String of Purls

 

We got a puppy on Saturday.  She's only 6 weeks old and her name is Celeste.  Celeste is a Siberian husky-type of dog, and what that kind of dog is doing so close to the equator is beyond me.  But here she is and we have her.  She's named for her eyes, which are medium blue right now.  Her body is gray and light tan, with a black tail tipped with white.  One ear flops over and one stands erect.  She's a screamer right now, and wish I could say that I enjoy her, but until she gets past that screaming screeching all night phase, I can't say that I really enjoy any of her.  She's also so young that she has no idea about potty training.  It has come to her that she needs to poop on the papers, but hopefully the papers are close by.  She came fully infested with fleas and ticks, which made my skin crawl!  After asking for advice from an herbalist friend, I removed the ticks with a pair of tweezers.  She had one on her face and 5 in her ears.  So, now I know about ticks.  The advice said not to heat them, not to apply alcohol or nail polish, because this causes them to empty their stomachs back into the dog or person, and that is what causes Lyme's disease.  I had no idea.  I thought that the conventional wisdom said to get the tick to back out on their own, so make the environment uncomfortable enough  for them that them back out and then dispose of the tick.  That has apparently been wrong all these years.

 

The next battle was with fleas.  This is the first time I've actually SEEN fleas crawling around on a dog.  Again, the herbalist friend had some words of advice.  Use rose geranium essential oil with witch hazel extract in a spritzer and spray the dog and her bed.  I couldn't find essential oils anywhere.  So, we bought a little envelope of flea powder and sprinkled her lightly and sprinkled her bed, too.  She has diarrhea today, but hopefully that will change in a little while.  She also doesn't eat very solid foods yet, so that could be a reason for the loose stools.  Anyway, the fleas seem to be gone for the time being.  I am so WHUUPPED this morning, after a night of pup screams, I hope this ends soon.  Most people give away their dogs after they're not cute little puppies anymore, but I have grown to enjoy an adult dog that knows the house rues and is devoted to its family.  Can't wait for this girl to grow up and be a friend instead of a reason to be cranky in the morning.

There is a McDonald's a couple of miles from our building. I have wanted to try something from there for a long time, just to know if there are any differences between Mcdonald's in the US and in other countries. And there is, at least in the Big Macs. I LOVE Big Macs. They are my one McD weakness. When I go to McDonald's, which is almost never, I get a Big Mac. And that jingle from the old ads on TV always runs through my head. In fact, when I was doing my stint at the McDonald's in the Cheyenne Walmart, I would sing that little song to myself as I made the sandwiches...two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion on a sesame seed bun...

So last Saturday, when we went inside the restaurant, just to see what they had, I immediately looked for my favorite. Yeay! There it was! In English! A great big "BIG MAC" along side the McDoble (I think this is a double cheese burger) and the McPollo (McChicken). I ordered it, mouth watering. Omar and I sat down at a table to try it...he'd never eaten McDonald's anything before. So we shared it...and...it wasn't the same. It just didn't taste like a Big Mac. I took my bite and then, with my discerning palate, ran that little song through my mind. Two all beef patties (yes, there were two beef patties on the sandwich), special sauce (yes, the Mac sauce was on it, but...), lettuce (yup, but not shredded like at home), cheese (of course, there was that same American cheese; it even smelled the same), pickles (but just a few), onions (skimpy on those, but freeze-dried and reconstituted as always) on a sesame seed bun (the bun was good).

It was the sauce...the "special sauce" just wasn't special...my little jingle ended halfway through the second rendition.

It had a vinegary taste to it and wasn't as creamy as it should have been. I think it may have been old. Omar took his bite, made a face, and handed the sandwich back to me. I finished the sandwich, he ate the fries.  Aside from all that, the fountain coke was mixed to strong, without enough fizz, and although the meal was a medium, they gave us a small sized cup.  Hmmm...

Then we went over to the chicken place and ordered a quarter of a roasted chicken meal. I wasn't hungry enough to eat much now, so I shared the fries and he ate the chicken. It tasted just as expected.

I don't think I can talk Omar into passing under the Golden Arches again.

I've added a link to my other blog on Blogspot.com.  It's in the lists of knitting blogs.  Or you can use this link to reach it:  http://fuzzknitter.blogspot.com   You'll see this post, and several other different ones.  Somethings I tend to duplicate, others are unique.  Maybe I just feel strongly enough about something that I feel the need to rant twice. 

 

 

In Peru, everything has its own time.  Things happen when they happen, it seems.  I'm a person who is habitually early.  I get tense when I'm late for anything, so I always make sure I arrive 10 - 20 minutes early wherever I go.  If it means that I sit in the car and wait, or if it means that I stand around for a little while, that's okay with me.  Omar, though, is one of those people who never arrive on time.  Maybe he just has that sense of Peruvian timing, where one arrives "fashionably late".  I have a sister like that, too, but she is so busy in her life that she is constantly running to catch up.  If she would just leave the house a little bit earlier, she wouldn't be running so much.  My dad is an early bird, like me.  My whole family seems to be at odds with time and how they manage it.  We drive one another crazy.

 

I've added a couple of photos of Omar and friends at Phil's birthday party I went to.  That's Omar playng the guitar.  The rest of the men were singers.

Today is a new day.  After my weekend of food poisoning, I'm glad to be up and around again.  My body is achy and tired, but otherwise, I'm MUCH better!

 

There don't seem to be many bloggers around anymore.  When I first started this blog, I could pull up a page of updated blogs and there were dozens!  Now, when I pull up the updated page of blogs, there are only a few.  And nearly all of the blogs that I used to visit are gone or haven't have a post for months.  I wonder if many have become disillusioned with the way MSN Spaces has panned out or if the simply have lost interest in posting for the time being.  I know I went through my rough period of life, and couldn't bring myself to write about it.  Or...maybe others simply have found other blog providers that aren't trying to constantly confuse their clients with changes and updates that we didn't ask for.

 

I don't know...as it is, I do more reading and posting on Blogger.com than on MSN Spaces.  I feel isolated here, because I can't find many other bloggers here.  Disappointing, but I suppose that is reality.

 

On a lighter note, I have almost finished a crocheted dish towel.  I need it!  I need several!  In a couple of days, I might have a couple more.  Yeay!