Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Assorted and Sundry Goings On

Shayla finished up Spring term at the BYU and came home.
Her mission call finally caught up with her:
Illinois, Chicago West

Some cute grandbabies came for  the Fourth of July (see above)
(and below)


Shane had THREE Birthday Celebrations...

With the fam

the ward

and his friends--they had the cake late at night and I missed getting a picture,
so you will just have to take my word for it.



We went to Palmyra for the pageant.
Wow.
Loved it!

It's exhausting having that much fun with your family.


A nice stranger took this picture of me and Shayla in front of the Palmyra Temple.
The stained glass is exquisite.


Shayla had a birthday while we were there


We visited the sites around town. A dream come true for me.
 Since I was a little girl in Sunday School learning about church history,
 I wanted to visit all the special places where our history took place. 



Smith Family log home where they were living at the time of the First Vision:

The Sacred Grove




The hearth where the plates were hidden:




E.B. Grandin's Print shop--the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed here:


Shayla had just taken a church history class at the Y so she was a
great traveling companion to have along:
  enthusiastic and informative. 
Sam and Shane were 15 and 17 year old boys--
but hopefully we made some memories
that will mean more to them later.


We are sewing, daily sewing.
Countless skirts of modest length.
Some of the mission prep going on around these parts:



And in conclusion. Our Sam earned himself a scholarship to the BYU.
All of his studiousness paid off.
He was to send a thank you note to the scholarship committee with a picture of himself.

This is the one Shayla picked out for him.


And there you have it. 
Gale Family madness is an ongoing phenomenon so I will keep you posted.


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

How to De-Skunk a Dog: A Tutorial

Here is an old post that I never got around to posting. But as of last night it became relevant again.
Gunner:0
Skunks:2
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Today I thought I would share some wisdom gained through experience. Very smelly experience.

I awoke as usual way before the crack of dawn to get two boys out of bed and ready for seminary. Gunner sleeps in Shane's room so he followed me down to the kitchen after I had prodded Shane out of his warm bed. I let the dog out as usual and opened the back gate to let him run and answer nature's call. It was pitch dark but this didn't stop Gunner from charging into the woods. I went in to get breakfast ready. I was standing at the stove when Gunner came charging into the kitchen and came to a halt right next to me. It took about three seconds for the choking smell of skunk to hit me and I realized Gunner had been sprayed. Luckily he didn't sit down or rub up against anything. I got him right back outside but the damage had been done. The smell was overpowering. When Sam and Shane came down for breakfast, they were gagging and choking and couldn't eat. It was my turn to drive the car pool so after a quick Google search for de-skunking a dog,  I had a list of things to get at the store on the way home.

The smell of skunk managed to infiltrate our clothes and then the car. Shane moaned from the back seat: "I'm already the new kid and a freshman loser, now I have to be the smelly kid too!"

We apologized to everyone as we picked them up and tried to keep fresh air circulating. I had to wait for seminary to get over and then take a group of kids to the school as well. This gave Gunner more time to stew in skunk juice. So my first bit of advice is this:

1. If you have a dog and there are skunks in your area,  keep some skunk remedy on hand. The sooner you get to the task of cleaning up the dog, the better.


By the time I finished taxi duty and stopped by the store, he had been soaking in the smell for about an hour and a half. I did check before I left to make sure it hadn't gotten in his eyes--luckily Gunner had closed his eyes or turned his head just in time to avoid that extra pain. If it gets in their eyes, they need to see a vet just FYI.

The combined wisdom of the internet pointed to hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixed with a bit of hand soap as the best remedy. This combination is supposed to break up the chemical bond of the skunk oil and wash it away. It is best to use fresh hydrogen peroxide (an unopened bottle) so that it's cleaning properties are at their peak. There was disagreement about whether to use Dawn dish washing or regular hand soap. Dawn is good for oil stripping but the hand soap supposedly works better with the other two ingredients. By the time we were finished, we had tried all of the above and then some many times over, so I can't say for sure which would be best.

Here's the recipe we used for round one: Hydrogen peroxide (24 oz bottle) 1/4 cup baking soda and 2 tsp hand soap (Softsoap Kitchen Hands odor neutralizing--it's what I had on hand but hey! "odor neutralizing" sounded promising!) 

2. I mixed the solution in a plastic bowl and poured it over him while rubbing it in. I let it soak in for 10 minutes. You should use rubber gloves while applying. 

I rinsed him off after the 10 minutes and then dried him as well. Luckily it was a warm, sunny day. 
I sniffed his fur and decided "lather, rinse and repeat" was a good idea.
I mixed up another batch of skunk remedy and reapplied. 


After the second round, he actually smelled like his old "wet dog" self. 
Funny how that smell seems so nice now....
 That is everywhere except right on his head and face. 
The scent of Essence Fleur de Skunk seems to be concentrated there.
So, when Shane got home, he mixed up a nice facial treatment of 
baking soda and Dawn dish soap.




Poor Smelly Dog


Still smelled. 

So, these are the other solutions we tried-- courtesy of the all-knowing internet:

Mint Mouthwash
Douche (yes that) (No, it didn't work)
Skunk Shampoo from PetCo
Nature's Miracle (I used this to wash the towels and our clothes and it did work for that)

I also mixed up some coconut oil and peppermint essential oil and rubbed that on his head.
It works for awhile, but the skunk scent eventually works it's way through. 


It got to the point where it was hard to rinse all the gunk from the various concoctions out of Gunner's fur. I told Shane to just toss him in the pool to give him a big rinsing and maybe the chlorine would help with the smell in the process. 

Although Gunner hates the pool, he didn't even fuss. I think he had been washed and scrubbed and rinsed so many times he didn't care anymore. He swam to the stairs, climbed out and shook off without a whimper.

Gunner had to be banished to the garage the first night after the incident. But after continuous attempts at fumigating him, either it got better or we have adjusted to the smell.  





Tuesday, July 2, 2013

In Honor of Independence Day: A Little Local History

(I love how the one wispy cloud in the sky looks like smoke coming out of the chimney)

I spent a quiet Sunday afternoon touring the Newtown Historical Society's headquarters. The Matthew Curtiss Jr. House built around 1750. 

This is the sampler of Mary Louise Clark, age 9. 
Made in July 1829


This one was done by Catharine E. Sawyer, in the 8th year of her age.
It says: "Behold my work see what I've done
Forget me not when I am gone"

A sweet baby cradle. 
Matthew Curtiss Jr. had 12 children and a later occupant of the house had 15 children
so the cradle was put to good use.

Matthew Curtiss lived at the time of the Revolution and the surrounding areas were strong and open abut their loyalty to  England and the crown. Newtown had a large group of Tories as well and they stayed active throughout the war. But Matthew Curtiss was elected an officer of the local militia and formed a company of militiamen. They collected food, clothing and other supplies for the Connecticut troops in the Continental Army. Connecticut was so effective in obtaining provisions that it became known as the "Provisions State". Even at Valley Forge, Connecticut troops did not suffer from lack of food and clothing that other troops did. On March 31, 1776 George Washington wrote Governor Trumbull from Valley Forge:
"Among the troops returning unfit for duty for want of clothing, none of your State are included. The care of your legislature in providing clothing and necessaries of all kinds for their men is highly laudable and reflects the greatest honor upon their patriotism and humanity."

Because of the strong patriotism in the new state and its concern about the lingering Toryism, in 1777 the General Assembly of Connecticut required that an oath of fidelity be taken by every officeholder and freeman in order to be accepted as an elector. The town records of Newtown show that the oath was first administered to a few men on August 25, 1777. Among the first was Matthew Curtiss Jr. who took the oath before the town clerk, swearing to "uphold and defend if need be with his life the cause expressed as set forth in the Declaration of Independence."

He and his father Matthew Curtiss Sr., were both admitted as electors in the independent State of Connecticut. The legislature authorized the replacement of loyalist Tory officers who had neglected to perform their duties.Matthew Curtiss Jr. was appointed Lieutenant of the 16th Regiment. Their militia were called out for local emergencies such as a British raid on the salt works in Greenwich. There was also an expedition into New York but they came back without seeing any action. The war officially ended in 1783 and Newtown and Lt. Curtiss returned to domestic activities.



The house is full of interesting artifacts from Matthew Curtiss' time up through the Civil War. I enjoyed a delightful afternoon learning about local history from docents dressed in historical clothing of the Colonial time. I loved getting to know more about our local history!
 It gives me such an appreciation for the people who were courageous enough to fight for Independence and Liberty.
Happy Fourth!



One last interesting side note:
Connecticut is now know as the "Constitution State" because:
 The Fundamental Orders of 1638-39 comprised the first written constitution in history. Though this claim has been disputed by some, it remains a landmark document. It is thought that many of the features of the Federal Constitution were drawn from this document. The General Assembly designated Connecticut "The Constitution State" in 1959.



Happy Birthday Scott!

 It has been awhile since I updated this little family scrapbook on the internet. I like to pop over here from time to time and look at our ...