PolitiCook.net

14 Comments

• At 2008.07.30 15:05, Kate Petersen said:

  Well, I tried.

  Today I went out to the spay/neuter clinic for which I’m doing a website. Someone had just dropped off a lost dog, a corgi/Pomeranian type, fairly small. He was adorable, reasonably clean, well-fed — obviously lost and not dumped or homeless. The clinic does not have facilities for overnight stays, so the staff was trying to figure out what to do with him. The woman who is my contact there does dog rescue but she currently has 10 that she is fostering (plus her own three), and she didn’t feel she could take on any more.

  On impulse I said I’d take him for a few days while they found his owner. I knew that my husband would go ballistic, but I was hoping I could smooth it over by — well, asking forgiveness instead of permission.

  So I brought him home and introduced him to the twins, holding him while they sniffed. All seemed to be good, no fights or growling. I took him outside (the girls trailing along) to show him where to potty. Felt a sting on my leg, looked down and found six of the Big Ugly Mosquitoes already attached to me. Slapped them (blood splatters everywhere - yuck!), scooped up Peanut and hastened back inside to take an antihistamine and put cortisone on the bites. Put him down on the floor. All was well for about 30 seconds, when he lifted his leg and started spraying everything in sight.

  Sasha, the one who went into heat before we had her spayed, immediately retaliated by peeing over top of his urine. Natalya, not to be left out, also joined in the waterworks.

  I grabbed him up and put him in one of the kennels, got the girls outside, and called Jo, the rescue lady.

  She now temporarily has 14 dogs.

  I’m going to clean carpet now. (This is beginning to resemble biscuit and mowing!)

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  • At 2008.07.30 17:09, Scotia48 said:

    Oh, I wish I could take him. That’s the kind of dog we’ve wanted. Corgi mix. Need to have him fixed though.
    I’m sorry you got bites galore. That is awful! Do you have any standing water around. I fixed that here and it was much better. I don’t have any saucers under my plants and the birdbaths get used too much to be a problem, well, that and it’s alot cooler.

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    • At 2008.07.30 17:24, Kate Petersen said:

      I had a bucket of icky water that I dumped a couple of days ago, where I’d brought some straw to put into the compost bin and it got rained into. The Big Uglies were breeding in there — I fed quite a few dozen of those monsters while I was dumping out the icky water. Otherwise, it’s been very, very wet here. An inch or so of rain most afternoons (surely you remember your Texas afternoon thundershowers!). I don’t see any standing water on our property, but there’s a wet-weather creek down the slope that probably is holding little puddles.

      There is something in my chemistry that makes them go for me like starving hordes to a free Chinese buffet. My husband and son can be standing right next to me and don’t get touched while I rack up a dozen bites within seconds.

      I didn’t get to the organic store yet for essential oils, but I’ll try to go this evening after I feed the men.

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      • At 2008.07.30 19:36, Scotia48 said:

        Let me tell you, we lived on a small creek that constantly had standing water in it that there was really nothing to do about it. The mosquito females were pumped and ready to suck blood!

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    • At 2008.07.30 17:27, Kate Petersen said:

      On the bright side: I’m no longer melancholy. The mosquitoes took the place of leeches!

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      • At 2008.07.30 17:30, biscuit said:

        

        I’m pretty lucky - mosquitoes don’t really bite me, although they really got me once when I was a kid. One bit me either on the eyelid or right next to it, and I ended up with a black eye. !

        What loves me are those stinging gnats. &^%%$

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        • At 2008.07.30 17:52, Scotia48 said:

          Lucky biscuit! What about ‘no see’ums’?With my light blue eyes, pale skin and (formerly) red hair, I am the prime time feast for the buggers!! I have deer fly scars from living in Alaska, yellow jacket bites will put me in the hospital again! I have learned to wear light but full covering when outside. More an Indian or Middle Eastern dress than the current vogue in Texas which is let your butt hang out and wear a halter. ICK!

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          • At 2008.07.30 17:55, biscuit said:

            Ticks love me. Noseeums, not so bad, but ticks and stinging gnats, arrgh!
          • At 2008.07.30 17:56, biscuit said:

            I’ve never understood how those people who run around half naked keep from being completely devoured by insects.
• At 2008.07.30 17:47, drchelo said:

  I’m sorry you got bit so badly, Kate - and the story of the little dog is sad…someone did not care enough for him to neuter him, didn’t care enough to teach him any house manners.
  Mosquitos don’t bother me that much - but unfortunately, wasps love to sting me. And my body reacts very strongly - so much so that the last time I got stung, I finally broke down and asked a DOCTOR to look at it! He immediately prescribed a steroid shot.
  The shot helped with the sting a lot, as well as made me sufficiently hyper to clean out ALL my kitchen cabinets and wash them down! And I am normally the Queen of “If I can’t see the dirt, it ain’t there”….

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  • At 2008.07.30 17:53, Kate Petersen said:

    Dirt? You mean there is dirt?
    

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  • At 2008.07.30 18:01, Scotia48 said:

    I am with you, drchelo!
    I remember running thru the honeysuckle vines when I was about 7 and bitten many, many times by yellow jackets. Got to the hospital just in time. I have learned that if one of those buggers comes around, you just need to remain calm and slowly move away.
    Cabinets, you mean they need cleaning?

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• At 2008.07.30 20:10, drchelo said:

  I just finished dinner. I have not been feeling real energetic about cooking, maybe because of the heat, maybe because of not feeling 100%, so I thought i’d just have pasta with cherry tomatoes and garlic - and basil.
  Oh. My. Gawd! I picked basil from my garden - and if there were a perfume made from basil, I’d go swimming in it! I almost went out to the garden and started grazing, it was so fragrant!
  If anyone knows more recipes using lots of basil, or how to make perfume out of basil, I’d appreciate it!

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  • At 2008.07.30 20:46, biscuit said:

    We’ve been having rain, so it’s cooled down here. It’s traveling north, though, so it might miss you.

    As for basil, there was a time when I loved exotic basil recipes. These days, though, the simpler the better! I love its bite and flavor, and really appreciate a nice hot non-wheat pasta (I’ve been liking the quinoa even though it’s very corny) with lots of olive oil, garlic and basil, and not much more.

    I’ve never been very appreciative of cold things with basil - I think it needs heat, but that’s just my opinion. But still - simple.

    I’m not too big a fan anymore of things that are too exotic, unless they involve Indian food - or peanuts!

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