Homemade 'Rustic' Cat Tree

Remember back forever ago when Boyfriend and I built a cat tree out of debris from Hurricane Irene? I'm finally going to write about it. It had an accident and I finished screwing everything back together again yesterday. First, the finished product:

Homemade cat tree, placed strategically in my front window. With only half its sisal.

Looks good as home decor, too. Here pictured with all sisal in place.

The whole project took a couple days, plus a few more hours of gluing, screwing, and tightening. It was, I admit, a pretty giant pain in the ass. Still fun, though, and I'm very happy with the final cat furniture piece. Basically, what we started out with was...

:

3 Small-medium Branches

Leftover sewer pipe

Carpet Salvage (bought from Home Depot)

Plywood that was sitting around

I'm really lucky to have a boyfriend that works in construction. He had lots of tools and materials available, and he's very handy. Our materials were what was available at the time (except the carpet and sisal rope and some hardware, which were purchased). If you want to build your own cat tree, you could totally be creative. These 'rustic' hand-made trees can go for something like 700 bucks, and I got my inspiration from this awesome online store. 

We bolted the limbs to the plywood and then trimmed them to
height we wanted.

Once we had our limbs on the base, we decided we wanted a top cradle spot, good for cat-looking-out-window-and-maybe-sleeping business. We cut the pipe to the right length and then cut it horizontally to create a half-cylinder. This cutting was done with a pipe saw. I cut the carpet and glued it to our cylinder with carpet glue (patience is a must for gluing carpet--takes FOREVER to dry). Then we just screwed it to the two limb forks. We used the rest of the intact pipe as a nice hidey spot and our 2nd tree tier. I carpeted it, and then we just kind of wedged the pipe between our limbs, drilled holes where we planned to attach the pipe, and then screwed the pipe to the limbs.We had plans going into this project, but then for some reason, we disregarded them completely and just winged it.

After our two main tiers (pipe pieces) were in place, we decided there needed to be two smaller levels for jumping on. We cut them out of plywood to fit between the tree branches. After we created our 3rd level, it seemed obvious that we were going to run out of carpet. I decided to pad the third level with quilting fluff and then cover it in shiny gold fabric.

When we brought it home, Butter Bean was too small to really enjoy it. But she can climb it like a champ now. She sleeps in it at night and looks out the window during the day. It's like her bedroom.

She was so little when we brought home the tree!

After a few days of watching her on the tree, it seemed she was having some trouble getting over the big pipe and to the top levels. We cut one hole in the back-bottom and one in the top-front so that she can hop right into and out of the tube. This was done with a big hole saw. It turned out to be pretty successful, but it was hard to make the carpet look nice around those holes. 

Pipe holes are a success!

Pretttttyyyyy cute

Issues and warnings: If you're going to use a big giant heavy PVC sewer pipe like we did (it was free), use BIG screws or bolts to attach it to your tree. Ours fell down. Luckily the cat was not in it when it happened. Also, TREAT YOUR WOOD FOR BUGS. We didn't, and we had a little ambrosia beetle invasion. No big deal. They all died because they couldn't get any of the fungus they eat (their life cycle is pretty cool and I never would have known about them if they hadn't infected the cat tree wood, so it's all good). But you might get a more destructive beetle than we did and maybe your house will be eaten. So, let the wood dry before you use it. Treat it with some kind of glaze. I don't know what to do because clearly I didn't do my research, but you should google anti-bug wood treatments. 

Now that all the work is done, we can relax and enjoy our cat tree.
Butter Bean is pleased.

The only other cat I've had was adopted as an older man. Butter Bean, at 5 months old, is a wild thing. She's a monster. I'm really glad she has her cat tree to climb around on. She burns a fair amount of energy scampering up and down it. It's also her own personal space, up high where she won't be bothered but where she can keep an eye on things. I'm not sure how well it's prevented general destruction, but she does play on it and sleep on it all the time. She scratches on the sisal about as often as she scratches on her favorite chair in the living room, which I guess is a fair trade. I believe it was time well spent.

A Start to the New Year in Bristol

My long lost best friend has been living in China, and I haven't seen her in a couple years. She came home for the holidays, and so I took the opportunity to visit her in Bristol, Virginia (her hometown) over the long New Year's weekend. Boyfriend went with me, and we stayed in a sweet Econo Lodge (because it was centrally located, not because of its many amenities). We played a lot of board games, drank plenty of beer and champagne, watched Beetlejuice, heard some live music, and enjoyed each other's company. The Econo Lodge was not bad, actually--we got to watch a little cable television in a king size bed, and it was relatively clean and quite cheap.

I love the New Year holiday. It's a practical holiday, meant for reflection. No need to buy presents for anyone. No need to make up a character to deliver goodies to children. No forceful patriotic stuff. Just togetherness and champagne and resolutions for a shiny and bright new year.

In 2012, I will continue striving for constant, if subtle, adventures. I'd like a big vacation in Puerto Rico and many little ones in and around home base. I shall make good use of my tent. I also want to sew a dress for myself, though if that has to wait until next year, it'll be okay.

Maryland Fried Chicken (closed),
Next to the Econo Lodge in Bristol, Virginia

The word of the year will be: wholesome. I hope to make the right choices for promoting a sturdy mind, body, and sense of morals. I hope that I will choose to do the right thing, this year and always.

My general hopes for this year include a change of mood for the political outlook in our country. I know it's on many peoples' minds. I know a lot of us are suffering. Even as a person who tends to be mostly apathetic toward politics, I am saddened by the state of our country, especially after traveling to a healthy and happy Switzerland. I hope that American citizens will finally make a stand for what's right for people here, if it can ever be agreed upon. It seems so clear to me that capitalism is out of control. I feel ready to detach, move to the boonies, and simplify to the barest essentials, like a real crazy hermit. But... I won't make that resolution just yet. Maybe in 2013.

Happy New Year to you. May 2012 be good.

Thursday, Day 6 in Switzerland

Ah, the majesty of the Jungfraujoch... the top of Europe. Glorious views of three countries. An overlook of the largest Glacier in the Alps. So much snowy sunshine. And a zillion Asian tourists.

On Thursday in Switzerland, we woke up early in our Lauterbrunnen hotel room to catch the "Good Morning Train" to the Jungfraujoch. It was dark as we walked across town to the train station. The sun came up while we took the long rail journey up into the mountains from the valley. There was a pack of awful Australian people on our train that were very loud and talked too much. But they didn't ruin the trip. We saw tiny ibex grazing near a pond. When we arrived at our destination, the first thing we did was find coffee. Then we enjoyed the incredible views.

Top of Aletsch Glacier, largest in the Alps.

View from the Sphinx Observatory.

You could walk around in the snow. Notice there's not a cloud in the sky--a perfect day for this.

This was no cheap outing. It cost us 140 francs ($150 USD) each to get to the Jungfraujoch, but it was an experience I knew we needed to have if we were visiting Switzerland. This was a VERY touristy place. This was the only experience we found overly touristy during our vacation. But I'm still glad we did it.

During the train ride back into the valley, the sun was out and we were able to fully enjoy the scenery. Incredible.

The Jungfrau and the Monch I think?

So amazing.

We stopped on the way down in a town called Murren, located on the route to Lauterbrunnen. We wanted to check the place out and get some lunch. Murren is a thoroughly touristy place as well, with lots of condo chalet buildings, ski lifts, and sporting goods stores. We were there off-season, so many restaurants and stores were closed. We did find a nice shop for souvenirs. It was called "The Swiss Made Shop." We stopped by the tourist office to ask for a restaurant recommendation. The person on duty suggested we try picnicking in a churchyard that offered outstanding views of the valley. We stopped by a Migros to pick up sandwiches and walked up to the church for our picnic.

Picnic view of Lauterbrunnen Valley in Murren.

The guy in the tourist office was right. The view from this churchyard was phenomenal. My picture couldn't capture it. But maybe you get the idea. Alps with a green valley full of chalets and waterfalls. Unbelievable. I kept thinking, I'm having a picnic here? Really?

By this time, it had warmed up to 68 degrees after it had been 30 or so in the early morning hours. I had on big snow boots and many layers of clothing. I was anxious to get out of my wintery gear, and so we headed down to Lauterbrunnen where our rental car waited. We had a long drive back to Champoussin, and it was getting to be late. We waved goodbye to the Bernese Oberland and headed east, exhausted but happy. Before we left, I got this shot in Lauterbrunnen which helps provide some perspective when paired with the image above.

View in Lauterbrunnen.

Wednesday, Day 5 in Switzerland

It is convenient that my last post was about Colonial Williamsburg, because this post will be about the Swiss version of an "open air museum." On Wednesday in Switzerland, we drove two hours to Museum Ballenberg and spent the day admiring traditional Swiss architecture, culture, and farm animals. I was really, really hungry after the long drive, and we started our museum tour at one of the restaurants, where we ate outside at a long picnic table. The food was, surprisingly, REALLY delicious. And not too expensive. We shared a salad and had "mountain macaroni," a pasta dish with cream, cheese, potatoes, and dried onions on top, served with apple sauce. You can see that we've moved into the German-speaking part of Switzerland by the food alone.

Each area of the park represents a different canton of Switzerland. Houses and farms from different economic classes are present in each area, but they are all so beautiful. The buildings feel very true. They're wonderfully furnished with period items. Here's a gorgeous example of a sunny dining room--fresh, natural, and healthy looking, like the rest of Switzerland. This is what I strive for my home to feel like.

 Behind each gorgeous building was an incredible mountain backdrop with common Swiss flowers in the garden foreground. There were so many marvelous photo opportunities.

There were animals all over the museum, especially rabbits. There were also many goats and chickens, looking happy in green pastures. Of course there were cows wearing bells as well. Animals at Museum Ballenberg get to live the good life.

This was one of my favorite outings in Switzerland. The museum has a very authentic feel, not too touristy or forceful. It was well worth the drive, and I'm very glad we were able to visit German-speaking Switzerland, even if I felt uncomfortable not knowing the language. 

Two warnings about Museum Ballenberg. First, watch your head. People were short back in the day, I guess. I bonked my head real good on my way out of a farm house, and I was lightheaded somewhat for the rest of the day. Secondly, do not buy meat products in Ballenberg and plan to bring them back to the U.S. Is it common knowledge that they will throw away your perfectly good smoked Swiss meats in customs? I had no idea. $60 worth of high-quality sausage, destroyed by the U.S. government. I am still mad at the FDA.

Things closed down at 5, and I was sad that we didn't have more time to explore Ballenberg. But I was exhausted and I had a bump on my head. So it was really nice to get to our hotel room in Lauterbrunnen. We stayed in Hotel Staubbach, a beautiful little place in an extraordinary setting. We had an incredible valley view:

But we knew we had to rise early on Day 6 to get to the top of the Jungfraujoch, so we hardly were able to enjoy the comfort of the room or the splendor of our balcony view. We had dinner nearby (tasty cheesy rosti!), showered, and conked out. That hotel room was simple and tidy, with a very comfortable bed and a shower that could be used American-style. It was like heaven compared to the dated, dark apartment where we stayed in Champoussin. How we hated going back to the unsupportive murphy bed in our Champoussin chalet.

Another Weekend Comes and Goes

That was a nice weekend I just had. I spent time organizing, downloading, and syncing music to my mp3 player. I had a sandwich with my friend at the too-hip local coffee shop called Lamplighter. I got a haircut in Carytown (from long to short!) and then bought some chunky pink yarn from the Yarn Lounge to start knitting an infinity scarf. Boyfriend and I went to Black Sheep on Saturday night (I don't know why we ever want to eat anywhere else), and we had a delicious and beautiful dinner there.

On Sunday, Boyfriend wanted to go on an adventure, and we decided to drive to Williamsburg so that he could see Colonial Williamsburg for the very first time. We had a nice time and even learned a few things. The weather was gorgeous. We were hesitant to pay the $40 (each) for a day of touring, but I guess all that upkeep of old buildings isn't cheap. I can see that Colonial Williamsburg would be a very special place for people who aren't from around here. Every upscale subdivision in Virginia attempts to mimic the architecture and feel of a Colonial town, so sometimes I felt like I was just walking through a fancy West End neighborhood. Even the fanciest neighborhoods don't have horse-drawn carriages in them, though. We had a delicious lunch at one of the taverns. We drank Old Stitch beer, brewed there in Williamsburg, and I had Brunswick Stew and cornbread. Boyfriend had a BBQ sandwich with potato chips. I'm not sure how authentic the fare was, but the menu did inform us that a Colonial tavern "dyet" would include only one cheap option for most people unless you were rich. Our waitress in the tavern spoke with a phony British accent, which I found most irritating.

 
So now I better get ready to go to work. My new short hair has left me feeling so fancy free! I can actually brush it now! I'm going to go to work and show it off.