Saturday, August 15, 2020

I Think I Was Supposed To Figure This Out A Long Time Ago

 Well, once again I don't have any pictures and today's excuse is that I didn't do anything that was worth recording for posterity. I really expected to be worn out and sore this morning and I was a little sore but not much and I haven't felt incredibly energetic but I haven't felt bad at all. 
In fact, I'm thinking that within a week I will have no excuse to slack off at all. Which will once again lead me to wonder

WHAT THE HELL I'M DOING WITH MY LIFE?

I have no idea. Healing was such a full time occupation. And then if I did manage to throw a meal together or sweep a floor I felt like I deserved a crown or at least a prize from a Cracker Jack box or maybe a box of Cracker Jacks. Something. And I'm certainly not complaining about healing up and feeling better. I'm still quite aware of how lucky I am not to have broken anything beyond ribs or have had a punctured necessary organ or even unnecessary organ which would have been internally messy and also, the memory of that fall and the resulting crunch of my ribs rubbing together has not faded and does not make me want to ever experience anything like that again. So all-in-all, I am so happy to feel this good in so short a time but honestly- what am I going to do with my life? 
There is going to be more contact and interaction with Jessie's family because she's quit working for now so that they can quarantine more safely and we can all be in the same bubble. I think that at this point, Vergil would probably do anything to have us keep those boys for a night or two so that he and Jessie can do whatever it is that couples do when their children are with the grandparents. 
(Truthfully, I remember exactly what couples can do when the children are under the care of someone else and I look back on those days with great fondness. So to speak.) 
So there will be that. And what a joy it will be to have both little guys back in our house, our lives again. I only wish that the same were going to be true with the other three grandchildren but there is no way that Lily's family can quarantine as safely because of the jobs their parents have which are necessary and, yes, essential. We will have to just be patient there. 

The garden will soon need clearing and replanting for fall and that will be a project. I could, I suppose, do some real housecleaning. 
Oh god no. 
Today Mr. Moon vacuumed the entire house for fleas which is something I never do. Jessie gave us a vacuum cleaner that she lost patience with and I've never so much as touched the thing. Mr. Moon is a saint. We've had some bad flea infestations and they love him. They do not seem to even notice I'm a warm-blooded mammal which is great for me but it won't be for the kids and it makes my husband crazy. He was going to spray after the vacuuming but instead, is trying a dish soap in water with a light above it remedy. 
I do not have a great deal of faith in that but why not start there before we poison our house? We did give Jack a pill yesterday for fleas and put a collar on him, both of which Glen got at the feed store where the products are for country animals and not pampered prince and princess pets and for awhile there I thought we'd killed the poor cat but he seems fine now. He did disappear for a day and before he left, I observed him acting, um, weird. The mister insists that was just his reaction to the fleas jumping off but whatever. We just managed to get one of the flea collars on Maurice and I hope it doesn't kill her. Oh, the joys of rural living! 
All right. How did I get from needing to find a purpose in life to flea collars? 
I suppose this is my special gift- the gift of rambling. 

Here's a picture of Jack that I took about five minutes ago. 


He's good. He's lovely. He's purring. A little neurotoxic poisoning won't hurt him!

But let's face it- I don't know what I'm going to do with my life now that I've almost completely accomplished (I think) the knitting together of my rib bones. There's nothing to pickle or preserve at the moment. I do have to start walking again. Not too far right away, but I need to make that a priority.
Should I take up macrame? 
I think not. 
Oh, I'll think of something. 

Meanwhile, besides vacuuming, Mr. Moon also spray-washed the mildew off the back steps so that no one does a repeat of my fall. 


Mildew free! And he's going to apply non-skid strips to them too. He seems to have no problem figuring out what to do with his life. 

At the moment, I better go make supper. There's always cooking. 

Take care, y'all. Be safe. 

Love...Ms. Moon

35 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you're getting to have contact with your grandkids again, even if it can't be with all of them.

    As to the fleas, it seems like you're struggling way too hard with that! There are vet prescribed drops that will take care of the problem lickety-split for probably less than you're spending at the feed store for stuff that's just isn't going to work very well. Gregg has worked at a pet store for years, and trust me, nothing you can buy over the counter will work as well or as easily as the prescription stuff. Just a suggestion. :)

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    1. Oh, Jennifer. We have used every prescription treatment there is. It's like the fleas of Lloyd build up a tolerance to all of them. So this is an experiment, I guess. But that is a good suggestion.

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    2. Sorry! I might have known that you had tried that already, and that the fleas in Florida are probably way worse than here. Not enough cold weather to help control them would be my guess. I'm sure we get more freezing weather in the winter than Lloyd does.

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    3. I'm not sure what the deal is but I talked to my son-in-law Michael about this some time ago. He works in a vet's office and he told me that yes, the fleas do build up a tolerance to all of the treatments eventually. At least around here. It's just the way it is.

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  2. I put non-slip strips on our stairs going up to the bedrooms. They are kinda steep. The strips have a glow in the dark stripe on them, which is pretty cool. The two times our house was infested with fleas I treated all the floors with copious spreadings of borax which was vaccuumd up two days later. All the bedding washed and mattresses boraxed and severely vaccuumed as well... Freaks me right out, fleas. One day while shopping at the supermarket I felt a bug on my forehead... flea! Bizarre! Unrelated to the infestations... Gah. The cats got frontline at the back of the head. We were scared they'd hang themselves with collars.

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    1. I'd have to get a truck load of borax if I used that method. I'm serious. This whole rambley house just goes on and on.

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  3. Whenever we have fleas (and we get an infestation at least once a year, despite whatever flea treatment we're using), the cats do what R. calls the fuck-it-flea dance, which looks less like a dance and more like a full on possession.

    Super glad you're healing & that you get to see some of your brood more often. I sure do miss people.

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    1. Yep. That was it- the fuck-it-flea dance. I think the cats are so happy now to be flealess that it was probably worth it to them.
      I miss people too. Or, well, a few of them. There are a whole lot I don't miss. Isn't that horrible?

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  4. Diatomaceous earth to get rid of fleas, get the food grade and put it in the cats' food or water, too, it kills the internal parasites and is safe to use. We just sprinkle it everywhere and let it settle in and do the job. It gets rid of every kind of insect, it takes a bit of time, but it is so much better than poisons.

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    1. As with the Borax suggestion- I'd have to get a truckload. I've heard that it works for infestations of different kinds, though. Thanks for the suggestion.

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  5. we've used the diatomaceous earth too, along with spraying everything with white vinegar and then steam cleaning everything that couldn't go in a hot dryer. if you are in for a really good time, try washing the cats with dawn liquid soap. there is no good time like a cat, who still has all their claws, coated with dawn trying to get away from you...

    xxalainaxx

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    1. Okay. NO! I am not washing a cat with Dawn dishwashing liquid. I never wash my cats. I'm a coward. I remember washing the dogs though, and seeing all of the fleas jumping off. Horrifying. Just absolutely horrifying.

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  6. Re what you are doing with your life:
    "Consider the lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin..."
    Sometimes a little Sunday School comes in handy.

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    1. I do love that verse. It's one of the good ones, Ms. Sally!

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  7. I'm so glad you are healing and feeling better. It will be wonderful to be able to spend time with at least part of your family. I remember when I was a child my father used to put sevin in the yard around the house to kill the fleas outside. That combined with treating the pets and house would do the job. Good luck with it!

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    1. My grandfather used sevin on EVERYTHING. And lived well into his nineties but it can't be good. I don't even know if you can still buy it. Sure did the trick on various pests though.

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  8. Frontline does seem to kill animals, or give them weird fits/neuro reactions, but I have to admit, I'd rather have no fleas and no cats than cats and lots of fleas. Urg.

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    1. Yeah. I've seen that. I've given it to various pets over the years many times though and it never seemed to affect them. And as you know- my dogs lived forever. Almost. Fleas suck.

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  9. My cat hates frontline and will run away for hours and is miserable - so I will never use it again. Frontline also seemed to not even work - such a ripoff. Now we use Bravecto which makes her upset for only about 10 minutes and kills the fleas for months.

    Julie

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    1. Bravecto may be one thing I've never tried. I'll ask my son-in-law who works at a vet's if they use it. Thanks!

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  10. Around the world there must be many, many accidents each year - caused by slippery wooden steps and decking. A lot of this is due to the annual build-up of algae. Decking and step injuries can be life-changing. You may have missed a bullet - even though it might not have seemed like that when waking up in great discomfort in the middle of the night on the throne in Glen's Den.

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    1. Oh, I definitely DID dodge a bullet and I know it. It could have been a real disaster rather than just a pain in the side. Luckily, the great discomfort didn't last longer than two weeks. Now it's just a reminder. Sometimes a spasm but mostly not.

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  11. I think you're doing PLENTY with your life, though maybe it's not easy to see from your close-up perspective! You're a grandmother and a mother and a writer and a cook and you keep chickens and make clothes and well, I could go on and on. You do more than I do, for sure!

    I remember Florida fleas -- they are unlike fleas from anywhere else. There are bazillions of them and they are bloodthirsty. We had several household infestations when I was a kid and they LOVED me. You ought to be able to get something like Advantage (or whatever it's called in the states) to give the cats and it will be much more effective than a collar. Getting it down Maurice's throat might be a trick, though. (Oh -- I see your response to Jennifer above -- maybe you've tried that already.)

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    1. Thanks, Steve, for reminding me that I do indeed do tings. It all just seems so trivial sometimes. I guess it's not to us though.
      Oh yeah. We used Advantage. Another treatment that the fleas soon laughed at. I do hate to give Maurice pills. She is not easy to force anything on. Even my LOVE!

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  12. Here's a second vote for sprinkling borax around to get rid of fleas and then later vacuuming it up.

    I'm sure you probably realize that a great many of us are spending days/weeks/months just existing in this weird Covid world. And some days that is as good as it gets. You don't need to justify your existence by saving the world or finding a cure for cancer. The people in your world are just very happy you are here because you enrich their lives and they love you.

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    1. Thank you, Mary for the kind words. And yeah, we're all just sort of hanging in here doing what we do, aren't we? How long does one leave the Borax on the floor?

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    2. If the floor is carpeted, I would suggest leaving it for at least 24 hours. Carpeting is definitely a flea haven. For hardwoods or other hard surfaces, probably sprinkle it around (especially around seams/cracks) and then do extra vacuuming (wouldn't leave it too long on hard surfaces as it will make the floors slippery and that is the last thing you need right now). I've read that borax might be harmful to pets, but we never had any problems with our dogs when we used it in the past.

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  13. fortunately the pill for the dog and the liquid for the cat seems to do the job here. I don't dive it to them every month at $20 a pop each but only when the dog starts scratching and biting, two or three times a year.

    I feel like I haven't been doing anything the last several weeks. I was stomping around the house the other day...I should be doing something! I whined. Why? my husband asked. well, cause there so much stuff that should be done.

    I could always clean house and I think of it often but...nah.

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    1. When we were treating three dogs and a cat or two, the flea treatment bill was higher than the utilities.
      Sigh.
      I sometimes think of how you were on a schedule of cleaning one room's windows daily. I consider doing this but once again- no thank you.

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  14. I am so thankful we don't have fleas here. Beyond thankful actually. The one bite by a tick creeped me out enough. I can handle mosquitos, mostly because they don't bite me much, but ticks and fleas are ugly.

    Your body is still healing and you will find things to do because you always do:)

    Sending hugs and love.

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    1. NO fleas? Girl. You live in paradise. Ticks are bad too. They really are. Scary little fuckers.
      Mosquitoes aren't that attracted to me either but when they get terribly bad here, they don't discriminate. They just want to suck the blood of anything that has blood. Ugh.
      Love and hugs back to you!

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  15. So glad you are healing and will have some of your sweet grand-babies around now. As far as life's purpose goes - selfishly, I would like you to always be writing. I love your words. xo

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    1. Thank you, Lisa. That made me smile and blush a little. I really appreciate that.

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  16. The continued healing is good news, and no need to look beyond today. Tomorrow you will find lovely things to do with your life, especially now that those precious boys will be in your flea free house again but for today, you have visited us here, and that has grounded me, if not you. Love you woman.

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    1. Oh, I can't WAIT to get my hands on those boys. They'll be ready to get away from me in five minutes, most likely. Too bad, kids!
      Thank you, as always, you dear woman for your kindness, your understanding, your...you know. (Hearts galore.)

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.