My new fridge came on Wednesday. I love that new fridge smell. Even though it looks kind of naked and pristine, I feel like waiting a bit before I stick magnets and art and stuff on it.
The plumber came on Wednesday too. The bathtub was draining slowly. He used a plunger and a mechanical snake and an electric snake, and nothing worked. He was reluctant to do much more than that because the pipes are old and rusty and he didn’t want to puncture them.
You’ve heard about canaries in the mineshaft? Birds have extremely sensitive lungs, and cannot handle breathing fumes or chemicals. Their tiny little lungs hemorrhage and they drown in their own blood. Things like overheated teflon, as well as most household cleaners are fatal to birds. It scares me to think I could be making blueberry pancakes one morning, and all my birds might drop dead from the fumes of the non-stick pan.
Anyway, the plumber was strictly forbidden from using any chemicals, so he brought me a can of Bio-Clean, which is (as I understand it) dehydrated bacteria. You mix it with lukewarm water and it reanimates the bacteria. They start multiplying and you pour it down the drain. You do this every night until the bacteria successfully eats whatever organic material is clogging your drain. Hair can take 60 days or more. You have to be patient. I am being patient.
In other news, Duncan has suddenly acquired a serious matting problem. He used to get the occasional mat, which I would cut out. But all of a sudden he has a heavily matted coat on the entire back half of his body. I’m wondering if it has anything to do with switching to a low-protein diet because of his kidney disease? Does anybody know? I’m baffled.
I’m hooked on Pinterest. I absolutely love that site. It’s a personal virtual visual smorgasbord. You create your own categories and then collect pictures of things you love, which are then displayed all together on giant pages. I have categories for art, quilts, rooms, colours, jewelry, all kinds of things. I’m discovering I like certain things that I didn’t know about. For example, I can see at a glance that sea foam green and yellow and grey are my favourite colours. I didn’t know that!
I’m also really drawn to clean, uncluttered spaces, which you would never know from looking at my messy, cluttered house. You can collect your pictures from other pinterest people’s favourites, or from anywhere else on the web. You can follow your friends’ pinterests too.
That’s about it for now. I’m going to go declutter and clean now.
These pix were all obtained on Pinterest.
I don’t know for sure that the matting is a problem stemming from the low-protein, but I know when I moved Mabel to a high/mostly protein diet a few years ago, her fur EXPLODED (grew a ton, not litteral explosion) and she stopped matting.
Have you tried a Furmanator on him? We bought one for our dog, but it’s been more beneficial on the cat. They’re expensive, but worth every penny, in my opinon.
I made Annie get a pinterest account. I love it too!! and now my break is over and I need o go tidy up kids books so I can vacuum our itty bity library.
Oh and I never knew i liked grey before pinterest! who knew!
The pinterest thing is funny eh? Despite basically being a minimalist, I’m apparently attracted to pictures of homes loaded with clutter. Maybe because the pictures rarely show the dust and pet hair
My big Barney cat – could be Duncan’s twin – is in kidney failure & has been on KD for ~six months now. Because it’s higher in fat & carbohydrates and lower in protein, he’s gained weight. His coat (long, like Duncan’s) is gorgeous, and no mats. I comb him fairly often, but even so it seems he has fewer mats now than at other times in his life when he’s been more prone to matting. Other variables to consider: the weather (they shed in the spring, fluff up in the fall) and his general health. Is he spending more time just laying around? The inactivity itself can contribute to matting, and grooming falls off when they don’t feel well. Good luck!
Sorry to say, but my beautiful cat got very matted before he passed. He would not let me comb him but for years he did not need combing and he was a long hair cat. I just enjoyed the time he had left and felt badly he was matted. He liked that better than being combed. Good luck
Fergus was matting in the same place this last six months or so..rob thinks it is because he couldn’t reach back there anymore
Be careful with Pinterest…. Pinterest is the reason I don’t blog anymore! I have no time to blog…. I am hooked. I now have a renewed interest in cooking, crafts, clothes, design… I have Boards full of ideas! I love it. I really have to get back to blogging though..!