Plus ça change...

So, here were are.  Another week in the continuing adventures of Working From Home.  Things are progressing.

This week, we have a second scavenger hunt.  It's easy, it makes people happy - so bring it! Yesterday, I sent a few idea for celebrating Cinco de Mayo under quarantine.  Because it's also Taco Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on the homefront, I have some things that are stressing my ass out.

1.  Tree To Be You And Me:

This happened Sunday night.


I am aware it's not a great photo, but you get the idea, yes?


We had some massive winds come through, and it took down limbs all over the neighborhood.  We're lucky it missed the house and truck.  The fence needs a new board or two, but over all, we got very, very lucky.  We still need to get the limb debris to the dump, but baby steps.  Matt chainsawed it last night into manageable chunks.

Ironically, as I was coming in from walking the dog yesterday, I found a four-leaf clover clear as day in the yard.  I'd say our luck already happened, but I'm pressing said clover in an obscure book on our shelf to be found at a later time.

Even though we're lucky, I have sawdust all over the house, so I need to get on top of that.

2.  It's time to play nobody's favorite game show:  WHAT'S!  THAT!  SMELL!?!

Piper went under the deck the other night and got into some kind of shenanigans - but we called her and she came right away, without bringing any carcasses with her.  We thought whatever she'd found living under there had escaped.  Well, we and I guess specifically, I, was wrong.   Whatever she found under there is dead, and busy putrefying.  And I don't think it was an endangered black rhino or even a cat. Cats stay the hell out of this yard. Whatever it was was small enough to get under the porch, but not large enough to fight back - so, rodent or small marsupial.

YES, I feel bad that my dog kills things, but it's encoded in her DNA.  You can't ask a dog not to dog.  I mean, we could (and really should) close off her ingress to the under deck area, but would that trap other animals in there?   And sure, I could keep her on a leash, but what's the damn point of having a fenced yard if not to let your little doofus play "Born Free"?

Anyway, whatever she got, she got pretty close to the door we use to access the deck, so as you might imagine, it smells awesome.  Like rotting meat in a copper pot.  The flies are loving it.  There's no way in hell I am going to Army Crawl under there to find out what it was, though I am considering pouring some lime down there to neutralize and hasten the decomposition.  Honestly, though - it's hot enough that it should simmer down, so to speak, in a few days.

I'm reminded of the scene in LA Confidential where they go interview the mother of the girl who was dating a cop and went missing - and they end up finding said cop under the mother's porch.

She thinks it's a dead rat.  Source: IMDB.com

Anyway, here I am harboring a killer.


3.  I beg of you, please stop.

What were the odds that I'd get two itchy dogs in a row?   Piper, who as you may recall just turned six, has begun scratching and chewing herself obsessively.  It's a newer habit that ramped up slowly, but recently went from a 6 to an 11 in a matter of days.   I went to the Walgreens yesterday at lunch.  You know, the Walgreens, where I picked up some  meds and an anti-itch spray.  I medicated her, and at the moment, she's resting comfortably.  I  called the vet to see if I could bring her in, but cooler heads prevailed, sort of.  They said, come by and pick up some meds,  let's see if they work.  I'll let you know

I gave her bath tonight, using Aveeno colloidal oatmeal.  My hope was that it would mitigate the effect of her allergy, even though I believe the cause (grass, pollen, pollen and more pollen) is still actively working against her.  If I can get a level of allergy meds going, it should get us through til the end of all the pollen. 

4.  Birthday, Anniversary, Birthday, Mother's Day.

This week there's a lot going on.  My nephew's 12th birthday and my 3rd anniversary at Shared Health are on Friday.  Both are extremely important, but Henry's birthday is on a tight time-table.   I have a card going to him in the mail today.  As to my anniversary,  it's not especially clutch - I'll do something nice for myself to commemorate.  The next pair of celebrations happens Sunday.  It's Mother's Day, which, obviously, we will not be celebrating in Atlanta,  but it's also my friend Jim's birthday.  For Mom, I have sent a card, still kind of dithering about the present, but I have an idea.  Jim... well, I'm not sure.  But then, I don't have to be - he's local, so I can dither a little longer.


But those are the pressing matters for now.  Well, that and I would love a good nap.


That's enough, I think.

ae

Comments

Christopher said…
I'm so glad the tree just missed you. A really big tree on the other side of our fence went down and hit the neighbors' house. It didn't fall very far and I couldn't see any damage but after they took it down there were some guys doing repair work up there and spreading out tarps. I guess you can't have a tree fall on your house without damage.
Now here's hoping Piper's itching is mitigated.