ORBITED BY NINE DARK MOONS

ORBITED BY NINE DARK MOONS

Backyard Catio – Part 16

Until our replacement windows are built and installed, I can’t connect the cat enclosure to the house. So for now I’m carrying the boys* out to it. I’ve been bringing Bonkers out since construction started and letting him explore. He’s our “I want to be outside all the time!” kitty, and howled at the back door whenever he saw me in the yard working on it without him.

Backyard Catio – Part 15

Two weekends ago I was standing in the yard, minding my own business, when I hip-checked the cat enclosure by accident. Moments later a torrent of water cascaded down my face, chest, and drill. D’oh! It turns out a flat polycarbonate plastic roof is great until it rains, and then it’s just FULL of surprises! So. I decided the roof needed to be angled. Stat!

6 Panel Art Project – Part 1

I woke up this morning at 7:00 with a pounding headache [could have been from the 3 Mike’s Hard Lemonade’s I had last night, but I’m thinking it was more the changing weather]. Hubby brought me some aspirin and about an hour later I leaped out of bed and announced “I’m creating art today!” and hubby was like “um… OK?”

Site Optimization & Speed!

My website STILL doesn’t work from home. Although, at the moment, I can access it from Firefox, but not from Chrome. Tell me that makes sense… [usually I can’t access it from either]. I’ve been doing a lot of research lately about site optimization. Hence all my craziness regarding Alt Text. Which has helped! I’m starting to get more random traffic. And today I found a site that tests the load speed of your website & suggests ways to improve it – sweet!

Backyard Catio – Part 14

Friday after work I began working on the door for the cat enclosure. I took measurements, then cut 4 of the 6′ 1×4’s I’d bought a few weeks ago into two 69½” pieces & three 36″ pieces, using my new WorkMate table and a handsaw. Then took them to the back yard and stained them.

OMG There’s So Much Going On!

I have been doing some tidying up behind-the-scenes here at ninedarkmoons.com. I have broken the RIVER page into 3 sections and cleaned up the PROJECTS pages. I hung out with Abbie & her adorable babies. I crossed the 2k mark on my motorcycle odometer. The garden is blooming beautifully! I c**k-blocked Bonkers. I set up my new WorkMate table. I began work on the catio DOOR! AND we got our permit for replacement windows!!!

Backyard Catio – Part 13

This afternoon I finally attached the ramps I finished building last Thursday. It required that I climb into the enclosure to get the appropriate leverage necessary to secure the interior shelf! I also worked on cutting, staining, and attaching the slats to cover the chicken wire staples on front of the enclosure.

Backyard Catio – Part 12

Poor Bonkers. So rickety, so muppet-y, so topple-y! The poor guy has loose joints, especially in his hips, so he can’t really jump very high or far. I’ve been carrying him out to the enclosure and letting him walk and sit on the top shelf, but he’s too rickety to jump down to the middle shelf, even though he REALLY wants to.

Backyard Catio – Part 11

So last week I installed the roof on the cat enclosure. I also began the task of stapling chicken wire to the outside of the enclosure. It was very labor intensive and the hours of stapling aggravated my carpal tunnels. All told, it took 90 square feet of chicken wire and 1,400 staples to get the majority of the enclosure chicken’d. I still need to chicken the door, but that requires I actually build the door first, which is next on the list.