finnigan & i arrived monday evening, a little later than expected owing to a ferry delay at earl's cove but otherwise unscathed. actually, the ferry delay turned out to be a blessing because while i was waiting for it to arrive, i had stupidly left the car lights on and with only 10 minutes left before the scheduled arrival, noticed that the battery was completely dead. a kindly fellow traveler gave me a jumpstart and the extra time afforded by the late ferry was put to good use recharging my battery. i'm quite sure i was one of precious few ferry travelers that day who was actually glad of a delay!
finn was pretty freaked out and had very successfully hidden himself away before i could even blink. i was just unloading my gear when a couple of friends, wolfgang & jill, happened to drive by and stopped for a brief chat. they told me to drop by their place anytime, an offer which, after a swift and depressing survey of the kitchen area, i pounced upon that very evening. the
kitchen would definitely take more than a couple of hours of herculean cleaning effort before it would be fit for human consumption! and the rest of the "living" quarters were of similar ilk as well ...
*note: both photos are after initial cleaning efforts. yikes!!
while i was prowling around deciding which room to use as my base of operations, there was no sign of finnigan. hoping that he hadn't snuck outside somewhere, i headed off to wolf & jill's farm in wildwood for a couple of beers and some tasty grub beside the fire at the pond - the first fire of the summer! it took some doing but at last (with the help of liberal doses of paraffin) we had a roaring fire and sat happily around it until it grew dark.
when i returned, the big grey was still nowhere to be seen; however, there was "evidence" that he was inside. the exact location within the church was still unknown, but at least he wasn't outside. my brother's cat, shmowgy (sp?? - see photo), turned out to be instrumental in discovering him. while i was in the kitchen, he went upstairs to the living room and within seconds, i was overjoyed to hear much hissing. mr. f!! he was still a bit freaked out but happy to see me and was at last ready to settle in at the church.
first thing tuesday, i bought much cleaning supplies and tackled the fridge and also my bedroom. today, saturday, i have the following:
* a clean fridge
* a freshly painted bedroom
* kitchen counters that are foodsafe
* a working stove (a restaurant style double-oven gas stove no less- yay me!!)
still many more miles to go, but this is definitely a good start! as it is sunday tomorrow, however, i will be taking a day of rest and heading over to wolf & jill's for a bbq. did i mention wolf is a chef? :)
endless panes yet to go as i have started tackling my first church window. it's not one of the big ones but at 18 panes, it's still a pain. (ow!) it's slow going but as i become proficient with the blow torch - yes, blow torch - i hope that future efforts will go somewhat more quickly. after a day and a half of steady work, i have a frame that is fully stripped of paint and putty and even has one coat of paint. i should have a fully painted frame ready for glass by thursday. that's four days for one window, and it's not even one of the big ones! fortunately (?) i am only concentrating on the 6 kitchen windows for now.
in other news, finnigan is now officially an indoor/outdoor cat, although he definitely doesn't seem to stray too far from the kitchen door. and garbage cans.
