LOL I am such a well trained dog parent. Peati will wait to see what she is getting from out plate before she eats her dinner! She goes to work everyday! I have customers who stop by just to see her! I keep a jar of biscuits on the counter for her. "is it OK to give Peati a cookie? I've thought of putting a donation dish next to it! Thanks Linda I needed a laugh!

Ks_toolgirl, I know exactly what you mean! We bought our old house because it was very affordable and we loved the architecture. However, my frugal husband quickly fell out of like when he realized that old houses aren't cheap to maintain or repair. And there's ALWAYS something to fix or maintain. We've learned he really needs to be living in a high-end hotel apartment, with maid service and a concierge who can get everything fixed ASAP with little cost or aggravation. I've learned how to be a little handier. It hasn't been all bad, but I'm not sure we'd do it again unless we had a lot more money to restore things as they should ideally be done, or more money to buy a home where most of the work had already been done! My advice is to make a short list of all the things you like (and hate, so he can vent) about the house. For the things he likes, concentrate on making those shine, so he can at least focus on those things instead of all the (costly) drawbacks. And, make the entry rooms spectacular! Peanutsmom is so right -- men love to preen over "their" old-house successes. If other people ooh and ahh over it when they come over, his feelings about things could quickly start to change. I've also had luck with a subscription to Old House Journal and with getting the Rejuvenation catalog. OHJ has helped him to know the history and reasons for some of the crazy stuff in our house and that it's not just us; seeing the catalog makes him appreciate the "old crap" we have for free that people pay big bucks for! For heating, have you thought about getting blown-in insulation in the exterior walls and attic? It's not cheap, but I swear, it pays for itself in just a few years. And, replacing the GLASS in the old windows; you can get triple pane and it'll be better than new (and probably be a little cheaper). Hang in there! Your house is lucky to have you!

In a town with lots of old houses people know who you are not by your last name but by which old house you live in. Setting mouse traps, wrapping windows in plastic and digging out draft stoppers are part of the "normal fall routine". Quilts, wool blankets and curtain rods of various sizes and shapes and condition have been hung over least used hallways,doors,windows. Down comforters are on all the beds not because they are fashionable but because they are required to keep the chill out at night. The idea of a heated toilet seat now makes sense to you. You gladly share your bed with the cats and dogs you have. That extra body heat comes in handy on those cold nights. The phrase "making do" takes on a whole new meaning when you are going thru a major project and either the bathroom is shut down or the kitchen. Hopefully not both at the same time. You know more about the house's history and PO's than you do your own family tree. You treasure every little tidbit of information you find on the house. Be it a pic, a mention in a book or just someone you know who knows someone who played in the house when they were a kid.

You sound quite responsible to me, Newhomeseeker, and I agree with the others that most cats would not make a huge mess out of the garbage. (Dogs and raccoons sure would. Even a skunk or a possum might.) Jump on the roof of a car with muddy paws?--well, maybe, and the paw prints would be a good hint as to the culprit. Get inside a car whose windows were left open?--maybe. My two cats have done both of those things to our car, but they didn't use it as a toilet. I confess that I, too, smiled at the image of what happened to your neighbors, considering how nasty they were with their dog and accusing you of creating drama when you complained. To my mind, people who don't want cats to get in somewhere need to close their garage door or the windows of their cars. Cats are very different from dogs, and there is a reason why almost no communities even try to legislate that people keep their cats on leashes, tie them up, or not let them roam outdoors. For their own safety, I don't let my cats run loose where we are now, but when we were in a location where they couldn't get hit by a car, we had a cat door that let go them in and out at will any hour of the day or night. Our dogs were not allowed to do that. In fact, there were a number of things that we let our cats get away with that we would never have permitted the dogs to do. Trigemini: There is at least one company I have seen advertising cat fences. A cat fence is like an additional section secured near the top of a conventional fence or--as in the case of the company whose URL I will post here-- sometimes at the top of a whole fence specially made for cats. (Disclaimer: My husband and I have no connection whatsoever to the cat fence company.) After hearing about cat fences, we made our own "cat fence" that sloped upward from our 5' tall wooden fence at an angle, so we wouldn't hit our heads on it. It extended a couple of feet into our yard. A cat fence is made of netting or another material that from a cat's point of view is quite see-through, so a cat will not venture to leap up on it. Our fence was made using chicken wire, and it is true, the cats wouldn't try to leap onto or over it. As the cat fence hangs over into the protected cat's yard, it prevents the cat from leaping up and over the regular fence. If you buy cat fencing from a company, they have special arrangements so that you can put the "fence" on a door or gate, too, and yet be able to open it. We only put our own fencing up on the side next to a neighbor who has a vicious dog. This sort of fencing, as it needs to extend into the yard where the cats are, would not work for keeping cats *out*, only *in*, and neighbors probably wouldn't want a couple of feet of your fencing sticking into their yards. Here is a link that might be useful: cat fence company