Weekend In Review

Was a busy weekend. Yesterday was absolutely stunning -- almost 70 degrees and bright sunshine. I did some raking of leaves from my gardens, dug up about 1000 baby violas (aka "Johnny Jump-Ups") that were spreading into the lawn. I pull these like weeds every year, but can't get rid of them ... it's wild. I think they should come with a warning label at the nursery.

Didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but still spent several hours outside in the lovely weather.

With the heat come the bugs, though, and Dakota is already having tick problems. I finally broke down and tried a topical tick medication, FiproGuard Plus for Dogs from Sentry/Sergeant's Pet Care. I bought it at my local Agway, and it's supposed to be comparable to Frontline. I know Vectra burns Dakota's skin, so we can't use it, but thought I'd give this a try.

I applied it on Friday morning at about 9 a.m. -- right before a walk. I put it on the back of her neck and down her shoulders, as directed. Though it didn't bother her on the walk (I suspect she was sufficiently distracted), she spent the rest of the day pacing and fussing. I don't know if it burned her skin (it wasn't pink like it had been with Vectra), or if it was the smell, which was pretty noticeable, even to me.

This morning, 48 hours after applying the stuff, I found TWO fully engorged ticks embedded under her collar. They'd been there for at least a couple of days and were alive an kicking (ew, ew, ew). I pulled them out -- one left a HUGE lump and scab -- and then promptly got on my computer and emailed the company. I'm furious. Not only was my dog stressed by the meds for a good twelve hours, BUT IT DIDN'T EVEN WORK.

We'll see what they have to say.

In the meantime, I guess I'll be going to back to checking for ticks every time she's outside, frequent combing and bathing and much crossing of fingers.

I have a love/hate relationship with spring.

How was your weekend.

Oh, and because I know someone will ask, I'm still not really well. The coughing is less now, but my throat aches again. Still, I'm not as completely exhausted as I was there for a while, so I think it's a win. Eventually the rest will go away. I can't be sick forever.

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You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

... making the impossible, possible. I thought that was my biz partner, Judy (aka The Goddess). It's right here on her bio.

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Ticks and Thrift

Thrift is not an affair of the pocket, but an affair of character. ~S.W. Straus

Yesterday was a banner day for us -- we found NO TICKS. It's the first day since tick season started that we didn't have at least one (and usually more) ticks on the dog or in the house our (:::shudder:::) on one of us.

Hopefully that trend continues.

I also did some couponing. I'd taken a break for a week or two -- truthfully, I was just burned out and frustrated that none of the items I wanted were available. Many stores are starting to put limits on how many of anything you can buy to avoid having people clear the shelves, and I'll be honest -- I'm thrilled. I don't mind "only" getting four deodorants or six toothpastes. That's enough to see me through until the next special.

We went to three stores, only Walgreens didn't have anything in stock we wanted. The people there are the nicest of all, though the lady who helps us at CVS is starting to warm up to us (because we chat with her all the time). It's a pain for them to run all the coupons and Up Rewards / Register Returns, so I try to be as nice as possible.

Here's what we scored.

From CVS:



The Crest Rinse had a Register Return in the amount of the entire product, and I had a $1 off coupon, so I actually made $1 on it.

The Gillette deodorant was Buy One, Get One 50% off, and I had two BOGO coupons, so I got four deodorants for the price of one.

The toothpaste had register returns making each tube cost $0.75 each.

The toothbrushes had register returns making each one cost $0.99 and I had two $1 off coupons, so I earned a penny on each.

The lipsticks were $5/each. I had a coupon for $2 off plus when you go to CVS, you scan your card and they spit out coupons, one of which was for $3 off, plus I got a register return for another $2, so got two $9.99 lipsticks for a total of $3.

Granted, you have to pay up front and the RR's are for use on another purchase, but it all comes out in the wash.

At Rite Aid:



The Blink eye drops had a rebate for the total cost of the item (and I could submit it online, so didn't even have to pay postage), so they were free.

The Pringles (a concession to DH's junk food needs) were on sale 2 for $3 and I had a $1 off coupon, so they came to just over $1/ea.

The gum was on sale for $0.77/each and I had a $1 off 3 for Stride and a $1 off 2 for Orbit. Please don't make me do the math ... let's just say it was cheap.

The shampoo and conditioner were on sale for $3.50 and had up returns that, along with my coupons, made them free.

The toothpaste had up returns, making them $1/each.

There were a couple goofs on my end on some other things that I didn't pay close enough attention to ... but I'm still learning. And, I discovered I had a coupon for the Blink eye drops for $2 off that I could have used and actually made money on the deal, but didn't because I'd forgotten. Bad me.

Still, for a newbie, I'm doing okay.

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You Are Sweet Because You're Passionate

You provide direction and leadership for others. People are looking to you to see what you'll do. You focus on goals rather than people. You've always been happiest looking out for yourself. You welcome new challenges without fear. You're ready for whatever comes your way. You are a very ambitious person. You aren't about to settle for second best.

The Sugar Rush Test

Mostly right.

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Tick Tick

God in His wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why.
~Ogden Nash, "The Fly"

Today was pretty much a repeat of the day before, only it was raining. LOL...

Quiet (YAY!), routine (YAY!).

I did have some ickiness first thing in the morning. Found a tick on Dakota, pulled it and en route to the potty to dump it, DD finds another one. So, I dump tick #1 and return, pull tick #2, dump ... and DD finds another.

And another.

And another.

We pulled -- in total -- TEN ticks off the dog. By the time I was done, she was a quivering mass of canine jello. She was shaking, drooling and her tail was tucked so far between her legs she looked like she didn't have one. I felt terrible, but the ticks had to be yanked. She was well rewarded after :-)

Here's the problem. First, the flea and tick meds (like Frontline and Vectra) burn her skin BADLY. I've tried them all. Not to mention that there is some evidence that they can cause cancer (they are, after all, a pesticide that we're adding to their bloodstream. If it was totally safe, they'd recommend humans use it ... yes?). I've lost one dog to cancer and will do everything I can to NOT lose another one to the beast.

I've tried some of the natural remedies like essential oils (clove, lemon, etc) that are out there. They are a repellent, not a killer, but I've found that they have to be reapplied on an almost daily basis and they made Dakota stressed (she paces, drools and won't settle for hours after I apply them... even if I reduce the dose).

Normally, simply checking her for ticks works. But this year, they are especially bad, and apparently they're everywhere, including the lawn. DH and I have BOTH had ticks on us already this season, and we weren't hiking in the woods.

My next try is Skin So Soft. The smell is a little less obnoxious than the essential oils and I'm hoping it won't stress out the dog.

Ten ticks. :::shudders:::

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You Are Good

You have an ethical code that you live by. You think it's important to be a good person. You are idealistic, and you don't really care if your ideals are unrealistic. You are a complex and deep person. There are many layers to who you are. You seek meaning and purpose in every part of your life. An empty life terrifies you.

The Garden Test

That's mostly right.

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Give a Man a Chainsaw...

God in His wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why.
~Ogden Nash, "The Fly"

A week or so ago, DH was out looking at our apple trees. We have two. One is covered with flowers, the other has, maybe three. He wondered, and contemplated, and considered and decided it was because we have too many other trees shading that area.

Yesterday, he took care of most of that problem. Being the equal opportunity kind of guy he is, he took down a beech tree, an oak tree, and a maple tree. The good news is they're all hardwood, so we can burn them next winter. The bad news is he dropped one--the beech--on my apricot trees. I lost one completely and the other is, um, a little shorter than it used to be.

It could have been worse. He nearly dropped it on the very apple tree he was trying to save. He risked life and limb to give it a shove as it fell, and neatly dropped it between the two apple trees.

Oh, and my rhubarb is a little worse for wear.

I'm telling you, the man is a menace with a chainsaw.

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Earlier in the day, I was outside working on the back flower garden, moving things around and weeding. Dakota was on her remote trainer and running hither and yon. On one of her "yon" trips, she did a loop through the woods. She probably wasn't there two minutes. When she trotted to me, she had numerous ticks on her head! ACK!! Most were deer ticks, nasty, tiny little buggers. Apparently they are REALLY bad this year. She's already had one embedded in her tummy. And they're so freakin' small, it's hard to find them. Of course, she's on tick stuff, so they die eventually (within 24 hours), but it doesn't repel them. One of the ticks on her head was RED. I don't think I've ever seen a red tick.

In any case, I picked them off and squished them. But later, when DH took down the trees, my job was to drag all the branches into the woods. You know, the woods where Dakota picked up all those nasty creatures. I was sure I was covered in them. I could all but feel them crawling on me. The moment I was done, I hurried in and took a shower and scrubbed about four layers of skin off my body, as well as giving my hair a very thorough shampooing.

Ick. Ick. Ick.

Did I say ick?

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Your Independence Level: Medium

In some aspects of your life, you can be very self reliant. Making your own informed choices feels great. But you aren't as independent as you could be. When things get stressful, you sometimes run away from the hard decisions you need to make.

How Independent Are You?

I don't think that's very true... Hmm...