Published: August 05, 2008 09:08 pm            

Battling on the homefront

My days at Parkwood are numbered. Next week I hope to move in with my daughter temporarily. And when my own habitat has made ready at the end of the month, I’m off to Home Sweet Home (where no antelopes roam).

One of my friendly readers offered me a lift chair, even an nicer one than I have now at Parkwood. It has a built-in massager! It is already at my daughter’s, and I can hardly wait to see this miracle myself. Last year, the same woman donated a bunch of yarn. Not just a few skeins, but a whole bag full. I had lost her name and address, but now she gave it again so the kids could come and get the chair.

Our own home will need a new door, some railing at the steps. It all takes some time, but at least the end is in sight.

I hope to be stronger on my legs at that time, so the dogs won’t throw me off balance when they want to chase each other or an imaginary intruder. They may have had a bit too much freedom while I was gone and must learn to control some impulses to go hunting. When one barks, all three start running.

Yet, they also can sleep for hours next to, behind and in front of my chair. I don’t foresee many problems with them, but safety first.

It looks that the flea problem has been solved. It was a long battle, which looked like we were losing. Nothing seems to do the job. My son even vacuumed the dog. First impression was excellent. No fleas in sight any more. He took the canister outside, sprayed it, and thought it would be loaded with fleas. Only one flea was among the hair. He went back inside looked again at the dog and saw the fleas come out of hiding. They just had crawled under the dog’s hair. With some imagination you could see the smile on their faces. They survived the storm.

After that, the house was bugbombed, carpet sprayed for good measure, and it looks like the battle is won. We will have to repeat the bugbombs in a few weeks to prevent a new crop.

Some spiders and moths fell victims to the bombs. Spiders inside as well as outside the house can be very useful to keep the insect population under control. Yet people look surprised if I catch an inside spider in a cup and set it free outside in hopes it might feast on mosquitos.

In that case, we can enjoy sitting outside on a nice day.

        

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