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You may recall my telling of our recent visit from Pepe LePew. DH's office had to cancel and reschedule several of his patients for that day while we dealt with the aftermath at home. The office scheduler told the patients that DH had had an "incident with a skunk" and wouldn't be available for appointments that day.
One of the "reschedulees" was one of his more fun patients. When she came in for her rescheduled appointment, she presented DH with a "skunk kit." She'd gone to the dollar store and filled a little basket with the most odious things she could find. Bad cologne, stinky car air freshener, smelly soap, etc. It was hilarious and creative and DH really got a kick out of it. But the best thing she put in the basket was a dog toy in the shape of a skunk. She thought that if Emma had a toy skunk to play with then maybe she wouldn't "play" with the real ones.
Yeah, right. Good theory. At any rate, the toy - nicknamed Skunky - is her new favorite and MUST be by her bowl (with her other toys) while she eats. It has a really annoying squeaker, too.
LoneStar
On Wednesday, I finished up my Christmas ornament for the month. I stitched "Joy Y'all" by Redbird Designs on a scrap of 32 count mushroom Lugana I had in my stash with DMC and the GAST colors I had on hand. As usual, I substituted beads for the french knots on Santa's hat. He was a fun stitch!
Now I'm back stitching on "Harana." It was quite an ordeal getting ahold of the designer. I googled her and found her on Facebook. I don't do Facebook. One of the guys DH works with was gracious enough to contact her on Facebook on my behalf and gave her my e-mail. After several days, she got back to me with the floss colors for the two "extra" symbols and also a color correction for a third symbol! I had to frog a small area that I'd already stitched! Whoops!
And another thing, the chart is very fiddly to begin with. It is printed in black, red and blue. Some of the symbols are the same, just printed in a different color! ACK! I'm having to be extremely careful when reading the chart. (Not to mention the fact that my working copy is in black and white, so I have to keep the original nearby to check on the color of the symbols.)
And for crying out loud, who designs without putting their contact information SOMEWHERE on the chart?!!
In spite of all the headaches, I still like the design and am enjoying stitching it.
LoneStar
I finished the April block of "Crabby All Year" this morning. Now I'm stitching on a Texas-themed Christmas ornament.
DH is spending the day up in the attic working on the HVAC. He's making a lot of thumping noises, but I haven't heard any swearing. ;-)
LoneStar
On Wednesday morning, DH opened Emma's dog door to let her out. She fairly flew out the door and then DH heard her thumping around under the house. Half a minute later she came running back in with some yellow oily-smelling stuff all over her face and chest. She jumped on the couch and tried to rub it off. (Thankfully, our couch ALWAYS has a pet throw over it to protect it from a hairy dog and her potentially wet or muddy paws.)
DH grabbed her and headed for the bathtub with her. I started washing her off and giving her a bath. The stuff was weird. It smelled like some kind of oily petroleum product. We couldn't figure out what it was or how/where she had gotten into it. DH had to get to work, so he left me bathing the dog.
I got her all washed off, dried her and left her to her own devices. While I was fixing myself breakfast, she ran outside and came in covered in mud as she had gone spelunking under the house again. Back into the bathtub she went and I bathed her again. After drying her off again (and shutting her dog door), I started eating my breakfast.
Just as I was finishing my breakfast, DH arrived back home. (Did I mention that he had taken my truck to work that morning?) Apparently, when your dog gets sprayed by a skunk, the up close and personal smell of said spraying doesn't smell the same as when you smell it from further away. Basically, DH's work compatriots decreed that he stunk of skunk and sent him home to shower.
Long story short, DH and I spent the day dealing with the aftermath. DH had to make a trip to town for skunk deodorizing dog shampoo, Febreeze, Febreeze candles, etc. He went to both pet megastores and our vet's office in town trying to find Skunk Off, a product that I've read is the best for de-skunking a dog. We couldn't find it, but our vet recommended this recipe:
1 quart fresh hydrogen peroxide (check the expiration date)
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon Dawn dish washing liquid
DO NOT make ingredient substitutions as doing so can harm your dog!
Mix in a clean bucket with a little warm water. Sponge over dog and thoroughly saturate coat; let sit for at least five minute and rinse. Repeat until smell is gone. The sooner you do this after the animal is sprayed, the less repeating you have to do.
DH washed Emma four times. Then we Febreezed the couch and my truck. I did eight loads of laundry with Nature's Miracle Skunk Deodorizing Dog Shampoo (also works in the laundry) to destink our clothes, the dog's bath towels, dog bedding, and the couch throw. We burned Febreeze candles all day.
We've mostly gotten the stink out of the house (and my truck!), but it lingers outside, especially by our front porch and in the utility room which is under renovation and doesn't have a solid, sealed floor.
DH went back to work and was declared sweet-smelling and fit to be around. We didn't sell Emma to the monkey house, though we were sorely tempted. I ordered Skunk Off from Amazon to have on hand for next time. Emma still tangles with snakes, so we don't think she'll learn from her experience with skunks. Silly dog.
LoneStar
I'm washing the bedding today, so I let Emma get in a nap on our bed before I stripped it to put everything in the wash. She loves to lay on DH's pillows. She thinks she's getting away with something. We don't let her sleep with us, so getting to nap on the bed is a treat!
LoneStar
Here is "Harana" as of Saturday evening. I've finished the first page of 20 and have started on the second page. I look forward to going back to it after I get my monthly "Crabby" and Texas Christmas ornament done.
LoneStar
Our weather lately has been wet, stormy, and windy. (And even with all the rain, we're still not caught up on our annual rain fall.) We had a stormy evening last week and this happened.
Luckily, it didn't break windows or damage the roof. The wood stove chimney got a bit dinged, but DH was able to "de-ding-ify" it. This branch was so big and heavy that DH had to cut branches off of it with the chainsaw before he could knock it over to finish cutting it up.
We have a lot of dead trees on our property; the drought last summer was really hard on trees. When I drive to town, I see countless dead trees standing in pastures and by the roads. Sad. One of the gals DH works with had a tree fall over on her house last week, too. The tree trimming companies are doing a booming business.
I've been stitching happily on "Harana" but will stop and start stitching on the April block of "Crabby All Year" today. Then I'll stitch a Texas Christmas ornament before going back to "Harana." I finally got the floss numbers for my two missing symbols - YAY!
LoneStar
