Invasion of the Fleas

Has anyone else had a horrific time with fleas this season? Apparently this flea problem has been going on around the country for the last two years, but I have been fortunate to avoid it until now.

I have a dog who seemingly repels fleas. His "brother", a cocker spaniel attracted them like a magnet, but he (the lab-greyhound mix) rarely has any.


The last few weeks I've noticed him scratching a lot but didn't really pay much attention. He has minor skin allergies and I thought maybe he'd been laying in the grass. As time went on the itching did not subside so I thought it was time to take a closer look.

Lo and behold, the dog has fleas! He's been on Vectra for the entire season and I was shocked to see it wasn't working. I spoke to my vet who confirmed my suspicions: The fleas seem to have built up a tolerance to the medications currently on the market. There is another product my vet suggested called Comfortis that I'm going to try as soon as they get it in stock. I'll let you know if it works.
In the meantime, I sit down every day with my poor itching dog and comb him with a flea comb and jam the fleas I catch into a glob of vaseline on a tissue. Pretty labor intensive, but at least my dog is enjoying the attention!

My Buddy

Today is the second anniversary of the loss of my #1 son and buddy. He was our "kid" for 15 years and was as spoiled as they come, but very sweet and well behaved!

Except when it came to unattended food. There is one incident that is still talked about in our family which he will never live down...the time he climbed on the dining room table and ate my Dad's birthday cake! Fortunately the party was over and we'd all had a piece!

One of his favorite holidays besides Christmas was Halloween. Here he is dressed up as a bumble bee! He would wait at the front door for the trick or treaters to come. When we opened the door to pass out candy, he would stick his head in their bags to see what yummy things they had! He never stole anything, I think he got his jollies by sniffing all the candy.

Here he is tubing at the lake! He got such a kick out of it, but we only let him ride into the cove, not on the main part of the lake...it was just too choppy and dangerous. And yes, he's wearing a lifevest! He loved riding in the boat, swimming, and looking for fish in the water. A pleading look..."Mom, the puppy is chewing all my toys up! And he's on MY rug!" He used to pick on his "brother" and I tried to warn him that his brother would grow twice his size, but he didn't listen!

However, he was still the boss despite his size. He'd gobble his own dinner up and then stare at his brother until he successfully intimidated him out of his meal! We wondered why he was gaining so much weight, while the other one was losing it!

I miss him and probably always will, but am so thankful he was a part of my life. I have so many fond memories of his antics! He was a lot of fun!

Accomplishments

Yet another day is almost gone and I feel like I've accomplished very little. Each night I go to bed with high aspirations of what I'm going to do the next day. "Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the sewing pile. I'm going to hem my jeans. I'm going to do some baking, make a new journal, retake some photos of items in my shop..." and so on. Here is a partial view of my sewing pile. Some of it is simple stuff like sewing buttons or fixing a seam. It's just a matter of setting aside a few hours of my time to finish it. But honestly, I'd rather be sewing the bindings of journals!

And at the end of the day, what do I have to show for myself? The same list of things that I went to bed with the night before. Why is that? What do I do all day??

Well, I answer questions all day from my 3 year old such as, "Mommy, where is North America?" and "Is there a monster in my closet hiding my books?" He will not be satisfied with a simple answer. All the answers must be given in great detail with full eye contact. If I try to mutter something while working I get, "MOMMA! Look at me!"

I also spend a lot of my time rescuing the dog from the toddler. He doesn't understand the dog isn't a peer and can't play cars because:
l) he has no interest in toys that don't squeak,
2) Hotwheels are not edible, and
3) he has no thumbs.

The fact that the dog cannot speak our language doesn't seem to bother my toddler in the least. He still yaks the dog's head off, telling him the ABC's, asking him questions, and narrating what Clifford is doing on tv.
I was able to accomplish a few things today. There are four finished Japanese paper journals in the book press. Tomorrow I hope to photograph them and list one. The blue paper next to the press is part of a new Sand and Sky Seaglass journal. I'm making one like my avatar, only with blue paper inside instead of tan. I hope to get the pages cut tonight and maybe start on binding the book.

I work best at night after the little guy has gone to bed. Or I should rephrase that...after he has gone to SLEEP. Just because he's in bed doesn't mean the questions stop. The other night he called me in there because he thought the Pooh bear on his nightlight was a monster. I surmised from this event that Scooby Doo is still too scary for him; we watched some old Scooby cartoons that day and he talked about the Willawaw for days afterward. "They are big walking owls, but they really men inside. Like when I wear my Halloween costume. They try to get Scooby Doo but he runs fast."
I also made some Parmesan-Pepper Bread. I wasn't too sure about the pepper part, so I only put a little in and it turned out great. I'd like to pretend that I made that mug, but I'm not that good a potter. My friend Rae is the expert potter. Maybe one day I will be able to make a mug that isn't an inch thick and lopsided. Until then I will buy them from Rae!

So that is a summary of my typical day. Tomorrow I will tackle that sewing pile, hem my jeans, finish a journal...here we go again!