elizabeth at the reception. The newlyweds have four fur babies already! (It runs in the family!)


I've got a lot of catching up to do with all our friend's blogs, a week's worth of Space Paws email, etc.!! It may take me a few days. I want to thank all of you for your encouraging words about taking this break. (And a special thank-you shout to Brian for stamping and thanking us during our hiatus! I'll be passing along the love this week, Brian!)

My Dad (the Opster - family slang, from "Opa," which means grandfather) sure kept me hopping while he was here - in addition to the aforementioned wedding, he dug into fixing up his kid's homestead (kid... ha, ha!). We updated outlets, he fixed plumbing and electrical fixtures and generally spiffed the place up. Best of all, he brought a present for the kittehs!!!

Here's the Opster with one of his bunk mates for the week, Winnie. The spiral stairs he designed for the kittehs and fabricated in Florida is under construction here in B'more!

Here are the completed stairs and kitteh path #1, which runs from the upper rung of the kitteh stair to the human staircase.

Next, the kitteh path meeting the human staircase (yes, all of the kittehs can easily pass through the spindles on the railing).

A kitteh's eye view across the kitteh path to the spiral stairs. The top step of the stairs meets the path (it's a little hard to see in this shot, but the flash just didn't work well in these tight quarters).

Opster tasked me with the finishing touches. I still need to paint the stairs and path (white, to match the trim) and carpet both the path and the stair treads for sure footing. I may install toe molding on the outside of the path to hide the carpeting. I'll post pics of the kittehs on it as soon as I catch them at it with the camera on hand!

Yes, this is just the first path. Opster's plan was to run paths all the way around the living room (ending on the same stair, against the far wall). He likes warm weather so we may be talking May. And he's talking about a passage at kitteh path level, into the den. Guess that means we'll have kitteh paths in the den, too. Always thinking, the Opster said we need to make sure the passage has a door that can be shut for when we have a new resident in quarantine. (Have I mentioned that I really love my Dad's sense of whimsy?)

So, tomorrow updates on all the fosters, here and at Chez Hannah, and back to regular broadcasting!

16 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! The Opster Rocks!!! I love the kitty path and staircase. If he ever wishes to visit California, I would be glad of his help in making a kitty path in my condo as soon as the warm weather hits (and as soon as I get my condo... sigh, the pain of short sales!)

    Congrats to your nephew and his lovely bride!

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  2. Squeeeeeeeeeee! Coolest. Dad. Ever. The kitties are so lucky to have you guys.

    PS: Thanks for stopping by my place! Jada says hi.

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  3. The Opster is awesome! What a cool dad you have (then again, cool and awesome runs in the family it seems) :) I love, love, love the kitty paths! Must show this to my husband to see if he can make one for our monsters as well! Or if your dad likes warm weather, he can come stay with us in California and make kitty paths to his heart's content :)

    Congrats to your nephew and his wife on their new life together...such a sweet and happy couple :)

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  4. How sweet is your dad?!! You have to love a dad that loves your kitties enough to make them some fun and fantastic kitty paths and stairs! I can hardly wait to see pictures of them using it. Good stuff!

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  5. We missed you too!!! Oh yea, purrs & head butts to the Opster from all of us!

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  6. Oh the paths are sooo cool...I once saw a photo spread of a house where the mom and dad did that for all the fur folk....zoom.....zoom.....SU just looks at me like I'm nuts wheni mention it..he avows they hve the run of the joint anyway...confirmed by SPP

    What a beautiful couple...congrats


    Hugs

    AP

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  7. I've already sent an email to my husband with a link to this post saying "I don't see why you couldn't build something like this..." Now I hope he agrees. Your dad is awesome (and the happy couple is lovely!)

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  8. Can I adopt your dad? What an awesome idea! Oh, and the newlyweds look like really fun people too.

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  9. Welcome back!
    And how awesome is your dad?! I would like kitty paths for us, except that they'd have to be bigger to fit me :)

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  10. Congratulations to the happy couple and Yay for the Opster!!! Glad you are back.

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  11. Wow -- your house looks great! Just lovely -- and especially since it's modified for kitties. I saw one other house that had pathways for kitties all around it, and little holes fashioned in the walls for them to hide in -- it was in some magazine a while back.

    Opster certainly seems to have a sharp mind (unlike my father-in-law)!

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  12. Hi Lisa,

    Any chance your dad will adopt me? It's purely for unselfish reasons, of course -- it's my cats who need a skywalk, not me!

    ;o)

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  13. WOW, i have some very envious kitties over here! hey, i live in florida! ;)

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  14. Now that is impressive! What a great Dad you have :)

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  15. Holy Cow is your dad talented! I am so totally jealous of those stairs - seriously I have seen things that are similar but are not as cool looking and look nowhere close to that well built (which is why we never had anything like that or a cat tree). You have to tell him he has made some fans out here in Chicago!

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