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October 13, 2002
Domesticated
So, I was going to write an entry about how calm and content and relaxed I was feeling, having spent the past two days doing not much at all, and knowing I have tomorrow off work, but then I had an encounter with a skunk that could have been very unpleasant indeed. I went outside to have a cigarette, and did the usual check for skunks in the yard and slugs on the porch (it's not at all nice to step on one in your bare feet) and saw nothing amiss. While I was happily smoking and watching the rain, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and turned to see a rather large, fluffy skunk investigating the neighbors porch -- maybe three feet from me, and a little too close for my comfort. I turned to slip back inside, and tripped over the little grill my roommate put on the porch, making a very loud clang. The skunk whirled around and raised its tail, and I dove through the screen door so fast I hurt my shoulder. It didn't actually spray -- the yard doesn't smell skunky or anything -- but it was far too close, I think. I don't want to be posting entries asking for the best skunk-smell remedies, after all.
Other than fleeing from startled skunks, I've been lazy and domestic all weekend. Saturday I went to the library to pick up a book they were holding for me, and then went to the grocery store to buy stuff to make vegetable soup. It was cold and drizzly, and my umbrella decided to die halfway there, so I was damp and chilled when I got home. The soup took care of that, though -- it came out more stew-like, since it's so thick, and made enough that I'll be eating it all week. I spent the rest of the day working on the afghan I'm crocheting -- I just need to sew a few more of the squares together, and I'll be done. Today I woke up with the unexplained need to bake a pie, so I ventured back out into the rain to buy ingredients, and came home and baked a lovely apple pie. I'd never tried making a pie before, so I was pleased -- as was my roommate when I told him he needed to eat some of it, to save me from eating it all. Apple pie for breakfast tomorrow, yum...
Both cats somehow got shut in my bedroom when I went to bed last night, prompting a feline war of grand proportions. Cleo must have gotten shut out of J.'s room at some point, and I think she must have been hiding under my bed. Smoke ran in and hopped into her nest in the duvet when I went to bed, just like always, but a few minutes after I dozed off, she leapt off the bed and there was much yowling and hissing and shrieking. I had been asleep, so I was a bit groggy, and didn't turn on the light -- I just opened the door, flung one cat out into the hallway and the other onto the bed, and went back to sleep. Luckily I tossed the correct one out, and Smoke spent the rest of the night clinging to me. She's got a cut on one ear, but it's not too bad -- it doesn't seem to hurt, but I've been putting antibiotic ointment on it just in case. I haven't seen Cleo, but I told J. about it, and warned him to check her for scratches. They had been getting along better, but today they growled and spat at each other whenever they had the chance. Damn cats.
I'm off now to work some more on yet another project -- I dug out some pretty purple wool I bought ages ago, and am making a scarf for the 3WA craft fair. Hopefully I have enough, because I won't be able to get more. And I'm very happy that I have all day tomorrow to work on it!
(See, this is why I don't update more often. I'm completely boring!)
Posted by Mary Ellen at October 13, 2002 10:47 AM