New Stuff

 

I may not be doing much these days other than cleaning and healing but I have been buying stuff. I got an international delivery yesterday. From the UK. When I ordered this birth sampler on Etsy for the Grand that's due in September I didn't realize I was ordering from across the pond. I should have. This ABC sampler is full of clues and I just didn't notice. 

I also ordered this cowboy themed material for a baby quilt for the little guy. Of course I'm not working on any of this new baby stuff until I am mite free. Better to be safe and late with the gifts than sorry. I wouldn't wish this misery on anyone-except maybe Putin. 

I have no desire to knit or even touch anything woolly but I couldn't resist this new colorway from MadTosh. It's Gigi Loves Orange. I follow Gigi on Instagram. She is a knitter who is all about orange. I painted my bedroom orange when I was a teen and I never heard the end of it from Daddio who had to paint over it when I moved out. There is nothing shy about orange.

Out Again!

 

If you look way down the boardwalk you can see The Mister and Pup. They got far ahead of me yesterday when I stopped to look at my phone to get a photo. Pup was cruising along at warp speed. She was so happy to get out again. It was cold yesterday and very windy so we figured we could cover up all our ugly bits with some warm clothes and have the place to ourselves. We did.

Week Six

 

Pup's been recovering very well this week. I am encouraged. She doesn't need the cone or the pajamas to keep her from chewing her legs off anymore. Her poor ears are healing nicely too. She can even hold them up again when she's trying to be a good girl in order to get her reward for putting up with her treatments and isolation. That's a McDonald's chicken nugget-her favorite thing in the whole world. I keep them in the freezer and take one out when I need it. All the critters got their second dose so we are hoping for even more rapid improvement in the weeks ahead. I just wish Pup would start growing hair on her bald spots. If she doesn't she's going to be one weird looking dog. 

The Mister and I are starting to show some improvement also. Mange mites can explore you but they can't colonize humans like they did poor Pup so if we can catch any new spots early on we've learned we can avoid a whole lot of damage. The Mister is doing pretty well with his sulfur remedies. I can't use them because of the stinky fumes but I have discovered that Dawn and sea salt scrubs work just as well when followed by a splash of vinegar and tea tree oil tonic and a thick covering of calamine lotion. The point is to make yourself an inhospitable host. We are still scrubbing and boiling everything in the house all day and will probably have to continue for at least 2 months after we declare a victory of sorts. We've settled into quite a weird routine but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. 

Out!

 

It's been five weeks since we've been out for a walk with our mangy mutt but yesterday was so nice that we took the chance of going to the marina down the street for a stroll in the sunshine where no one could see us in all our scabbed up glory. We had all our PPE at the ready for handling Pup and jumped in the shower when we got back. Now we'll let the car sit for a few days to de-mite itself and then maybe we can try it again. It felt good to get out. Weird but good. 

Planned Obsolescence

Look at that. Just look at it. That's a chip in my new $$$ quartz counter top in the area around the sink. I had an absolute breakdown about it yesterday and cried all day. I have no idea how I did it but there it is. Nothing and I mean nothing about this new kitchen is working for me. When I say I hate it, I really, really mean it. 

I spend all day walking on eggshells in it. I've got mats, glass counter protectors and then I still put down a dishcloth under everything. I've been so careful and still........a chip. All these new fangled building materials are terrible. The glass stove top and sink scratch if you just look at them. The floor is a streaky mess even if you mop it all day long. Don't even get me started on the appliances that never worked. I can't even use the dishwasher now because of the recall and we can't even get through to them to set up a repair date. It's insanity. I hate cooking anymore. All I can think of is that they don't want this stuff to last so we have to keep replacing it over and over. The old kitchen that The Mister and I installed 30 years ago looked better when we ripped it out than the new stuff looks right now. It might have been out of date but it was much more usable than this fancy modern junk-and I mean junk. Expensive junk. 

Week Five

 

It's hard to believe we have been living this nightmare for five weeks now. The hardest part is that Pup is feeling better and wants life to return to normal which includes hugs, snuggles and walks but that's not happening. We still don't touch her without gloves and she's still quarantined in the living room. We can't take her out because she still looks like a mangy mess. I'd call Animal Control if I saw her walking down the street.

We spend all day in gloves, still cleaning, still disinfecting. We've got quite the routine going. There will never be an excuse for having a dirty house again. 

We switched out the recycling bins for these buckets with lids for the laundry. They hold the heat in better. That's my poor newly remodeled bathroom. Like everything around here it's a disaster. We have begun to toss some of the stuff we bagged up. I'm not using those linens again. When we are over this we'll be buying new everything and I mean everything.

The Mister and I didn't do our treatment this week because I forgot to get it refilled. It will be ready today but we might just wait until we are closer to the animal's finish line. No sense poisoning ourselves on a regular basis when we weren't getting much relief anyway. Our homemade potions are keeping us pretty comfortable right now. If things change for the worst we can always treat ourselves then. Tomorrow the animals get their second round of meds and then the countdown to the finish line really begins. I'm not sure how life ever goes back to normal after something like this but I'm ready to give it a try. 

Just Enough

 

We are in between grocery pick ups so our big Easter dinner consisted of matzo ball soup, canned beets, left over birthday cake and hard boiled eggs. I was going to make deviled eggs but neglected to notice I had no mayo in the house. It wasn't much but when you think of what's going on in other parts of the world, just having food on the table is enough. 

Happy Easter?

 

It's going to be a pretty miserable Easter Sunday around here since we are still in quarantine thanks to the mighty mites. We don't have the will to do much of anything anyway but we sure will miss all the Grands today. Looking back on the blog I can see that 2018, for one reason or another, was the last time we got together as a family to do Easter stuff. Can it be four years? Is it possible? Darn those germs. Darn those bugs. You really can't take anything or anybody for granted anymore. 

 

Hot Stuff

 

It was so miserably hot yesterday we had to turn on the AC. It was also this guy's birthday. This photo was taken in better times for both him and Pup although I have to say we've seen a bit of improvement in the situation in the past few days-knock on wood. 

This soap company has a whole line of mite control products that seems to be working. It takes a lot of time everyday but it's the best results we've seen in a long while. Pup is also looking a bit better once I stepped up her bathing and cream regimen. There isn't a spare minute of the day that I'm not fighting mites. Sigh...

But......in spite of it all, The Mister had a pretty decent birthday. I treated him to his favorite pizza. We rarely get Ledo's pizza because I don't consider it pizza. I call it cheese on a cracker but it's a Maryland favorite and it's what he wanted.

Daughter surprised him with a delivery from Milk Bar. It came right after dinner. Perfect timing. Refrigerated cakes by UPS-I see it but I still don't believe it. What a time to be alive. 

Week Four

 

I've got nothing good to say about all this right now. In spite of our 2nd treatment The Mister and I are still an itchy mess. It's quite gruesome. We know it's going to be a long haul but we are both tired and discouraged at this point. We spend all day cleaning and washing completely wearing ourselves out before facing another sleepless night. 

Pup was looking better but she's now plateaued. Her second dose is next Sunday so maybe then things will start to look up again. We've tried so many homemade remedies on ourselves that I've lost count. Tea tree and neem oil, sulphur soap, bleach baths, vinegar, baking soda, honey,  Desitin, Dawn, olive oil and salt scrubs-we've even covered ourselves in mustard.  We've got more potions on the way. At this point we'll try anything to get some relief.

And.......thanks so much for all the encouraging words. The high point of my day is when I finally get to sit down and catch up with all of you who are leading normal lives in normal skin. Don't ever take it for granted.  Sigh.......

Week Three

 

We had our second treatments Tuesday night so we are officially on week three of this 8 week nightmare. Pup is doing much better. That stinky shampoo of hers really works. She's still missing a lot of hair but the skin isn't as red and raw anymore and I think I can see some new hair growth starting to happen.  She isn't happy being quarantined by herself in the living room but I have to keep her and the cats separate. Keeping her in pajamas has kept her from scratching. I wish it helped me. 

The Mister and I are not doing as well as Pup. By the weekend we were both once again covered in rash and itching like crazy. We could barely make it to our 2 week treatment. It was awful counting down the days until we could get some relief. All that washing and scrubbing left my hair a mess so I cut most of it off.  Bye bye messy bun for now. The Mister shaved his head and his beard. I was tempted but thought better of it.  It makes covering yourself with icky cream for 10 hours a little easier. 

After cleaning like a maniac and boiling laundry all morning, I spend the rest of the day just sitting in my great, great, great grandmother's rocker. At night I sleep in my Ikea Poing chair covered in garbage bags. One day all this might be funny....but it's certainly not now. When I say this ordeal could make a grown man cry-I'm speaking from experience. It's been rough. 

You Couldn't Make This Up

 

The kitchen remodel from hell just keeps on giving. First it was the pandemic. Then it was supply issues. Then it was the discontinued cabinets. We had all that tile drama where we had to tear out a wall three times so the new counters would work. Don't get me started on the smelly stove. We still haven't solved that problem. Then it was the mite infestation while the floor was being put down. I never mentioned the leaking sink issue because it was during the blog break that I am supposed to be having.  AND NOW..... we just got a recall notice-ON THE BRAND NEW DISHWASHER. It's the only thing that we haven't had a problem with. It's got to come out and be serviced because of potential leaking risks. I just had to laugh and laugh and laugh because officially now NOTHING has gone right. I think it just might be time to burn it all down. 

Crocs and Socks

 

The only up side of this whole mangy mess is that I've finally convinced The Mister to wear his Crocs. I bought him a pair years and years ago and he never wore them. He likes his sheepskin slippers but they are bagged up for the duration. Crocs are easy to wash and kick off your feet as you go from shower to shower and from inside to out. He may not be a fan for life but I get a kick out of seeing him waddling around in his rubber soles and stripey socks.  

The How and the Why

 

Some of you asked how on earth did we manage to find ourselves in this itchy mess and I've had plenty of time now to think about how it all came about. First, I think when you have a little pampered frou frou lap dog like Pup vets don't think mange when they get itchy. It also didn't help that I would bathe her before I took her in for testing. I was washing the mites off. 

What they also don't know is that we live in a dirty old decaying forest that is populated with lots of creepy critters that spend a lot of time walking all over the yard especially at night. 

The biggest issue is this I think. Right before the pandemic, the vet changed the outdoor cats from Revolution to Vectra because one had some hair loss on his neck where the medicine is applied. Revolution is the only flea med that kills mites and fleas. The indoor cats always only ever got a dose or two of Advantage during the summer and fall months. I thought fleas were the only thing I had to worry about. Ha. 

Then there was the remodel. For three years we had the floors covered in plastic which probably was a great breeding ground for who knows what. It's probably not a coincidence that we were all attacked when we pulled it up and started to put down the new floor. 

It's a darn good thing I have a significant cat allergy because no matter what I have always vacuumed every day. EVERY. DAY.  Always have. I also cover their beds and the furniture and change those linens everyday and keep all of them out of the bedrooms and off the furniture. I can't imagine how much worse this might have been if I didn't. It's still pretty bad as it is.