A little of this and a little of that.....

   Exhausting!  So goes the battle with fleas.  I never thought that I would say that I am entirely sick of critters but this is a tad ridiculous!   Poor old Ms. Ez cannot find a bit of peace.  We treat her with the highly toxic stuff as recommended by the vet and yet, here she is being gnawed upon by fleas.  After they grow tired of her, they merely hippity hop around the house threatening to eat me alive! As much as I hate using the sprays, I finally relented.  Michael and I sprayed the yard and house...I choked.  It was all I could do to breathe!  I can only imagine what the dog was suffering.  It was most horrible but at least I thought we had rid the place of the varmints.  I told Michael that as soon as we can get into the marsh, I was going to pull up a ton of Fleabane to dry!  We really need to keep that on hand.

  Then last night, I heard Ms. Ez scratching and I found another flea.  Drats!  I cannot go much more of this!  All of this exasperating situation caused me to remember that last summer I had made a concoction.  Hmmm?  Early this morning, a large pot was steaming away on the stove.  I had thrown in just about every herb imaginable. Lavender, Rosemary, Sage, Cloves, Chamomile, Calendula, Peppermint, Citrus peel, Garlic along with a handful of Camphor leaves simmered in a couple of gallons of water.  Once this steeped for a while, I added six cups of apple cider vinegar.  As I stirred, the old line from MacBeth kept rolling through my brain. "Double double toil and trouble, Fire burn, cauldron bubble!"  This is stuff of nightmares! (Not really.  It was actually pretty nice!)  My "magic potion" was complete!  Once again, Michael and I worked as a team. He washed the dog's bedding while I washed the dog.  He sprayed the house while I mopped the floors.  All of this was done with my creation.  At first, Ms. Ez balked!  She did not really want to smell like a bouquet of flowers with a bit of fruit and veggies tossed in for good measure. After I sloshed the mixture on her, I started to rub it into her fur.  Ahhh, this she liked! I have yet to see a dog deny a good massage even if it was rather..ummm...aromatic!

  Since the bath and spraying, the old dog has slept soundly.  She has not scratched once.  Hopefully, this will do the trick and she will be flea-free.  At least I know that I have not done anything that will harm her even if she licks the stuff.  (There is not enough Camphor in it to hurt her.) Wish us luck!  Michael and I are not happy having to do this daily!  Double, double, toil and trouble......