R.I.P. MISS BETTY

This morning I went out on the deck to feed the "outside" cats and found that the elder female, Miss Betty, had passed away. I had turned a large litter box that had a scoop on one side upside down for shelter from the rain and I had seen her going in and out over the past few days. When I went out this morning I realized that her tail was in the same spot as yesterday and I hadn't seen her out. Well, she was gone. She hadn't appeared sick and didn't look like she had any injuries. It looked like she just went to sleep. A good a way to go as any.

I'm not sure how old she was, but I have rescued a number of her kittens and the oldest was born in 2000. So she was probably at least 10. It took me three years to trap and spay Miss Betty. She was a smart and sly woman cat. Miss Betty was a small, brown tabby and part of a larger group that has dwindled over the years. She leaves her companion Mr. Guy as the last of the group. She was a great mom to her kittens and knew when she brought them here that they would be brought inside and found good homes.

She will be greatly missed as she was a wonderful cat. She's now at the Rainbow Bridge.

WHERE IS THE CAT?

There is a cat that hangs around here I call Mr. G. The G is for gray - he's a beautiful gray tuxedo guy. He's been around for a couple of years and, I think, belonged to someone once upon a time. He was a young adult who had been neutered and had a collar when I first met him. Over the years it has become obvious that whoever had him in the beginning was no longer around. He's a very sweet and loving guy and would make someone a great pet. However, he has no love for being in the house. I've tried to take him in a couple of times and he is clearly uncomfortable inside. He did take refuge with us during the hurricane last year and seemed to realize it was the best place to be for the duration.

I always leave small bowls of food and water out front for Mr. G as he doesn't seem to want to go in the back with the ferals. If I leave the garage door open he spends many days sprawled out on the top of the Jeep. I guess he feels safe up there and can catch all the breezes. He will go off for a while several times during the day and then come back. Of course I wonder where he goes and the other day I found one of his other "perches".

I was out looking for him and something made me look up in the tree.

I caught sight of white paws and upon closer inspection, there was Mr. G, securely settled among the limbs like a jungle cat. His perch seems very secure, even when the wind was blowing.

He's not always there, but I'm glad he's found another secure place to while away the day.

This is a picture taken of Mr. G last year when someone had put a collar on him. Isn't he just the handsomest thing?

SPECIAL EBAY LISTING

I should have blogged about this before, but I have just over a day left on a special ebay listing. I've listed a beautiful set of books of The Arabian Nights on ebay for a dear friend. Her late husband was an avid book collector and now she is having to sell off his collection. This 16 volume set is in near mint condition and listed at a very good price, but I will consider all offers. Check out the listing here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320426498563&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT and let me know what you think. If you know any book collectors, please pass this on as this set would make a wonderful addition to any library.

RED TAG SALE

Well, it's that time of the month again. No, I don't mean that special visit from Mother Nature! I'm talking about the Quilters Corner Group's Red Tag Sale. Again this month you will find lots of great deals on lots of neat stuff!! I myself have a few listings that all start at $.99 so go to Ebay and search QCG Red Tag to find the sale items.

QUICK UPDATE

I just wanted to report that the rescued puppy, Midnight, has found her forever home! Neighbor ran an ad on Craigslist and, after two weeks, finally got two responses in a row. The first was a lady and her granddaughter, age 11, whose previous dog had died a while back. Neighbor visited with them and decided they would be a good match. Midnight has been with them for about a week and is settling in nicely. Everyone is very happy at the great outcome of this rescue.

LEVELING THE FOUNDATION - PART 4 (FINAL)

I can't tell you how amazing it was to see the cracks close up and the doors work properly after the foundation leveling. In the master bedroom I hadn't been able to close the closet door for a long, long time. The best I could do was to slam it as hard as I could to lodge it in the space and keep the cats out. The frame around the door was actually slipping off the sheetrock and the crack was making its way across the wall. There was such a gap between the frame and the door on entry to the master bedroom, that I had to shim out the strike plate with cardboard, nuts and washers just to keep the door latched. For the hall bath there was the same problem as the closet door. Also in the hall, the doors to the A/C unit and the hot water heater would open at will. There was a space under the wall between the garage and the house that got to be at least 1" and it ran from the master bedroom, thru the laundry area and into the kitchen. The walls above the door to the garage and the entry from the dining area to the kitchen were separating from the ceiling. The front door was sticking and there were assorted cracks everywhere.

In the small amount of time that it took to actually jack up the foundation, the vast marjority of those problems either disappeared or diminished. You have to see it so I'm posting some before and after pics. I hope that helps you to see what a difference this dusty, dirty, noisy process made.

BEFORE

Above the door from the kitchen to the garage. See the space at the top and the crack from the corner of the door?

This is the door from the dining area to the kitchen seen from the dining area side.

This is the infamous closet door. That's as closed as it would get. Look at the crack - there was a matching one on the other side and you could see the light through it.

AFTER

Look, ma!! No more space above the wall!

The most amazing transformation of all - the closet door!

There are still a lot of cracks to patch, but they are closed cracks. I've been told to wait about 60 days to do any patching which is fine with me. It will be cool weather and much better for patching and painting.

I hope everyone has learned something about foundation problems in Houston and the great work that can be done to fix them.

LEVELING THE FOUNDATION - PART 3

Sorry to be so long between parts, but I've had lots of errands to run and a fridge to restock. And the rain makes me lazy. Oh, well! lol

So where were we? Ah, yes. The concrete has been removed and the holes have been dug. The most remarkable part is just beginning. For the most part they have tried to place the piers under the foundation beams as that will affect more of the foundation with fewer piers.

When the holes are dug, they have dig out to the side as well as down so they have a place to drive the piers. The way the holes are dug there is a place for the worker to sit while they drive the piers. Take note - when they are sitting in the holes, the tops of their heads are at about floor level. Those are deep holes!!!

To drive the piers they use an electric kind of jack that appears to use the weight of the foundation above to help move the piers down thru the dirt to bedrock. They use round concrete piers that are about a foot high and maybe 8" in diameter. (These are my estimates from observation and not from actually measuring. ) As I remember it took about 16 of these to reach bedrock!! This is not a quick process, but it a bit less labor intensive than the digging. These cylinders also have a small hold in the center into which rebar is inserted for extra strength.

Once the piers are all driven the the real fun begins. They bring a hand-operated jack into each hole and the foundation is jacked up all at the same time. They do a few pumps of the jack, measure, more pumps, until the foundation is level. The change is so subtle, but so dramatic. Example - my computer armoire fits into a corner that is in the approximate middle of the house. For a while now I had to keep a hold on the sliding keyboard drawer while typing to keep it from rolling back into the unit. I was working on the computer while they were doing the leveling and it suddenly occured to me that the drawer wasn't rolling back any more.

After everything is confirmed level, they they put a rectangular block of concrete on top and then two smaller cylinders on top of that. Then they have to start filling in the holes. That means bringing all the dirt back in. After filling the holes they water in the dirt to be sure it's well packed. Then they pour concrete patches over the dirt and all is pretty well finished. To make sure there were no kitty prints or Barbara prints in the concrete, they placed the same boards over them that they had used to cover the holes overnight. The did boost them up with some of the metal shims they use to let air come in to hasten the curing. (They used the excess dirt to fill in around the foundation where the shrinkage had opened voids.)

I also had to have one new pier outside, just past the front door and the process is the same except for the concrete patches. The crew was nice enough to put some concrete around a fence post that had been loosened by the digging. Believe me, that post won't be going anywhere for a long, long time!!!

At the beginning they had planned to shim up some existing piers located under the wall between the garage and the house, but they also ended up having to shim up two more on one outside wall of the garage.

I have to commend this crew from Atlas Foundations for their professionalism and courtesy. The tolerated my curiosity about the process and answered all my questions to my satisfaction. I would have them work in my house again in a minute!

This is just the dirt from the bedroom and hall!

The dirt from the kitchen was out in the driveway.

Driving the piers outside.

Driving the piers inside (in the kitchen).

See how deep this hole is?

After the foundation is jacked up.

Can you see the space between the slab and the top of the dirt?

It's about 4"!

Finally, the work is done!

Tomorrow I'll post the "after" pics. Really amazing stuff!!