Sunday night... discovered my enormous indoor cat, Big Dude, has fleas!! How does an indoor cat get fleas??? According to the vet we could have brought them in on our shoes... a likely scenario, as we take our shoes off right as we come into the house and the Dude does like to sit there on the cool tile. Sunday evening I did something really really stupid... I gave the Dude a bath. Well, I'm not sure you could really call it a bath... we wrestled while the water ran and I tried to soap and rinse him. The whole process lasted less than 2 minutes. I wasn't sure who was going to have the first heart attack, him or me. He still hasn't forgiven me for it. I washed every thing in the house that wasn't nailed down... I've sprayed all of the rest of the stuff. I put Frontline on the Dude. The situation has improved but it isn't totally remedied. I still catch him scratching now and then and when I've wiped him down I've found a dead flea or two...ugh!!!! Oh, I forgot to mention.... I HATE HATE HATE bugs!!! Just writing this paragraph has made me itchy...
Monday morning... I notice that even though the AC has been running all night the house is no cooler in the morning than when I went to bed.... it is Labor Day... a holiday... not willing to pay extra to get someone out to look at it. Called Tuesday morning and the guy I've used before came and put 4 lbs. of coolant into the unit. Can't find any leaks. I had the same scenario 3 years ago when I moved in... low coolant, no leak to be found. He did clean out the AC coils and checked out the furnace so I'm good to go if it ever gets cold again.
Tuesday and Wednesday ... the normal running around.
Wednesday night... stomach feeling a little queasy.
Thursday ... didn't sleep all night because of stomach and other digestive problems... had to pass on going to a quilt show in Indiana... darn.
Which brings us to Friday... today is good ... but it is only noon. It is a week like this that makes me thankful that I know how to knit... it calms the nerves and you have something to show for it...
Another pair of Frankensocks done... these have a nice Fall-ish feel to them. Lots of Opal and bits of Regia and Drops Fabel and other unidentified yarns.
Several of you have left comments regarding having so many ends to weave in... here is a picture of the inside of the last sock ....
By using yarns that are self striping I get a lot more stripey-ness with less ends to weave in. Opal yarns are known for their stripey-ness and their mock Fair Isle patterns. A lot pattern for very little work... I like that ... A LOT!!!
So my hope for today is to finally get my house decorated for Fall. The temps are suppose to come down this weekend as last night it rained cats and dogs. I know it isn't officially Fall but I am so ready for it.
Hope that your week went well and that a lovely weekend is coming your way!
happy knitting-
carol fun
Love how fast you knit those socks. We had the same problem with our air conditioner on 2 occasions. The AC guy was stumped and just added coolant. The second time they finally figured out it was something called (sp? the shrader valve-kind of like on a bike tire?) was defective and slowly leaked coolant all year long. They put in new valves and we haven't had a problem since (going to go knock on wood now) Annie
ReplyDeleteI am getting a collection of odd bits of left over sock yarn. Contemplating a scrappy blanket throw. But I like how you are using all your bits too!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your end process, timing, and photo of the frankensocks. It sounds tedious, but so worth it when you consider the unique look, and the thrift (if using your own scraps).
ReplyDeleteAnd cats surely know how to hold a grudge, don't they. A dog will say 'all's forgiven' as soon as he gets a treat, but you never know when that cat's gonna go for 'pay back'!
By the way, I wasn't disparaging BUYING frankensock kits. I always think other people's scraps are more interessting than mine. Ooh, NEW....SHINY....I'm like that.
ReplyDeleteAt least your cat didn't throw up a hairball on your latest project like Kaja's! In a previous life, our indoor cats got fleas; apparently we brought them in on shoes, like you said. So after spraying everything in sight, I put cat-appropriate flea collars on both of them. Never had another problem.
ReplyDeleteYou are so amazing!!! Socks that would take me months to knit are finished in a week at your house. I'm just shakin' my head. . . So sorry about the fleas. GASP! It reminds me of the first time I read "All Creatures Great and Small" and he returned home from house call full of fleas. I had never heard of such a thing before and it made me shiver. Hope you've been able to get rid of them all.
ReplyDeleteI literally pray we never get a flea problem here with the poodles, as 13 year old Murphy has seizures if he is treated with flea medications. What would we do?!?!
ReplyDeleteOur two indoor cats have had fleas this year , really bad. Sprayed the house three times and treated them, but they aren't all gone. I haven't been bitten for a couple of weeks , so I'm cautiously hopeful of winning the battle , but I do think the fleas are getting immune to the treatments. Hope you can get yours undder control .xx
ReplyDeleteLove the latest pair of Frankensocks. I'm still working on pair #1 about halfway through the second sock. Didn't get any pictures taken to link up this time. Hopefully by the next OTN, I will have them finished! So sorry about the fleas. We no longer have our furbabies, but I worried all the time about them bringing in fleas. They loved being outside whenever they could. We do not have a pristine landscape or grass, so I'm sure they would have had ample opportunity to get them. Hope next week is better.
ReplyDeleteOh dear Carol, It is Sunday night and I'm finally reading me blogs. I certainly hope things have gone much better. My DD got fleas from her cat or at least got bitten by them. A pain, I'm sure. Makes me just a bit glad for my cat allergies, actually I would have really enjoyed a pet.Well I am sending good thoughts your way! I hope they arrive tonight!
ReplyDeleteOMG! We had almost the same week only different problems. I got sick too. Love my little germ packer grands but gosh, they do not need to share. And so I knit. I wish I knit faster. You have me hooked. Hope things have turned for the better and you have a fabulous week.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it would help, but our son just bought a puppy and the vet gave him a shot for fleas...news to me, but maybe there is a similar shot for cats?
ReplyDeleteCute socks! Have a great week ♥
ReplyDeletesummerdaisycottage.blogspot.com
Hope you've been able to get rid of the fleas..I had them in the house one time and had to wind up 'bombing' the house! It was awful. LOVE the socks! So pretty!!
ReplyDeleteCarol, are you keeping well? I hope you're good and sewing up a storm :)
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