Tag Archives: Pets

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Doggone It

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Happy First Day of Spring everyone!  I wish I could say that I was able to get my spring cleaning done, or even finish off any of the projects I’ve had laying around all winter, but it’s been a week, let me tell you.  I did whip up a batch of cupcakes last night for the girls to celebrate the equinox, however.  Neve had picked out a box of cake mix last time we were at Target that had springy rainbow chips in the mix and some fluffy pink strawberry frosting and has been waiting not so patiently ever since for me to bake them.  So after dinner was done last night Paul took Oona for me so I could get the little pink treats done.  I’ve never actually bought strawberry frosting before (I come from the yellow cake with chocolate frosting school of cake appreciation) but it tasted pretty good.  They looked lovely sitting on the island in the kitchen, waiting for Neve to discover them.  Too bad she hadn’t eaten her dinner.

Not that it mattered anyway, because after changing Oona into her jammies and changing the sheets on the bunks for the girls I returned to the kitchen and where there should have been 15 pink cupcakes there was instead this:

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Gone.  Paper liners and all.  You can’t see it in the picture but there was also pink smears all over the floor around the island.  And one very guiltily satisified dog lounging in the dining room, licking her paws.  Paul was beyond mad.  I was rather upset myself, considering I was the one who put in all the baking work.  But I was able to not be too angry because it called to mind the incident of my 10th or 11th birthday (can’t remember exactly which) when we lived in a rather tiny house in Kingston, NY and we had another golden retriever named Nugget.  My mother baked me a chocolate cake with chocolate chip frosting (and I was SO excited!) and left it in the middle of our dining room table to wait for the festivities.  And it vanished.  Completely.  The plate was found licked clean on the floor.  I don’t remember what happened after that but we love to bring that story up every tme a family dog eats something they shouldn’t.  I simply sent Pippa to bed without her doggy dinner last night.  After all, she was no doubt quite full.

It has otherwise been a quiet yet frustrating week.  Oona has strep, and though she has been on meds since Monday she is still not really herself.  She won’t let me put her down for anything, which makes cleaning and meal prep (not to mention showering) rather difficult.  Tuesday was our 13th wedding anniversary and since we are going to Mexcio in May we didn’t complain too much that we spent it trying to keep Oona happy (mostly successfully).

I’ve also been sitting with my eye on a large box of fabric that Paul’s aunt brought down this weekend for me.  So very nice.  I can’t even begin to tell you!  It’s a bunch of upholstery weight bolts from a closed out warehouse.  I am so psyched to make things with it that it’s been killing me sitting still with Oona, who is not happy unless my butt is parked in one spot all day.  The only thing I’ve managed is to finish Neve’s pj pants which were already cut and pinned and lingering on the sewing machine.

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Such a cute print!

Hopefully the weekend will be better and Oona will recover from her woes.  She’s just been so frowny and miserable.  I want my happy baby back!

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Bunk Beds, Strep and Jasper

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Last week I found a set of bunk beds on Craigslist for $150 and mom and I drove out to pick them up.  I needed a set that was twin sized on top and full sized on the bottom so that we could still accommodate guests (and because we already had a good full mattress) which made it slightly more difficult.  I also wanted wood, not metal, and these things retail for about $1500 new for a nice set.  Ouch!  So when I found a set on Craigslist I jumped.  I am a huge fan of recycling good used items this way.  It saves things from being hauled to the landfill and buyer and seller both make out pretty well.

Anyway, I spent all Friday painting them white.  Originally they were more of a honey color, which was still rather nice, but I have a color scheme I am working with here, so they had to be white!  I was so very pleased with the result when all was said and done.  I got exactly what I wanted for Emily and Neve’s room.  Yes!  They are sharing a room now!  Partly because with 3 girls and 2 rooms between them someone was going to have to share, and partly because they bicker so much I figured it was time they learned how to live together and get along.

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Excuse the poor quailty picture (still waiting to buy a real camera!).  I still have some reorganizing to do (and cleaning.  ALWAYS cleaning…) before it’s truly their room together.  They fought over the top bunk so we have compromised by making them take turns.  So far, so good.

I also worked on some sewing.  Specifically, new cotton pj’s for the girls.  I did manage to finish Emily’s pair but I ran out of elastic before getting to Neve’s.

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The colors aren’t quite right here – the fabric is a rather brilliant turquoise, one of my new favorites from Heather Bailey.  I also like to add a little tag in every item I make for them.  I had a bunch made up that say “Mama t’aime”, just to remind them that their mama loves them.

I had planned on finishing up the cleaning and getting Neve’s pj’s done but Sunday night Oona ran a fever of 105 and nobody got any sleep.  Monday I took her in to the doctor and was sent home with antibiotics, as she has strep throat, which surprised me, as I was expecting either an ear infection or a gastrointestinal virus.  I’d had a dermatology appointment directly before Oona’s appointment and as I was getting off the elevator to approach the office she puked all down the front of me.  But I was assured that strep throat can irritate your gag reflex and make you nauseated, so there we have it.  Who knew?    She’s feeling a bit better today but still insists on being held ’round the clock and isn’t sleeping well.  No creative or cleanliness progress being made here.  It is supposed to be 70 degrees here today though so I plan to open up all the windows and air out the house again. I got my big snowstorm a few weeks ago; I am now officially ready for spring.

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And Jasper is officially ready to be cuddled, all the time.  He loves Maddie!

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Spring Cleaning, Or When Norovirus Comes to Town

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The Universe has a great sense of humor.  You may remember I’d just about given up on winter, right?  Still holding out for one big snowstorm but knowing deep down (based on several year’s experience, too) that we weren’t going to get one?  And remember how I was starting to come around to the idea of it being very early spring since the little crocus and daffodil greens were coming up and that maybe I should begin thinking about a spring cleaning?

Well.

Two things happened at once.  We all came down with a nasty case of norovirus (you know, that gut wrenching, puking, diarrhea, body aches so bad you’d gladly die RIGHT NOW illness that seems to be everywhere lately) and it snowed.  Major snow.  The kind that I should have been out playing and taking pictures in and making snowmen with the kids in.  Except for the aforementioned norovirus.  Ah, universe, touche.    So now that we are on the mend we need to do a VERY major spring cleaning (3 days of 4 sick and vomiting people makes for a nasty messy house), and I’ve been trying to enjoy the snow from inside as much as humanly possible.

But let’s back up a moment here, if we may, to set the stage for just one of the many reasons that a major cleaning is now in order, despite the fact that old man winter is not quite thorugh with us after all.

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The Laguna del Laundry-o

This is immediately before I fell victim to the virus.  Neve had come home sick from school and I guessed it was a matter of time before I became incapable of any real housework so I put myself into overtime getting everything in order to avoid being sick and having no clean towels or dishes and dirty bathrooms.  My lovely washer and dryer were put on full time duty and doing a bang – up job.  Too bang – up.  My washer became somewhat unbalanced and the full 1.5 gallons of Tide HE that was sitting on top of it fell over and became wedged upside down between the dryer and the laundry room door.  Where it then popped off its cap and poured out all over the floor under the machines and onto the white hallway carpet, which is now a lovely laguna blue and must be ripped out and replaced.    And you know what?  I gave up on it.  I let it go.  Because really there’s no coming back from that.  You can’t clean that out.  The sudsing power (kudos to the laundry detergent companies for this, btw) is too much for any carpet cleaning device to handle.   I soaked up what I could with towels and threw those towels in the washer along with the bathroom rugs and they washed up rather nicely (no need to add soap!).  And since then we have been pretending like there is no huge unsightly squishy blue pool in the hall.

And shortly after that, Oona got hit with the vomiting.  All over Paul at Sam’s Club (buying more laundry detergent!) no less.  Twice while in line.  A few times more in the car on the way home.  All over the dining room chairs and the floors downstairs.  The problem was that in between throwing up you’d never know she was sick.  She could not be made to sit still, she wanted to play!  And since we didn’t want her to end up dehydrated we kept filling her with juice and pedialyte whenever she would take it.  And she’d be on the run and need to vomit, but keep running.  We’d try to grab her and she’d try to get away, spreading it everywhere.   Then, I got it.  No, I didn’t spread it all over the house.  But I did feel a lot worse than Oona.  I couldn’t get out of bed all day Sunday and could only stare woefully out the window as the snow started falling late in the day.  I didn’t expect much to come of it, but I was in a total fog anyway.  So imagine my surprise Monday morning when this is the scene from the back door:

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I was blown away.  I was elated.  I was MAD!  I was still barely able to stand up and here was all this perfect snow (and I do mean perfect – this stuff was just right for making snow balls).

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What a glorious sight.  And now Paul was sick.  Emily and Neve at least got to enjoy playing out in it.  Oh, and Emily, by the way, has impetigo.  You now that lovely bacterial infection that looks like itchy red pimples on your face?  Yup.  Sigh.  At least she wasn’t too sick to make snow angels and chase the dog around.  Pippa LOVES playing in the snow.  It really does make me wish we had this kind of snow more often like we did back up north when we were kids.

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I am still amazed at how much we got, and that here it is Tuesday and it has barely showed any signs of melting.  Watching Paul clear off the van really made it kind of weird for both of us – flashback city!  He never thought he’d been doing this again!

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I haven’t been able to get Oona out to play in it yet, but as of this morning it still looked like this out back:

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It’s really beautiful with the sun shining (though a bit bright!!!) through the trees.  The birds are visiting the feeders in scores and the dog is eating her weight in snow.  I’m really sad to still be feeling so crummy, but with any luck it’ll pass soon and there will be enough snow left for my littlest one to get a taste of it (not literally!).  For now she is content to eat everything in sight (she’s weaned now, which apparently means HUNGRY ALL THE TIME!) and tormenting her big sisters.   As long as I don’t have to do any of that major cleaning in the next couple of days, I think I’ll be ok.  I’ll hang out on the couch and enjoy the view of the snow covered trees from my windows, and laugh as Oona makes everyone crazy.

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And the Clouds Parted….

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…and an angelic glow descended, and the heavenly choir rang out with The Hallelujah Chrous because dudes – I finished the socks.

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Emily is the foot model here and of course the socks are a wee bit big for her, as they are for her grandma (mamaw, as Oona would say).

Funny thing is that these started off as a very enjoyable knit.  Then with all the cabling and charting they became a very time consuming I-need-to-finish-these-GD-socks sort of knit.  Then by about the heel of the second sock they became enjoyable again.  Mostly because by then I had more or less memorized the chart and knew what I could anticipate and it made for much less stop and go to refer to the pattern.

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The cables make them a bit thick, so I imagine these are best as “house socks” to wear like slippers, or with boots or clogs.  The yarn is (of course) from Blue Moon Fiber Arts , my all time favorite supplier (or dealer, if you’re looking at it as the addiction that it is).    It’s Socks That Rock lightweight, in colorway Grimm’s Willow Wren. I think I’ve mentioned that before, but, you know, just in case.   The pattern is called Slippery from Knitty.

And, with those done, I am going to go stash diving and retrieve some nice self-striping sock yarn I picked up from Knitpicks and work on something quick and easy (though likely not tonight – Lost is on!!!).

Hooray!

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And Now Back to……Me Against the World

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What a week.  And it’s not even quite over yet.

There’s the new cat.  He’s a little lovebug, let me tell you.  If nothing else, I have gotten a ridiculous amount of cat cuddling this week.  And though I am nearly finished with the second sock I’ve been toiling away on, it’s kind of difficult to manage it all when your  little kitty keeps attacking your yarn and launching his little fishy smelling face straight into yours with a “purr”!  The same day we brought home Jasper, Paul brought home a new car.  In fact he was gone all day driving out to pick it up.  Sunday was fully devoted to grocery procurement and cleaning.

By Monday I was allowing for full cat interaction, hoping Jasper’s introduction into the general population wouldn’t cause too much fur to fly.  So far, it hasn’t.  Sushi has yet to venture back into my bedroom but for the briefest moments to scarf down some kibble.  I had to move a litter pan into the hallway to avoid problems there. She’s pretty much been herself otherwise, though her eyes widen as big as saucers when she catches a glimpse of Jasper, and she runs for the relative safety of under Neve’s bed.   Milo seems to be in denial.  He has been slowly ambling about his normal routine, very very studiously avoiding “seeing” Jasper.  It’s hilarious to witness.  You can almost see his thought bubble: if I don’t see it, it isn’t there. Jasper doesn’t seem to care whether they interact with him or not, as long as he can run around and eat and poop whenever he wants.  Considering he’s been at a shelter in a cage for several months, I can’t say I blame him.

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Monday he went to see the vet.  I brought my mother to help with Oona.  Thank GOD.  We were there for forever and a day (seriously, when I die I am convinced that should I end up in limbo it will smell of bleach and dog and have bad fluorescent lighting).  The cat Did. Not. Like. It.  But, he got his de-worming that I asked for as a precaution, they checked out his sneezing but could find no evidence of any problems, and treated him for fleas.  (I also got two extra doses for Milo and Sushi, just to be safe.  Yes, I am paranpoid, but thoroughly so).

The real drama on Monday was being pulled over by a state trooper whilst at the Dunkin Donuts drive – thru.  I kid you not.  He had passed me on the highway and by the time he turned around to find me I was ordering my coffee, so he decided to POUND ON MY WINDOW.  Lovely.  There’s nothing less embarrassing than being in a busy drive – thru with lots of witnesses and having a large cop pound on your window and tell you to finish your order and pull to the side, all because your inspection sticker expired 9 days ago.  Ah well, that is simply how my life is.

Tuesday Emily had after school chorus immediately followed by Girl Scouts so I was once again driving aforementioned uninspected van and praying not to be pulled over yet again, because even though at last count there were no less than SEVEN other cars in my driveway, the only one driveable and legal (sort of) is the van.  If that is not a sad statement, I don’t know what is.  Anyway I took my life into my hands and brought Neve and Oona to the grocery store while Emily was at the meeting, and remembered that it’s never a good idea to take a child who does not excel in listening to me to the store.  She also pointed out to me that it was “inappropriate” for me to allow her to watch Chowder (a funny cartoon we all enjoy) because one scene shows a woman made out of ice cream, and there is a suggested shape of bosoms.

Wednesday I conquered the laundry mountains of doom.  Truly.  It’s all done.  How?  I was exhausted, and I am pretty sure that my washer, dryer, and garbage cans were as well.  Still, I had to drive out to two different locations to pick up the Girl Scout cookies that had arrived for both girls’ troops.  I also spent a lot of time chasing Oona.  She inexplicably and suddenly developed a taste for the little rocks in the large potted plants in the sun room.  I guess they must taste good with the cat food she seems to have such a fondness for these days.

And then came this morning.  As I watched my kids run for the bus (Emily loping rather awkwardly and ungracefully in her thick white athletic socks and slippery black patent leather clogs that she can’t quite keep on her feet, her hair an abject failure despite brushing) I felt a could finally find some relief.  I had some minor projecs to tackle today (cat litter, sink full of dishes, fix shower organizer that somehow fell and exploded all products everywhere for no good reason) and then there was nothing else major to worry about.  I could enjoy a mostly decent house, a half day for the girls tomorrow, and a long holiday weekend.

Then I discovered Milo lougning in plain sight in Neve’s room.  Odd, thought I to myself as I wandered over to him and nuzzled his cute kitty face.  He lifted his head slightly and nuzzled me back softly, breaking into his trademark “insta-purr”.  And then, he sneezed fully into my face.  And then he did it again.  And then he snorted, and began making the unmistakable “I have a bad cold” noises.  And by the way, Jasper is still sneezing, too.  So it’s bck to the vet tomorrow morning.  Just another instance of “things can’t ever just be boring and normal here”.  Because if there had been no real ramifications of inserting a new cat into the house it would certainly be a sign of the coming apocalypse.  Nothing can be easy.  Not here, no way.  I need a nap.

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And Now For a Crazypants Moment….

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I know some people can’t understand why I would do this to myself.  I’ll just explain by saying I couldn’t resist.  I needed the kind of purry cuddles and social aptitude my other furbabies were unable to give.  Not that I don’t totally understand that, and I still adore my two scaredy furbabies.  But clearly we needed another one.

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This is Jasper.  He’s about 8 months old and has extra toes (I have a weakness for kitties with huge feet).  So far he is very friendly and happy, and I hope he will be able to act as feline ambassador here when people visit, so that I don’t continually get accused of lying about owning cats.

You don’t think I am crazypants?  This hasn’t convinced you?  Just wait until I build the chicken coop and procure some hatchlings.  Maybe that’ll do it.

And now back to my regularly scheduled knitting.

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Another Day, Another Pie

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The house is rather a mess but I feel quite a sense of accomplishment nonetheless.  I spent most of the day working on finishing up Emily’s sweater, and I should have pics of the final product before too long.  I’ve been calling it the “Gingetbread Sweater” since I started adding the color bands, since it’s a combination now of chocolate (or gingerbread) brown, pink and cream.  I hope she’ll like it as much as she likes the handknit socks.

It was a bit tough at one point working on it – Oona took a nice long nap today (she has a bit of a cold and a cough, so I guess she doesn’t feel so well) and the cats decided it was time to bombard me with attention.  At first I thought perhaps they decided for once they’d show their love and keep me company out of the goodness of their little kitty witty hearts, but no.  Nothing quite so cute and cuddly.  They were bugging me, as it turns out, because their food bowl had gone empty.  Brats.  But at least I got to take advantage of some Milo lap time.

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He stayed long wnough for me to complete a couple of rounds of color and watch about an episode and a half of recorded Ghost Hunters before he decided I wasn’t going to give up the goods and he didn’t need any more snuggles.  He took up a post with Sushi in the hallway instead.

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At least they didn’t puke in the doorway again.  It’s always fun stumbling in the darkness at 6:15 am to wake up your children for school and have your foot find a nice mushy cold pile of puke.  And what a lovely segue that makes to my evening accomplishment: the pie.

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I’m full of pumpkin-y goodness here.  Oona’s fallen off early so I think I will grab myself a slice, cozy up on the couch, put in something non – children – y, and tie up the loose ends on that sweater.  But before I go, have another pie picture.  This one’s a cutie pie.

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Happy October!

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Welcome to my favorite month of the year.  Apples, pumpkins, crisp fall air, beautiful foliage and Halloween.  Perfect knitting atmosphere.  And if I am lucky, less stress than September was this year.   Emily had 3 fillings.  Neve had 6 (6!!!!!) fillings for which she had to be sedated and now she has 2 silver molars.  We didn’t come out of that cheap, I assure you.  Then the darn dog had diarrhea.  Then Neve did.  Then Emily did.  Then the cat got an upper respiratory infection.  Then we all got a nasty cold.  Then the dog got diarrhea again.  Noticing a pattern?  Oh yeah, and lice is going around.  Knock on wood, there’s been no sightings here.  On the mechanical front, you all know Paul had the engine incident whereby he almost gave himself a vasectomy.  Then after a heavy rain he got the truck stuck in the mudslide in our back yard (it’s actually the area beyond the driveway where 2 years ago Paul got a little over zealous with a borrowed bobcat and took down a bunch of trees and made a nice muddy slope.  Imagine the happiness that resulted for me.  And did I mention that he made the driveway into a massive gravel pit at the same time?  Fun for all, I assure you!).  Anyway with a little help from a neighbor we got the truck out.  I got to play with the winch.  Hee hee!  And just last night as Paul was getting a parts car delivered (at 9 pm, no less) the delivery guy overshot our driveway and the car had to be pushed so as not to roll into a ditch.  Which didn’t work out so well and our street ended up being blocked by the delivery truck (you know those big car carriers?) and the parts car.   The bobcat was called upon to save the day and tow the car out of the street.  Which it almost did.  Until it broke as well, leaving 3 vehicles blocking the street.  Good thing we have lots of understanding neighbors who are willing to help out.  Point is, September was full of fun and excitement.  Let’s hope October is boring and quiet!

In good news we got new couches on Craigslst.  Free!  Black leather, which we are dyeing chocolate brown using automotive leather upholstery dye.  So far it’s perfect.

So exciting!!!!

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When Love and Fear Collide

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Here we are, a lovely day in August in Virginia.  I know, right?  That sounds so unlike me to say that.  It’s because it’s low 70’s and overcast (we’re desperate for rain!!!) and there’s a nice little breeze and I have spent the day making some cute little fabric yo yo’s (they’re not the toy kind – they are more like little decorative fabric swirlies) with some scraps I have left over from other projects.  There are 3 big Yankee Candles going so the house smells lovely (a combo of Cafe Au Lait, Good Morning, and Blueberry Scone).  My new Cooking Light came in the mail.  And we spotted about half a dozen wild turkeys in the backyard this afternoon.  I tried to get a picture, but alas, they were too fast.  Our neighbor’s cat was out there as well, but I could tell she was rethinking her plan to play with those particular birdies.  They ambled off back further into the woods and I couldn’t properly follow since it is still summer afterall, and there is still a bit of thicket going on that is difficult to navigate.  All I could think as I headed back to the house was Darn!  I could’ve had some Thanksgiving dinner there! Oh well.  Not that I’d actually be able to take one of them down.  I just wouldn’t be able to hunt unless I absolutely had to.  Which is why when I get my chickens I will be using them for their eggs and not their meat.  I don’t think I could butcher an animal I’d been caring for.  Now if someone brought me something they had killed that was already dead and I didn’t have to feel guilty and be the reason it had to die….well then that’s different.  I am probably a total hypocrite, but hey.

Anyway my day was going pretty well, despite the dog poop.  Yes, for those of you that are wondering – I am still dealing with the occasional poop.  Like after I brought Pippa back inside this morning after her outdoor bm and she promptly did another loose one on my wood floor right inside my front door.  She’s “had the squirts” as Paul ever so delicately said, all day today, so she’ll be getting a nice immodium pill in her dinner.  But that isn’t what killed my lovely almost – fall day.  What killed it was that in the middle of enjoying the lovely outdoors and picking some squash while Neve frolicked on the swingset and I was reveling in the weather, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.  Caterpillar?  There are plenty of those around my veggies, as well as bees and various types of beetles.  So I casually looked up.  And about a foot from my right hand I saw:

I jumped.  I screamed.  I swore.  I cried.  I got chills and goosebumps.  And I most certainly did NOT take this picture.  Paul did.  Right before he doused the sucker with that most trusted of resources,  brake parts cleaner.  A LOT.  And then whacked it repeatedly with the can.  Even Paul was impressed by its size.  All I could think of was the banana spiders we used to see when I lived on Guam back in the day.  Of course they had blue on them as well as the yellow, but this guy was the right size anyway.  HUGE.  That is a technical term, btw.  I get the willies just looking at the picture.  I think the children may be scarred for life.  Emily declared she would never set foot outside again.  I am not sure I want to either!!!!  I can tell you I’ll have a hard time reaching into the garden now!

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The Ick Strikes Again

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We survived the first day of school. Emily really likes her teacher so far and has been coming home happy every day. Neve’s first day was likewise a success. She said she didn’t want to come home! She was so cute in the morning in the dress I made her and her sweater and backpack.

She loved riding the bus and waved happily goodbye as it took her off to start a new chapter in her life.

As for me it has been wonderfully relaxing! Oona is so easy and when it’s just us two I feel like I can be more productive. It was almost luxurious. Even the cat was lounging about with impunity, no big kids to manhandle or chase her. I had agreeable purry company all day. It’s been quite awhile since that has happened!

Unfortunately we’ve all been slammed with the Ick. Runny, stuffy noses, scratchy throats, achiness……….it stinks. And this week of all weeks! Poor kids.

I’ve been making sock progress.

I hope to at least turn the heel on this today. I won’t be doing much else since I’m not feeling well. Even Oona’s been grumpy with it. I keep having to use the nasal aspirator on her to suck out all the gunk and she HATES it. But she can’t blow her nose and with all that thick crap in there she’s not breathing well, so it’s got to be done. That’s made her very cranky. But you wouldn’t have known it yesterday in her cute stripey outfit and ultrasonic crawling speed.

Right now she’s all crusty nosed asleep on my lap, making the prospects of a foray into the kitchen for a second cup of coffee dim. So instead I’ll leave you with the “impossible”. A picture of Emily touching her tongue to her elbow.

And they said it couldn’t be done!