Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Merlock Holmes and the Case of the Kitty Prints

So, I know that some of you know what I've been doing the past few days: trying to finish painting the basement steps. We have two flights of steps that lead into the basement, one by the back door and the other in the center of the house. Well, we've had the steps pretty much primed for about a month now and I decided it was time to finish the job. So Saturday, I was painting the treads of the center steps with the white primer. Now, all the fun kitty stuff, like food, water, and litter is in the basement. I thought (ha!) that if I left one door open and closed the other, the cats could still get into the basement to their essentials. In a perfect world, this would have worked. I don't live in a perfect world. After painting a couple of steps, a tan blur rushed past me up the freshly painted steps. I, of course, shouted at him "Gus, what are you doing?" which made him run faster because suddenly "shorter, blond one who feeds me" is yelling at him. I yelled at Matt to grab Gus but he missed. So now there was white cat prints on our wood floor in the living room. I reacted in the appropriate manner: paint on floor first, cat second. Luckily it all came up with only a slightly traumatized Gus to contend with.

So last night, I was painting the same steps, only this time with the finish coat. I closed that door and left the other one open for the cats (apparently I don't learn). I had finished and was sitting in the living room. Matt came downstairs from the second floor and I asked him to go look at the freshly painted stairs. When he opened the basement door, guess who came out? A painted Gus. This time he had run up all the steps, leaving nice cat prints on all my newly painted steps. And now there is brown paint on our kitchen floor (which isn't a problem because it needs to be replaced anyhow). So we grabbed Gus and I held him while Matt cleaned his feet. Gus was a very good kitty to let us wash his feet and cut away the painted fur.

We decided that at least Gus did it in the correct order: primer first, then top coat.

So, I doubt that Gus has learned his lesson but I have: close both doors while painting and the cats can just hold it for a bit!

4 comments:

Jenna said...

Or you could just temporarily move their litter box... that is what we did when we were painting in the laundry room (aka the kitty litter and food room). We moved it to the guest bathroom so that the kitties would not have to "hold it."

Anonymous said...

eYe LIekE cHeaZe

Luf;;;';;;'

gUz

Merrilee said...

Apparently Gus left a message on my blog. Not only can he paint and kill dangerous milk jug rings, he can also type.

But, I have to wonder if Matt helped him a bit.....

Anonymous said...

It brings to mind a day at the Farmhouse... I think you were there? The fence was being primed with that ugly green paint, and I looked down and saw that same ugly green on the parlor floor!
It was a quick "Everyone sit down and put your feet up!" to the school kids (of which the room was full), and then a quick call to collections, who came out with turpentine or whatever to clean the expensive (new) carpet... with the doors and windows closed...