Luna's Baublebilities

I woke to an interesting surprise this morning , , which I will tell you about in a minute. First, let me remind you that a couple of weeks ago, I featured a product from Twin Birch Bath and Body and mentioned that it might be time to get some Shake! Dry Doggy shampoo for my Zig-wiggy because Bry has been complaining that he is getting stinky.

I tend to disagree. Ziggy is a clean dog - he hasn't rolled in the mud or played with anything rotten or hiked through a swamp or tangled with a skunk lately. He just smells like a dog.

I like dog smell. Little Puppy smell is one of the best possible smells in the world, in my opinion, but I had an unusual childhood. I spent a great deal of my pre-school childhood - most of it, in fact, living at my paternal grandparents' home. There were rarely any other children to play with but there were always 5 or 6 dogs around the house and at least one batch of pups a year. If I was really lucky, there would be two batches of puppies at a time! I woke each morning to a joyful gathering of doggie tongues and snouts and paws and tails waiting for me outside my bedroom door. I don't think my feet ever actually touched the stairs on the way down - they just sort of swept me along on their backs. I played and cuddled with dogs inside and outside all day long. Dog smell is good and I prefer the company of dogs to that of most humans. A house without a dog is like a mausoleum, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, as a concession to the Holiday spirit, I agreed that Ziggy needed a bath. I don't like to wet bathe Ziggy in the winter because he has so very little fur on his belly and he generally resists bathing anyway. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a Shepherd/Boxer mix to stay in a tub of water? Ziggy can leap straight up about 3 feet in the air without any warning whatsoever and land wherever he wants to in the room. Bathtime is very messy.

So I bought the Dry Doggie shampoo and we gave it a go. Ziggy had to sniff the bottle of powder and seemed to find the contents agreeable because he stood patiently while I sprinkled it on him and rubbed it in. Then we waited a few minutes and brushed his coat with a comb. Boy, does he love to be combed! Mollly must not have been doing a thorough job lately because I combed and combed and when I thought I was done, he has stayed and leaned against my legs looking up at me until I combed some more.

He does smell sweeter now (sort of an outdoorsy, herbal scent) but the really amazing thing is how soft his fur is. He feels like a puppy! As he has aged, his fur has gotten a bit coarse along his back but today his coat is shinier and softer than it has been since he was young. So, happy Ziggy not only smells more agreeable to those who do not think that dog smell is the best smell in the world, he is also nicer to touch.

He must be feeling younger on the inside as well, because he had a great, victorious adventure in the early morning hours today.

We have been growing a great monster of a mouse here. I think Ziggy has been raising it, actually - he is rather messy with his food and gets it behind the fridge and the cupboard all the time. Lately, he has taken to barking and sniffing at little corners and under the piano and behind the stove. If you say "mousie," to him, he will jump up and start barking and snuffling and whining all over the house. So we knew one was here, and that it was big, so we put little "mice cube" traps out in hopes of catching it safely. We hadn't had any luck, though, which seemed strange - the traps usually work quite quickly.

I had to come downstairs around 5 this morning and as I stepped down the last stair, a large mouse shaped shadow scurried across the floor.

Actually, it bounded. The floor shook. It was a big mouse. I was worried that it might not be a mouse, it was so big.

Ziggy had been sleeping but as soon as he head the pounder-patter of big-little feet, he jumped up and gave chase. He missed it the first time around but the mouse must have been either stupid or bold or too big to squeeze into his favorite hiding space because I head a great commotion in the living room after I went back to bed. The was a great deal of scuffling, some barking and thumping and then things settled down.

When I got up to get Maxx ready for school, I turned on the light downstairs and saw the carnage left behind. There was blood all over the couch and scattered throughout the room. The mouse monster was dead on the floor. Ziggy was so proud!

The thing was a good 6 inches long NOT counting the tail and weighed a full 4 ounces after significant blood loss. That mouse represented more protein than many third world families get in a week.

It was not a rat - it had a nice, furry tail and was built & colored like an average field mouse - just a really, really well fed field mouse. The reason that the Mice Cube traps hadn't worked is because the thing was far to big to have fit inside one. The idea of catching a monster like that one with such a trap is laughable! It took a bold, leaping dog to catch that mousie!

Today I had better re-inspect my food storage to make sure that Mousie and his possible family have not also been eating away at that and then I need to paint 2 more scarves, cure and embellish 6 other scarves, post new products at Goblins Market and make Peas & cheese for tonight's Christmas party.

And make a special snack for my mouse-slayer.