Tick Time and Going Organic?
Happy Easter!
I'm finished complaining about the winter of 2009/10. We got through the month of March with zero snow to account for it which left me with not such a bad taste in my mouth after all.
Tammy and I are once again making trips to the dog park a regular part of our routine. We were dividing our time between Ritter Farms and Three Rivers/Cleary Lake but it appears Ritter has one big disadvantage working against it. Ticks. We took the pups there Thursday and later that night found that they were loaded with them. We're at 22 ticks and counting. I took a trip to the vet the next day and stocked up on Frontline. Frontline isn't a repellent nor does it get into your pet's bloodstream. The following is taken from their website:
"FRONTLINE Top Spot and Plus spread over the pet's body by a process called translocation. When applied, these products are gradually dispersed by the pet's natural oils, collecting in the oil glands in the skin. It is then "wicked" onto the hair over the next 30 days. The translocation process can take up to 24 hours to complete."
Fleas and ticks become infected with the poison and die within 18 hours of contact with a treated pet. It's not cheap when you've got 3 dogs to treat at $15 per pup per month but it's worth it to us. I know I can likely find it cheaper online but I don't mind the idea of paying a little more through my vet to increase their profits and keep them there for us.
Ritter Farms is a better park and I don't want to avoid going there. We never noticed a problem with ticks there last year so I'm hoping this is a temporary thing. We did get off the trail at one point as we trudged through some tall prairie grass to avoid some muck along the trail and that may be where we picked up the ticks.
Rachel got back from her mission trip to Texas last night. They spent a week in the town of Orange rehabbing a home that had been damaged from Hurricane Ike in the summer of 2008. She spent most of her time insulating and hanging sheetrock in the home of a woman in her 60s. She was very grateful for the help as she's been living in temporary housing since the storm and is longing to get back in her home.
Tammy and I got a feel during the week for what it's going to be like when she's off to college. We're definitely going to miss her presence but the digital world we live in will help keep us connected in ways that weren't imaginable not so many years ago.
I finally got the 4th of 6 panels done for our entertainment center over the weekend. The blue glass doesn't show up very well in the picture to the right. This photo gives a better idea of the colors being used. We hope to have the two remaining panels completed sometime next winter so we can then get busy dabbling in some other projects.
We watched Food, Inc. over the weekend. It's probably not the sort of movie you want to watch if you don't want to upset the cute farm scene in your head you've been led to believe exists where our beef cattle and chickens are raised. But the movie is about much more than simply dispelling that myth. It's about politicians who are beholden to big business and political appointees who go from working for these huge corporations to positions within the government that regulate the industry. Never a good thing. It's also about the organic food movement and how and why it's gaining ground among consumers; including us. Tammy went to Valley Natural Foods yesterday in Burnsville and paid the $100 membership fee. I'm sure most people who know me will laugh at the idea of me going organic considering some of the stuff I subject my body to in the name of workout food. Anyway, check out the trailer to the movie below. If you're a Netflix subscriber you can watch it online.
I'm finished complaining about the winter of 2009/10. We got through the month of March with zero snow to account for it which left me with not such a bad taste in my mouth after all.
Tammy and I are once again making trips to the dog park a regular part of our routine. We were dividing our time between Ritter Farms and Three Rivers/Cleary Lake but it appears Ritter has one big disadvantage working against it. Ticks. We took the pups there Thursday and later that night found that they were loaded with them. We're at 22 ticks and counting. I took a trip to the vet the next day and stocked up on Frontline. Frontline isn't a repellent nor does it get into your pet's bloodstream. The following is taken from their website:
"FRONTLINE Top Spot and Plus spread over the pet's body by a process called translocation. When applied, these products are gradually dispersed by the pet's natural oils, collecting in the oil glands in the skin. It is then "wicked" onto the hair over the next 30 days. The translocation process can take up to 24 hours to complete."
Fleas and ticks become infected with the poison and die within 18 hours of contact with a treated pet. It's not cheap when you've got 3 dogs to treat at $15 per pup per month but it's worth it to us. I know I can likely find it cheaper online but I don't mind the idea of paying a little more through my vet to increase their profits and keep them there for us.
Ritter Farms is a better park and I don't want to avoid going there. We never noticed a problem with ticks there last year so I'm hoping this is a temporary thing. We did get off the trail at one point as we trudged through some tall prairie grass to avoid some muck along the trail and that may be where we picked up the ticks.
Rachel got back from her mission trip to Texas last night. They spent a week in the town of Orange rehabbing a home that had been damaged from Hurricane Ike in the summer of 2008. She spent most of her time insulating and hanging sheetrock in the home of a woman in her 60s. She was very grateful for the help as she's been living in temporary housing since the storm and is longing to get back in her home.
Tammy and I got a feel during the week for what it's going to be like when she's off to college. We're definitely going to miss her presence but the digital world we live in will help keep us connected in ways that weren't imaginable not so many years ago.
I finally got the 4th of 6 panels done for our entertainment center over the weekend. The blue glass doesn't show up very well in the picture to the right. This photo gives a better idea of the colors being used. We hope to have the two remaining panels completed sometime next winter so we can then get busy dabbling in some other projects.
We watched Food, Inc. over the weekend. It's probably not the sort of movie you want to watch if you don't want to upset the cute farm scene in your head you've been led to believe exists where our beef cattle and chickens are raised. But the movie is about much more than simply dispelling that myth. It's about politicians who are beholden to big business and political appointees who go from working for these huge corporations to positions within the government that regulate the industry. Never a good thing. It's also about the organic food movement and how and why it's gaining ground among consumers; including us. Tammy went to Valley Natural Foods yesterday in Burnsville and paid the $100 membership fee. I'm sure most people who know me will laugh at the idea of me going organic considering some of the stuff I subject my body to in the name of workout food. Anyway, check out the trailer to the movie below. If you're a Netflix subscriber you can watch it online.
Comments
Spring and early summer are when we find the most ticks on our dogs. Haven't seen any on our dogs yet though, but found one crawling on the wall of the bathroom the other day. But Kim said they had been finding plenty of ticks on dogs coming into the grooming shop.
If you haven't used one I suggest getting one of these tick remover tools. They're not cheap either, but they work great and make removal of smaller ticks (our dogs get them near their eyes) a lot easier.