More on this fuzzy fellow later. Click to embiggen.
My sister has been asking what Piper looks like now, at the age of four months. He's gotten a lot taller:
but mostly he has become kind of a handful. You know how puppies chew, right? Well, Piper doesn't chew so much as he eats. The other day he was lying beside me in the living room when i heard a funny swallowing sound. Sticking out of his muzzle were 2 inches of a 12 inch collar. I had taken it off him earlier and put it in my cardy pocket, and he pulled it out and swallowed most of it before I caught him.
Dealing with that was disgusting, really (kind of foamy-slimy), but the larger issue is that we have to be awfully vigilant about this dog. Stupid animal has a death wish.
Our house has also become home to another kind of pet: honeybees have set up a hive in our crawl space, between the floor and the insulation. I first noticed them coming and going out their front door, a gap in one of the wall vents to the outside...
We have called the local beekeepers' association, and they gave us the names of five beekeepers who would probably love to come and collect the hive. I don't know how long it will take but the bees are not bothering us - I quite like having them there actually.
However, on Saturday Emily fell down into a patch of clover in the front yard (our lawn is about 70% clover now) directly on top of a bee. She got a bad sting in her leg, which got red and hot very quickly. Within a few minutes she had an alarming network of welts all over her calf.
My mother is anaphylactic and carries an Epi Pen for bee stings, and I was a bit concerned about it as Emily has never been stung before. I had homeopathic Apis in the house, so I gave her three of them within ten minutes of the sting. The welts disappeared completely, and by the next morning all that was left was a tiny little stinger hole.
So I'm definitely keeping that remedy in the house. It's part of my growing Family Kit. So far I keep Arnica (for trauma, bruising), Apis (for stings and bites), Aconite (for panic), Influenzinum (flu), Hepar Sulph (for earaches, congestion and infections) and Ignatia (for worry and stress).
The last thing I wanted to show you is Charlotte's Christmas stocking. Remember this?
I have picked it up again, realising uneasily that it is halfway to Christmas and I've barely touched it. I really need to get it done this year, but at this rate I might not make it. I'll have to sacrifice some knitting to the cause, eventually, but I'd like to finish the Cap Shawl first.
Maybe I'll show you guys a picture of this thing every week, and if there isn't enough progress you can set up a hue and cry in the comments to get me going.
Now I'm off to clean up that coffee table...it's moved to the top of my priority list because I want to knit for a while and I need a place to set my teacup.
15 comments:
Oh, the poor little nederbee. I have exactly the same Remedy Kit for our family, though we haven't had a bee sting for ages.
The stocking is looking grand.
Aaah! Halfway to Christmas....Ah!
Add cantharis for burns. Worked like a charm on my nephew.
Yikes! Glad the remedy worked, I'm jotting down the names of the ones you listed.
My dog is an eater, too. He ate, not chewed, half the linoleum in our kitchen while we were on vacation. Our neighbor was dog sitting and just let him eat the floor! Needless to say, she's never dog sitting again.
I don't mind admitting I'm a little nervous about that stocking. I've been thinking to myself "I wish I could contribute on those stockings"
Mary Lou, thank you! I've never used cantharis before but I'll pick some up.
Gena, I laughed out loud...several times.
Ox, the stocking nerves are getting everybody. Even Dad asked to be taught to x-stitch so he can help me out. I think I'll assign him the girls' gift tags - they and I are the only ones without them.
I am sorry for poor little Emily's sting but how cool is it that you have HONEY BEES! living in your home. HONEY BEES!!! That is the coolest.
Great pictures by the way. Piper looks beautiful.
a) Knowing that Piper has entered the mischievous-little-devil stage does not in any way impair my horrible crush on him. In fact, I'd say it's that much worse. What a handsome fellow he is growing into.
b) I have a bee story for you. Two weeks after I'd bought a house with my then-sweetheart, while we were still sleeping in the attic room (our bedroom downstairs needed work), I woke up one morning to discover a yellowjacket crawling on me. I was so startled and sleepy that I grabbed Boywich and woke him up with an inarticulate cry of, "Argh, b-b-Bumble!" We had, it turned out, a large nest of them in our attic, and we had to get them exterminated, but ever after that, all forms of bee became known as Bumbles.
Interesting list of remedies. I think we all have our bits and pieces that we rely on in case of emergencies ;)
I love the stocking, and will definetively look out for it in future posts!
i will be in canada before you have the chance to think. i love your posts.
I'm with Bethro - springing the whole half-way to Christmas thing makes me scream too!
A got stung by a bee yesterday, but luckily no welts.
The previous dog was an eater. 5 foot leash once in the back of the car. I thought he would die, but up it came all neatly folded accordian-like from his gaping mouth. I know what that foamy stuff looks like, let me tell you! Keep him away from fish nets. Just trust me on that one.
knititch, thank you so much. That means a lot.
Lizbon, that's a great story.
Beekeeper was here today, assessed, and reported that they are bumbles, not honeys.
Disappointing, a little.
ohmigod, actual Bumbles! I'm so excited. But disappointing that you can't sell your invaders for their sweet, sweet nectar.
Ah, dogs that like to ingest inedible objects - I have one of those. Thankfully, he outgrew it, but boy was that a lot of vigilance. The sting sounds scary, but what you used seemed to work - I need to get some of that - I'm allgeric, but no epi pen - i've never even thought of homepathic remidies - thanks.
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