Playing Catchup

The last month has been equal parts eventful and boring. My birthday celebrations with family were delayed because I got a stomach bug, and dinner and a show with friends got canceled entirely for the same reason.

The following weekend didn’t work for family birthday dinner because of scheduling, and after the stomach bug, I got a cold that hung on anyway. Because of that cold I had to cancel plans to visit Meg. Hurrumph.

After that second disappointing weekend I attended a big gala in order to shoot it for BU. Uncomfortable with the number of unmasked people, I kept my mask on all night. One of the nice things about shooting these events is the people who work them, and the fact that we are fed well. I sat down to eat dinner with the crew, and spent a solid half hour laughing and catching up with the person next to me.

That person texted the next day to tell me they tested positive. It’s the first time I’ve been identified as a close contact. So, I had to mask up for the next ten days and test at least half way through. By some miracle, I did not contract COVID. But it botched a third attempt at scheduling my birthday gathering.

“The wrapping paper on your gifts is yellowing” my dad told me.

“My friends are teasing me because I refuse to take down the decorations” Mom reported.

I was beginning to think we should just wait till my 47th. In fact, when we finally got around to celebrating and Christopher asked me “Which (birthday) is this?” I answered “47”

Nope. Still 46.

This past Friday we finally got together. A meal out and a fun ice cream cake from Meletharb’s which of course had to have something extra to it. Dad had to explain because the dash was supposed to be a plus sign…

It’s supposed to say “46 plus 20 days” ha!

We had a nice time talking about the broad range of things we talk about when we’re together, and we played a history game. We were all surprised to realize we didn’t know the Russians were the first to send a woman to space!

On Saturday I had Little over. I picked her up and we chatted on the way to the garden shop for supplies. In catching up, I told her about being a close contact, and how when my friend Christina thoughtfully came over to give me fresh bagels, Harlow ate my muffin off the coffee table.

“Which kind!?” Little asked.

I told her it was chocolate chip.

“Those are the best kind!” she exclaimed with sympathy, “Oh, Harlow did you dirty!”

(Which if you don’t know is how the kids these days say that someone’s done you wrong.)

Back at home, we made some bread knots out of pizza dough and experimented with making some mozzarella sticks in my new beloved air fryer. Dipped in egg, rolled in breadcrumb, baked on high. We learned a lower temperature for a bit longer would be best next time.

After a nice little lunch on the patio, we got to work…

I promise I actually helped. But it was really fun! Figuring out what we thought should go where!

Then, Saturday night I was relaxing on the couch when it hit me that Harlow had been outside alone for a rather long time. I’ve seen her chase bunnies in the yard so I’m a bit nervous that a rabbit might lay it’s babies and she may find it. So far I have not found any nests.

So I called to her and this is what came inside…

I was only mildly concerned that she’d gotten into a nest because she distinctly smelled like the soil Little and I had used in the pots earlier in the day. What in the world though! What had she been doing?! I went outside to investigate and found holes dug out of some of my pots!

I wondered, had she been digging up bulbs and eating them? I couldn’t find evidence of missing bulbs. What I did noticed was that the soil from the holes which were made was not dumped out onto the patio. It had gone somewhere.

Pretty sure it was inside by dog.

There was no way there are not chemicals of some kind in the potting soil we used, and I pulled out the bag of plant food we used and found “keep out fo reach of children and pets”. I wasn’t even going to bother to look into it any further. I went to the upstairs linen closet and got the hydrogen peroxide which, thankfully, I don’t often need. One part HP and two parts water into a water bottle. I took Harlow outside and dumped it down her gullet.

My biggest concern was her inhaling it and getting pneumonia, but I couldn’t just present this concoction to her and hope she’d drink it willingly. She sputtered and bubbled, but didn’t cough thankfully.

She did however puke up about two cups of bulb-free soil while I patted her back like she was a hung-over college kid praying to the porcelain gods. I felt so bad for doing this to her, but I’d rather make her get rid of it than risk her being poisoned.

After about twenty minutes she was done and we went back inside and she was fine. She didn’t even seem mad at me. Somehow she always seems to know that whatever I’m putting her through can be trusted.

Either that or she’s very dumb. I don’t think she’s dumb.

On Sunday, Shannon came over and we went into the city for some lunch, people watching, a walk, and a visit to see Immersive Frida! Dad and I went to see Immersive Van Gogh and while we liked it, we were both rather confused about the incorporation of gothic architecture in the actual projected presentation. This time, the entire presentation was Kahlo’s work, which was really nice. Though there was a section with Diego Rivera that I could have done without. I was there for Frida, not the dude everyone put her in the shadow of.

It was an all around exciting weekend!