apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Since it is pet month:

Sample Sale!
Dog, Cat and Bird - Toys & Grooming Items
Wed 7/12 & Thurs 7/13 - 11am - 5pm
CASH ONLY
180 Varick Street, Suite 1124

(I am in no way affiliated, it is just in my building - I can report back after lunch if anyone is interested!)

Hey Marie, Thanks for the tip. Please do, I would love to check it out for a friend. (since I am petless and live my pet-loving life through her and her Boston Terrier)

Hey, sorry to be lagging by a month, but I woke up to my lovely basket of yellow blossoms on the fire escape ravaged and in tatters, barely alive. Squirrel? Birds?

So, it survived out there in all its glory for a week. Before being attacked fro being too beautiful.

How do the fearless fire escape and stoop and outside gardeners handle the various destructive critters? Or is it just a fact of gardening life, even in the city?

Could it have something to do with the little bit of fertilizer I poured in last night?

I'm a bit bummed:(

So when is the next AT happy hour thing? I missed the first one and I'm eager to meet some of the regular posters in person.

Hi Olga,

Sorry to hear about your blooms. Many fertilizers, especially organic ones, contain fish bones and similar, which may have attracted a passing cat. If your plant’s roots are intact it might survive especially given the new nutrients.

squirrels, bane of my plants' existence
plus, what Nishi said

I cut up aluminum gutter guard to make sharp little fences
that sometimes work
and sometimes get displaced

Why are the comments closed on the Inside Out thread??? It was just posted!

Ah, guido!
Welcome back. You were missed.
Sorry I meant to email you but didn't.

Yes guido, we've been wondering where you were!

Another place to get those cool wall graphics, that is easier to order from than Domestic, but the delivery charges are high

Are there sturdy, good-looking duvet covers out there that would stand up to cat claws? If not, we'd take ones that are simply sturdy.

P2: Did you get your silk duvet from Garnett Hill? Does it look like it will be warm in the winter? As warm as down? Most importantly, if a cat clawed it, would it shed stuff? (And, do you use a cover?)

We've lost one down comforter to our cats and now make do with cheap crap that we replace from time to time. The problem with cheap crap is that it's cheap crap, therefore not very warm. That's not important right now, but it will be in 4 months.

Yes squirrels! Perhaps a cat, but 5 stories up? Without my kitty raising a raucus?

I have a friend with a fire escape garden on the 3rd floor in the east village which regularly gets ravaged by squirrels. we're thinking they need to dig and burrough and perhaps setting up a separate container for them will placate. Perhaps not.

The fertilizer is the urea-derived, miracle-gro competitor stuff.

Hey Guido, what's the deal with the Vestfrost fridge instructions saying to empty the reservoir of water in the back from time to time? Have you had to do this? They say it will evaporate and it has, but right now I have the fridge in the middle of the living room and when I finally place it in its intended home in the kitchen, amidst other cabinetry, I intend to have it sit flush with access to its backside. So ... no way to empty the water, unless it will actually roll out on its weels.

How is your fridge doing, Guido?

Thanks,

re: fridge and guido: I meant sit flush amidst cabinetry on either side with NO access to its backside.

thanks,

Cat Lover, While I can't help with a duvet cover suggestion, I can offer one that might prevent the damage in the first place. We outfitted our own cat with soft paws (http://www.softpaws.com/) several years ago and scattered a few cardboard scratchers in corners around the apartment and we've had no more poking/tearing of fabrics or destructive scratching. The soft paws are amazing. Our vet put them on for a while, but then we got the hang of it and do it ourselves now.

Yes, why did the comments close for today's home tour?

Hi Guido, thanks for coming back.

Here's the link again, seems it didn't work on the post above http://www.softpaws.com

Our cat adjusted to them in a matter of minutes. She still gets the tactile pleasure of scratching on her boxes of cardboard strips, but now we can have rugs, and curtains, and nice sweaters...

Shelby: Thanks. Can cats work these vinyl nail tips off with their teeth? One of our cats loves to eat rubbery/vinyly stuff. He leaves no flip-flop unchewed. He'd probably regard the nail tips as a particularly tasty portable treat, bless the day he came into our family, and get to work on them with gusto. Would he be able to eat them, do you think?

They are adhered with what amounts to superglue, so our vet advised us to just hold onto Corinna (the cat in question) for about 30 secs, long enough for the glue to set. She worried at them with her teeth the first go round, but after that no more. I think she figured they weren't coming off and set out to find new adventures. When the time comes, they are shed along with the outer sheath of the cat's claw just as would happen normally. We find them in and around her scratcher and then replace. If your cat has a particular love for the taste of vinyl, I'd double check withyour vet to make sure occasional ingestion isn't a problem. I'd imagine they are small enough to ... pass ... without difficulties. Best of luck!

To anyone concerned...I would pass on the sample sale, nothing much of interest for dogs, unless your dogs likes the hard rubber kong-like toys. A few cat brushes, some rubber bowls.

I admit, I didn't look too closely at the bird stuff, not having a bird!

Has anyone heard of Sketchup? I'm not the most visual person and I'm looking for a way to build out my apartment on a screen before I paint/buy furniture...

http://sketchup.google.com/

(blush)
thanks folks...

my summit/conserv/vestfrost:
missed the part about the water reserve
all I recall is it not having coils in the back so
you don't need to space it from the wall
like the other fridges
mine is tight in a corner too

but one of my shelves just broke!
just the little peg that holds it in a track
I like tall shelves, so there's a *spare*
but wtf?
I haven't contacted them yet - might still be under warranty
and I still totally love it

MC, go ahead with Sketchup, I can't think of any other 3D program that is as easy and quick to use.

Regarding the duvet-cat issue -
I have a down comforter and have been very happy with a WASHABLE linen duvet cover on it. It lasted about 5-6 years before it started falling apart. The key is NOT buying linen that is coated with anything that makes it better off being dry cleaned. You want something with a very soft "hand," which refers sort of to how easily the fabric moves and flows when you wiggle it around. (Totally unscientific description.) Forget silk, satin, polyester (I think poly begins to retain a pet smell), and flannel (cat hair clings to it too much).

oLGA . . .

thinking about the fridge some more...
is it a pan you can get to
if you take the bottom cover off in the front?

since yours is pulled out, I figure you could tell the rest of us what is on the back side
thx

Sharon: I assume you have cats. Do they not scratch the comforter cover and do their claws not get through to the comforter itself?

Re the house tour/inside out thread: not sure why it was closed, but loved their art. THAT, to me, was a bohemian set-up.

guido,

what is on the backside: 2 very no nonsense compressors with copper tubing, other wires and stuff all out there totally exposed (well in its own recess) about the level of the middle and lower freezer shelf (so no go at getting at it through the front bottom panel). Over the left compressor (if you're looking at it straight on) is a plastic tub over which sits another shallower plastic tub into which a tube drips water. the tube is coming out of the fridge.

the literature says this evaporates but may need to be emptied from time to time. it also states that there must be 30 mm of space around the fridge on all sides (not being metric prone i figure an inch is enough) The literature also states that it must absolutely be level and that one must make sure of this with a spirit level held to the bottom panel (which gets removed in order to access the nuts that can adjust the feet up or down) and be down there checking on its level periodically due to settling if/when on a soft floor. C-razy!

my fridge commands center stage in the middle of the living room, currently, and gathers comments from all who enter. It truly is a sight to behold.

i am really bummed and sorry about the breakage, supposedly summit, which is headquartered in the bronx, is very responsive to its customers.

nice to "see" you again guido,