Much needed personal update

I haven’t had a lengthy personal blog post since Easter. Say what? I mean, I wrote about dropping our daughter off at college and her dorm room, but that didn’t describe what else is all going on. (Check out her dorm HERE if you missed it)

Things I have been watching

Why am I mentioning that? Because I think we can all use some distraction these days. I know I welcome any good distraction from politics and also my cat drama (more about that later).

I have been binge-watching shows on YouTube about people buying abandoned places and fixing them up. Or unique new home builds. If I had a handy husband, I’d totally do that too. I thought I’d share those YouTube Channels with you, and maybe you have some to share with me, and others that I need to watch in the comments.

Some of these channels I’ve been watching from the start, and every episode, and some I found by watching the bundled time-lapse renovation over the years.

Some of my favorite YouTube Channels I have watched

• Escape To The Dream, Restoring The Château. (@chateaudelalacelle)
  These two guys are just amazing! I’m in love with what they do inside and outside. Just blown away.
• Château de Purnon is also an epic ongoing restoration. Here is a 5-year time-lapse to get you started.
• Château de Dampierre is another beautiful, ongoing restoration by a handsome French doctor. There is a YouTube Channel called So Chateaux that just has castle restorations, and in their video HERE, you can get a 2022-2025 explanation of this restoration.
• This 600-day time-lapse blew me away by Déborah & Paul – La Grange. And I think that is warm modern done right in an old building.
• Or this time-lapse of a 4-year-long schoolhouse renovation that is turned into a home by Schoolhouse Homestead. Love the storytelling.
• This Australian family builds an off-grid dream home on a remote island called Uepi Island and manages a SCUBA diving eco-resort. The Channel is called The Island Life of Us.
• Tiny Home Tours as a contrast to all the castles. (this is one of my favorites so far)
• This British couple bought an abandoned farm in Portugal. Their Channel is called Life by Living. I watched every episode from the start. It is slow but relaxing, and I just like them as people and watching projects like this.
• British Nicky and Harri are fun to watch, and I love what they have done with their house reno.
• I used to watch The Pethericks and their transformations, but lost interest because of their controversies. Just Google it. But it is pretty nice work for sure.
• This next build is just insane because it is a time-lapse of two women building a house themselves, completely out of concrete.

There is a micro trend called castle core aesthetic trending this year, too. Check out what Veranda has to say about getting the look at home.

My least favorite YouTube time-lapse I have watched:

It can’t be all good, right?!? These two guys “renovated” a castle and turned it into a hotel. The channel is called Château du Theil. I can’t stand how it looks on the insight. They did not go for a castle core look. (watch the time-lapse HERE). Let me know what you think? I was shocked.

More cat health issues

So let’s get to the cat drama… Our black cat Walter almost died from a blocked urinary tract. I’m so glad I caught it just in time, and he was hospitalized for several days. Our vet thinks he is so stressed out with what is happening in our yard with all the other cats. He has been on Prozac now since early summer, but it hasn’t really helped him all that much. He is pulling his fur out a little less than before but that is it. He is also on special urinary food which is so expensive.

Another desperate cat showed up in our yard

Now let’s talk about the cats outside. Remember that we took in Frank last year, and he sleeps in our son’s bedroom. Frank has a feral white and gray friend whom my husband calls Pretty. I had both of them fixed. We have other ferals come to eat, but I barely see them.

Occasionally, I saw this other cat that looks just like Pretty but I noticed that it was a male cat. He kept coming around to eat but was very scared. So one day, while I was sitting in our yard working on my computer, he just came up to me out of the blue and sat with me. I guess he isn’t feral after all, and I have no clue what happened that he suddenly decided to make me his new best friend.

Now he isn’t leaving, and it is daily chaos and drama. I’ve been writing to rescue groups, but everyone is overwhelmed. I finally got him a neuter appointment next week, though. And there is no way that I will just take him and turn him into a kill shelter where he sits in a cage with an expiration date if he doesn’t get adopted.

I’m getting really sick of people telling me that he chose me and that we should keep him. Everyone who knows me knows that if I could, I would. He is such a cool, handsome cat with quite the personality.

Just look at him! We call him Jeff. Pretty has a spot on her nose, which he doesn’t have, but the markings are so similar.

And before you ask, no, he doesn’t belong to any of the neighbors. Some of the people living up the street have told me that their one neighbor has a cat that isn’t fixed and keeps having kittens that look just like these two white and gray cats. They told me that the cat just recently had 8 more. It angers me so much that nobody traps that cat and has her and also all her babies fixed.

Our next-door neighbors also have a catio, and here you can see him lying on top of it with one of their cats.

All the cats at my house are upset and stressed out since he arrived. Maya (who has cancer keeps body slamming herself against the sliding glass door when he sits there looking in. She is so fragile, but still goes full force. And he looks inside everywhere nonstop because he wants to come inside. He even managed to squeeze between my legs to get in one day. I panicked and was able to grab him, thankfully.

Frank can’t stand him and occasionally attacks him really badly. One day, he fled into the tree and almost got hit by a car. And then Jeff turns around and attacks the female. She is terrified now. This new guy needs to feel safe and not like he is fighting for survival nonstop.

Ugh, I didn’t ask for this. It’s not like I went to the shelter and adopted another cat that I can’t care for. And now with winter approaching, I’m worried about this young guy. He is in desperate need of a home. With that said, I don’t think he is a fit for families with young children. I’m also not posting him on Facebook and then having all kinds of questionable people contacting me.

I have certain friends and neighbors who would have been perfect for him, but they all just recently adopted, just before he showed up. I want to find him a good home because he deserves it.