As you know when I was remodeling the lounge area of the house I took out the ceiling and turned the attic into a loft. (The builder was shocked and needed some convincing) This gives me lots of height above my head and if I must live inside I have to have height above my head.
I have a very tall old wardrobe against one wall in the lounge area that houses many things that I do not want to look at (everything except books and art) and Marmalade has worked out how to climb the ladder to the loft (which is hidden in an old wardrobe in a side room) he runs along the loft floor then jumps down onto the top of the wardrobe. High above everyone and warm.
But he cannot do all that backwards and has trained me to watch for the dangling legs sign. I then hold his basket above my head within reach, and heleaves his eagle perch and climbs into the basket and like a drunken sailor in a row boat rides standing in the basket elevator to the floor.
I am going to have to find him a bigger basket.
We had a heavy frost yesterday, then some sun, bits of rain and even a little snow, with a lot of wind. A strange day all up. But the peacefulness that has settled over the farm like a soft net around a bed, is still in place.
We eat a little, sleep a lot and try to keep clean. The firewood did a Loaves and Fishes overnight and after some splitting looks plentiful. So the fire is roaring, the barometer is rising and we have a few days to get ready for a second round with Old Winter.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
80 responses to “A Kitty Elevator”
Good morning, c. If you’re holding the basket for Marmalade, then who took the photograph?
p.s. I’m ‘borrowing’ your “the-cold-is-back” photo. Thank you, darling.
I held the Marmalade cat basket with one hand and the camera with the other.. this is why some of the focus is a bit shot!! I love it when you borrow photos.. of course! c
What a cat. Has Miss C trained.
That little guy is sooooo cute. Very funny creatures.
There was an article in the paper recently about seeing bald eagles at Starved Rock. I’ve never been nor have I ever seen a bald eagle close up. Apparently there are quite a few to see along the illinois river diving for fish. They say they have 8 foot wingspans.So, today we are off to Starved Rock. My husband can’t drive yet, but he’s doing so well and is happy to get out of the house even if I’m the driver.
How exciting, i do hope you see one. once when i was very new here and had no blog or animals i saw a bald eagle here.. huge, but his head was grubbier than in the pictures.. I look forward to seeing what you see. Why is it called Starved rock? c
[…] photo is from The Kitchens Garden. […]
Another spoiled Kitty 🙂
Have a great day!
like others before me I see Marmalade has you well trained!
Loving the rocks on top of the posts – art for arts sake I take it? And that looks a dark and foreboding sky, full of wet stuff, hope you manage to stay dry and warm Miss C
I dream about having an orange cat like marmalade, and I would have done the same thing with the ceiling. I like height too!
Animals in baskets is something I do all the time around here. Whenever I need to transport a few smaller critters such as the hens or younger rabbits they get piles in twos or threes into this very large basket and carried about. I even use this basket to weigh my quite large animals such as the meat chickens and our Giant mix rabbit! I also use it to carry hay or large amounts of Other Things (such as water bottles and feed) out to the back yard… Truly, this large, solid basket, with it’s sturdy construction, it’s comfortable, easy to hold and well sized (just-right!) handle and it’s extraordinary capacity must be the most-used tool on my homestead!
Blog that Basket! I would love to see it, I want one too and make sure you tell me so i pop over at the right time!! c
I actually just did earlier today because you reminded me about how amazing this basket is and how much I use it and how I haven’t even mentioned it before now on my blog. So I made a post just for my basket. It is a huge old thing I inherited from my partners grandmother.
wonderful .. I shall pop over and see.. c
Of course – a loft! (and opening up the ceiling does make such a difference if you must be inside. Newer houses here have taller ceilings as it makes them cooler, too – old old houses always did that. Now it’s been “discovered” once again)
RC claim the top of a wardrobe shortly after Molly arrived. She did the dangling leg bit – then yowled if we didn’t notice. Now there’s a wing back chair positioned to she can launch herself up and down without assistance. It is a great spot for cats.
The last picture is very dramatic. Nice
Oh, know you have an old codger so you might be interested in Buddy the dog’s story from San Antonio. Dogs are such a part of the family. (first post: “Old guys” and an update post after it. Thought you might want to know)
I shall pop over.. thank you! and yes we do not use air conditioning so the high ceiling is very important! that and the trees! . c
Ceiling fans work much better, too. I know heat goes up, but it’s not that high a ceiling. And ceiling fans in reverse help with that.
Trees of course can’t be under valued!
Loved those last two pics. Glad to hear that you’ve had some respite from the intense cold.
I am so glad that Marm found his way to you and Boo !! Cats do love
to be UP ! I have pondered the coming and going of the pets in my life.
From horses to kittens…..each one brought such personality and joy .
The elevator made me laugh and recall one that I made for my little dog as a young boy, so that he could join me in my tree house. It had rope and a pulley and a cleat. I would lower it from the top and he would climb in to be hoisted..
That is just fantastic.. I am very fond of pulleys.. very useful…c
How did you and Marmalade every figure out the basket trick?
I just read yesterdays blog…what a difficult time. Where you able to keep the baby? I am, certainly, old enough to remember when young girls “disappeared” for a time and then returned. “What does not kill me makes me stronger”. Blessings on you and yours.
morning Pat, my son was adopted into a wonderful family then when he was a teenager we were re-met and so now he has two famiies.. I am very lucky it worked out so well.. c
I’m always impressed at how clever our pets can be, my little bunny had us running rings around her whenever she wanted something. We were to expect some more snow last night, but low and behold there was nothing new this morning. I’m working a lot next week and we’re stepping away for a few days so I hope it won’t be delayed to stop our trip and my drives to work.
You have a lovely cat. It always amuses me to see felines clambering to squeeze themselves in boxes and other smaller objects.