Thursday evening the donated cat tree arrived outside the Retreat. We pull it in out of the weather and wanted to leave the unboxing and assembly to the weekend. The cats, who wanted to appreciate the wonderful donation, had other ideas!
1. What do we Want?As the box was attacked, we could almost hear the cats chanting in unison: "What do we want? Cat Tree, Cat Tree!!"
2. When do we want it?Chanting continued: "NOW! NOW! We want the cat tree NOW!
3. Pull that piece right there...Loki seemed to take charge in the box deconstruction along with able aid, Wendy.
4. Supervising DeconstructionDeconstruction continued until the chanting became so loud, we gave in and opened the box.
5. We need the piece with the 3 inch lag boltThe cat tree was placed on the floor and our cat engineers, led by Ms Lola, decided to take charge of the construction.
6. Where are the instructions?In mid-construction the head supervisor Lola asked to see the plans.
7. Find a crane or get a hoooman...The head construction supervisor Lola decided she was going to need crane or at least a tall hoooman.
8. No scratching until construction is completeAs in many construction projects, interested parties want to begin moving in and test the premises. Head Supervisor Lola is not amused.
9. We may need a stabilizer bolt on the 3rd tierWith construction complete, state & federal building inspectors arrive at the scene. They, of course, want changes to be made.
10. Inspection team are finally satisfied.Inspections have been made and approved. Now the tree must be moved into place.
11. Out with the old and in with the new!Before the new tree can be moved into place, the old, well worn cat tree has to be removed.
12. But we just got the old tree broken in!As with all projects, some residents did not want to see a change!
13. Yep, this is a good spotThe new tree is moved to its new location with residents in the old wall cat tree observing. Smudge on the very top platform of the wall tree seems to be gauging the jumping distance to the new tree. A replacement for the wall tree has been ordered with funds from the El Paso Community Foundation grant.