All is well - almost.

Conditions at 6:00 - light rain and 12*
Expected later - more rain and 17*





A big Happy Birthday to Brenda today!

Last year she was quite surprised when I called her on her birthday. She and Bernie were on their way to the States that day and she had no idea how I knew. But the calendar on the wall in her kitchen has the birthday and anniversary of everyone in the community. It's quite a wealth of information!

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The good news is I have water again. The bad news is it's not enough to wash the smell of skunk off Cooper. Fortunately it's not a direct hit, just a slight offensive odour. But it still smells. Yesterday morning I let him out at 5:30 as usual and he was outside for quite a while. When I let him in I could smell that he'd been into something but I couldn't quite identify it. But then, my sense of smell is poor at the best of times. Last night when Brenda and Bernie came over to meet up with Raymond, they identified the fragrance right away.

After searching the internet for remedies, it appears there are several but most have comments from people who say they worked and others who say they don't. After the water was up and running again, I gave him a bath with dish soap, and it did help but only ever so slightly. I talked to our groomer and she didn't highly recommend anything but said if it's not too bad, it will just go away on it's own. I can't imagine if it was a direct hit. From some of the accounts that I read online, it sounds like it could be a pretty nasty situation.

Bernie says that there are lots of skunks around this time of year, looking for grubs. It seems they do this twice a year - spring and fall. So needless to say this morning when I let him outside I went with him and he was on a leash. I don't want to push my luck!

Last night when I went upstairs to bed, he seemed to know right away he wouldn't be allowed in my room. He immediately went and laid down at the end of the hall and when I closed the door there was not a peep out of him, which is highly unusual if he can't get into the bedroom to claim his usual spot at the foot of the bed.

I feel ever so official this morning. I'm wearing my Honda shirt for the first time. It's a nice shirt but it's a white long sleeve dress shirt type of garment, that will be a nuisance to care for. I'm going to see if I can track down a source for golf type shirts that I can get to wear. It will make getting ready for work in the morning so much easier when I never have to think about what to wear to work. I think it also adds a bit of professionalism as well. Yesterday I was sent out to pick up a cheque from a customer and she had no way of knowing that I was from Honda, other than my say so. It would have been better, I think, for her to know that I was actually from Honda and not some stranger coming in and picking up her money.

It's cooler this morning and going to only be a high of 13 tomorrow so I might need to light a fire again tonight to take the chill off.