We finally got a break in the rain with even steamier, hot days. The humidity has been awful. I spend the afternoon spread out on my bed with a window fan at my feet and a ceiling fan above me but it is still so hot I am in my bathing suit. I think of all sorts of things to write in my blogs but don't have the energy to get up and tackle it. So I pop in a movie and lay there and drift off to sleep. I am still here just don't have the energy to sit up much these days LOL.
When things cool down at night I cook, clean and spend every morning giving dogs baths and spraying the house down again and again. I am using every remedy possible but the fleas keep multiplying. Bleach in the bath water for all of us, bleach water sprayed on the ground all around the trailer and areas the dogs go in, lots of garlic in our food, washing the dogs down in pinesol, and on and on. Still we are all eat up with them.
I don't know what is going on. Every year there has been a small outbreak at the beginning of spring turning into summer. However an increase of garlic in our food usually nips it in the bud within a week or so. This bout has gone on for about 6 weeks.
Bo stopped eating for a week and was turning into skin and bone. A dog trainer friend told me to pour raw eggs down his throat. I did that morning and night for about 4 days and he started eating again. I increased his food a little each day for another 3 or 4 days and now he is almost back to normal. However I am still giving him a couple of raw eggs with garlic powder stirred in first then he gets his dry food. He loves the eggs and is lapping them up.
The mouse problem is down inside. I am still catching about 5 or 6 per week but that is not much compared to before. At the same time they are everywhere in the yard and garden. I have poured the fox/bobcat urine and borax all over the yard but they are everywhere out there. If I get up early in the morning I can stand on the deck and watch them running everywhere. When I go out to water the garden in the evening, they dash out from in between the plants.
I am also in the process of getting rid of lots of excess "junk". I am going through my kitchen cabinets and dumping those piles of extra lids, pots, pitchers and other junk I really have no use for. Every cabinet is covered in mouse poop so it is really a mess. I also found two more holes chewed into the walls inside the cabinets.
Actually this is what made me decide I had way too much stuff. I refused to use anything out of the cabinets. I have been using the same two pots and handful of silverware for months. I just wash it off and put it all in the fridge - the one place I know the little buggers can't get. I have two insulated mugs that I trade out each time I go for water or tea. Same with my iced tea pitchers. I have two and keep them in the fridge. When one gets half empty I make another gallon and put it in the back. Yes, I drink about a gallon of tea, a gallon of water and one or two sodas each day in this heat.
Well it is 1am and has finally cooled down. I am riding the ETHRA (East TN Human Resources Assistance) van tomorrow for the first time. It costs $3 to town and $3 home. No more having to sit around for 2 or 3 months waiting on people to take me to town to get groceries or losing my food stamps because I can't make the appointments. I will tell you all about it next time. Right now I need to get everything packed up and ready for the ride tomorrow. They are picking me up at 9am so I need to get to bed soon.
NiteNite
Linda B:)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Puppy Has a Name
The new owners are still adoring him and love how he makes everyone chase him. They have named him Flash which is perfect for him:)
In the meantime I have spent weeks trying to put in my garden and battle daily with an infestation of mice and fleas. It has rained almost daily for weeks. Massive thunderstorms have been crashing through. I am very lucky here in my little secluded cove between the mountains. I have missed all these high winds.
The dogs have been covered in fleas for several weeks. I spend every day spraying the furniture, floor and fuzzy butts plus baths for them every other day but we are not winning this battle. On a breeders advice I added a half cup of bleach to a gallon of water plus Dawn and bathed them. I also put 2 cups of bleach in a gallon of water and sprayed the ground all around where the dogs hang out and the walk to the house. It seems to help for about 24 to 36 hours and then they are back. Possibly because the rain washes it all away.
Had another fun fall a few days ago. I spent about 3 hours between washing the big dog, spraying the ground with bug killer and bleach and then I decided to spray some more weeds. The longer I work the more I am in pain and the less my brain works. I was using a bucket with a lid for a seat as I moved around the yard. At one point the handle stuck in the upright position and I didn't notice. Of course when I went to plop my big butt down I hit it, tried to stand and fell. The right leg is still useless and the left over compensated so I went over sideways and slammed down on my left elbow plus my neck snapped and my head felt like I had hit a wall with it. I had a headache for several hours. Everything seems alright now except the left elbow lost about 3 inches of skin in the gravel and the left shoulder is stiff.
The mouse situation is finally calming down. I killed about 30 and then it dwindled down to one a day for awhile. The last week or two it has been about 4 per week and only one this week. I found the hole they chewed in my wall too. I was going to give away that giant 3 piece couch. Some friends came over and said they would be back the next day to get it. I decided to vacuum it and pull the parts out and put them by the door.
Behind the couch was a giant hole in the wall the size of a softball. Ironically, 4 inches from it was a 2" diameter hole that you can look through and see the ground where the previous owner had run wiring for a heavy duty window a/c unit. They couldn't use that. NOOOOO! They had to chew a big hole in my paneling. GRRRRRR
The people called back and decided the couch was too big for their living room and now I have decided to keep it for awhile longer. I rearranged it into a small love seat and am using the middle section as an armless chair. It is working for now.
Well, nearly bedtime so I am off to walk the babies and head for bed,
Linda B:)
In the meantime I have spent weeks trying to put in my garden and battle daily with an infestation of mice and fleas. It has rained almost daily for weeks. Massive thunderstorms have been crashing through. I am very lucky here in my little secluded cove between the mountains. I have missed all these high winds.
The dogs have been covered in fleas for several weeks. I spend every day spraying the furniture, floor and fuzzy butts plus baths for them every other day but we are not winning this battle. On a breeders advice I added a half cup of bleach to a gallon of water plus Dawn and bathed them. I also put 2 cups of bleach in a gallon of water and sprayed the ground all around where the dogs hang out and the walk to the house. It seems to help for about 24 to 36 hours and then they are back. Possibly because the rain washes it all away.
Had another fun fall a few days ago. I spent about 3 hours between washing the big dog, spraying the ground with bug killer and bleach and then I decided to spray some more weeds. The longer I work the more I am in pain and the less my brain works. I was using a bucket with a lid for a seat as I moved around the yard. At one point the handle stuck in the upright position and I didn't notice. Of course when I went to plop my big butt down I hit it, tried to stand and fell. The right leg is still useless and the left over compensated so I went over sideways and slammed down on my left elbow plus my neck snapped and my head felt like I had hit a wall with it. I had a headache for several hours. Everything seems alright now except the left elbow lost about 3 inches of skin in the gravel and the left shoulder is stiff.
The mouse situation is finally calming down. I killed about 30 and then it dwindled down to one a day for awhile. The last week or two it has been about 4 per week and only one this week. I found the hole they chewed in my wall too. I was going to give away that giant 3 piece couch. Some friends came over and said they would be back the next day to get it. I decided to vacuum it and pull the parts out and put them by the door.
Behind the couch was a giant hole in the wall the size of a softball. Ironically, 4 inches from it was a 2" diameter hole that you can look through and see the ground where the previous owner had run wiring for a heavy duty window a/c unit. They couldn't use that. NOOOOO! They had to chew a big hole in my paneling. GRRRRRR
The people called back and decided the couch was too big for their living room and now I have decided to keep it for awhile longer. I rearranged it into a small love seat and am using the middle section as an armless chair. It is working for now.
Well, nearly bedtime so I am off to walk the babies and head for bed,
Linda B:)
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