Update

Alright, I've slacked the last few days on posting. Things have been quite busy, now I have time to try and catch up!

Sunday was my last day out at Finley. I've decided that I'm going to start penciling in birdwatching expeditions once a week (once a month at least). Birdwatching is good for the soul. Finley had less birds than usual, but still more than EE Wilson. I find this ponderous. There are more big trees near the survey sites at EE Wilson, but there seems to be less birds. Maybe the management strategies affect the number of birds. It'll be interesting to see the data once it has been cataloged. I think the best part of the day was listening to about four great-horned owls hooting at each other in the forest to the west. Great-horned owls have been everywhere lately it seems, chatting me up. A barn owl made a brief appearance as I pulled onto the road to Finley. It was erratic and made worry that something had happened to Grandma Betty. I made some phone calls and she's okay. Later that afternoon I woke up from a nap with Freyja's belly in my face. It was covered in scabs (from her itching) and bright pink. I got to investigating and found a flea. There was no flea dirt, no sign of fleas other than the one lonely flea running across her skin. I grabbed it and threw it into some soapy water. Soap breaks the tension in the water surface, making the flea sink. If regular water is used the flea can actually jump out! We immediately went to the co-op and bought a mix of 3 parts eucalyptus, 2 parts tea tree and 1 part peppermints Dr. Bronner's (thanks to the bulk soap isle). We also bought the Castor and Pollux herbal flea collars. They are toxin free, using penneyroyal, eucalyptus, rue, and some other herbs that fleas don't like. After bathing Moose there were maybe five fleas in the water. His water was also still clear enough that I could see through it. Freyja's bath produced so much funk that I couldn't see my feet! A few fleas could be seen floating on the water, there was a whole pine needle (must have been buried in her coat) and a small scrap of fabric! I know she has a lot of hair but would never have guessed that it would hold so much.

Monday we took Hobbit to the zoo. There is a new baby elephant but we didn't get to see him because the line was quite long. Being Labor Day weekend it was extremely crowded, we had to take a shuttle to get there because the zoo parking was full. There weren't many people in the "Africa" part of the zoo, so we spent quite a bit of time watching the animals and enjoying some breathing room. We still didn't get to see the Anaconda. I can't figure why they have a sign but don't have it in the exhibit. I'm not even sure why I want to see one so bad. After the zoo we stopped at Whole Foods for some shopping. It's a good thing we don't actually live near Whole Foods because I'm sure we would go broke! While there we acquired some cedarwood oil, because fleas don't like cedar. At home we applied the oil to Freyja's skin, between her shoulders and directly above her tail.

Tuesday I investigated homeopathic remedies for fleas, because Freyja was still itchy and we were worried they may still be lurking. We discovered that vacuuming every day for a week, then once a week for a month should get rid of any fleas/flea larvae living in the carpet. I broke out the vacuum and chased the dogs around the house with it. Well, I didn't chase them but I'm sure they'd tell you otherwise. We'll bathe Freyja again sometime this week and reapply the cedarwood oil. If you should ever need to do flea treatments for your dog the homeopathic book I have recommends the following: 1)Do not use flea treatment chemicals, they'll only reduce the health of your pet, making them ultimately more susceptible to flea infestation. 2)Any shampoo you use will work for flea treatment if you work the pet's hair into a lather and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before thoroughly rinsing. 3) Use cedar shaving beds, the fleas won't live in them. 4) Use a flea comb on your dog everyday for a week or so, to ensure any eggs that may have been laid are being removed (though the eggs actually fall off and hatch in your carpet, pet beds, under couches, etc). 5) Keep your pet healthy (that's actually the number one suggestion) because unhealthy pets are more susceptible than healthy pets. All of our efforts seem to be working. Freyja is still itchy, but when isn't she? Her scabs are going away and her skin is no longer irritated. I forgot to mention the garlic. Garlic has only proven effective against fleas in about 25% of dogs taking it, but we figure it won't hurt them so it's worth a try. Their breath smells like garlic powder when they're done eating because they lick all of the residue out of their bowls.

Julie and I also had our final for Ecology and History of the Columbia River Gorge. It was a good class but the professor isn't very organized. His instructions are also pretty vague, leaving a lot of room for error. Now I'm free to work on sewing and my survey. Ugh, my survey. The vegetation portion is killing me. I have to hand sketch all of the maps, then randomly select 1mx1m grids to be the center of a larger 5mx5m square. It is a lot of work. September 15-19 I have a 10am-5pm class on Native American Resource Use. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

In my continual quest for something to boost my immune system and digestive tract I have found something that seems to be working. It's a little expensive but if I continue to feel as good as I do it'll be worth it. I have tried the Fruits of the Earth (FOE), Vitamin C and the Vitamineral Green. The FOE and Vitamineral Green have large quantities of probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals all from organic fruits and vegetables and all bioavailable. The powder works well in my smoothies. If I continue taking it (not long term, too expensive) I'll stick with the Vitamineral Green, I eat most of the fruits in the FOE in my smoothies already! Another option would be to eat more leafy greens. I LOVE leafy greens, but seem to be the only one so we aren't likely to eat more anytime soon.