Several
days ago, I walked into my kitchen and found a puddle of water in front of my
refrigerator. Now, my little girls (pups) often have accidents......but this
puddle looked as if they had invited every dog in the neighborhood to
participate (and they don’t have that many friends!)
The
dishwasher, just a cabinet down from the refrigerator, was busy taking my place
(washing my dirty dishes), but it did not appear to have come from there. I
checked the fridge to see if something had turned over (even though it looked
like water).
I
mopped up the water and decided this mystery would have to be left for later. I
was trying to get ready for my “birthday trip.”
In
the meantime, indoor girlie cat named Bob, had begun to earn “outdoor privileges,”
because when I called “Kitty, Kitty” she came running – usually. When she sees me, heading toward the
door, to let Precious and Bella out, she runs to join them. She also howls if
they’re outside and she isn’t. (They’re becoming more and more like children,
everyday!)
I’m
a big fan of mysteries and solving problems. After I returned home from my
trip, I decided to do a little investigative work on the dishwasher. I had,
after all, fixed my dryer vent hose, with duct tape, a few years earlier. If
the water had come from the dishwasher, maybe the drain was just stopped up.
That, I could probably fix!
After
putting the girls outside, I opened the dishwasher door and removed all
removable parts: the bottom basket, and the thingamajig that spins and spurts
water on the dishes, and also sits atop the drain. I removed a piece of broken
glass, a washer and something that should have been attached to the washer
somewhere else, in the dishwasher.
After
making sure I had done a thorough investigation, I put the parts back together
and started the dishwasher (on a short cycle, of course) to determine if I had
solved the problem.
I
went to let the girls in. Precious and Bella came running, but calling “Kitty,
Kitty” didn’t produce a cat. I walked out into the yard and heard a faint
“meow,” every time I called to her. Finally, after quite a lot of walking and
searching, I looked up and there.....in the old Water Oak tree beside granny’s
old house, walking toward the end of a very thin limb was my scared little cat.
I
walked toward the trunk of the tree to get her back on larger branches. All the
while, I was calling to her. Finally, she got back to the tree trunk and began
to try to find a way down. She kept choosing thin limbs, and I was afraid she
would fall onto one of the big roots that were spread out, at the bottom.
Several times, she almost fell and would end up hanging precariously, upside
down, by all four feet.
I had a couple of options - neither of
which I exercised. I couldn't imagine calling '911' to have our Volunteer Fire
Department come and rescue a cat nor could I imagine me climbing on a ladder!
The
later the day got, the more concerned I became. Another cold winter night would
soon be upon us. The Weather people were giving warnings about leaving pets
out, at night. What would my little cat do, up in a tree?
Finally, I very carefully stepped up on one of the big roots which gave me a little
more height. I coaxed Bob onto a lower limb that I could reach and pull down,
and as she came toward me, I grabbed her before she could decide to climb back
up. Into the house we went.
Oh,
and by the way.......back in the kitchen, I had water to mop up! There’s either
a plumber or a new dishwasher in my future.
#trees #cats #dogs #leak
No comments:
Post a Comment