It started out with hearing Duke yelp followed by him running into the house with a trail of blood behind him.

Then there was Garry holding him down while I try to find the bandages, cleanser, and tape. Me, cleaning the wound. Bandages. I didn’t shave the fur off because I didn’t have equipment to do it and he was bleeding. I slathered the wound with antibiotic ointment. I believe in antibiotic ointment. It has been a life saver for various injuries in humans and dogs.

It looks like Duke was shot with a pellet gun, or maybe a strong be-bee gun. Garry thinks maybe there’s something in the yard on which he stabbed himself. I know someone shot Bonnie when she was younger. She still has the pellet under her skin, so I have reason to be suspicious that the same people did it again.

The hole in Duke’s leg looks clean. Is is a very neat, round hole.

I’d blame my neighbors, but I can’t prove it. At least in this house, suspicion isn’t proof.

I got so upset by Duke’s wound — he’s hopping around on three legs — I went into a cleaning fit. Not the normal type where you clean things you usually clean. This is the one where I clean all the stuff I usually ignore.  The corners where the dust hides. Pictures and frames. The book-case. Dolls in the hallway. All the parts of the vacuum cleaner that aren’t part of the standard dust bin.

Then, I cleaned the stairs because we are getting the stair climber chair and I’d like to not have a lot of dirt trapped under the rail. And Garry swept the remaining leaves off the deck, leaving it “winter ready.”

The deck, officially ready for winter

Meanwhile, the second (double) layer in my bathroom window fell out. No one can figure out how to put it back and it’s possible there is no way to do it. Which leaves me with a single glass window in the half bath, rather than the double-hung windows we have in the rest of the house. Recognizing it was going to suck all the warm air out, and in my continuing effort to lower the oncoming chill level, I bought insulated curtains for the room.

You would be amazed at how hard it is to find insulated curtains for a bathroom. I finally found a set designed for a child’s bedroom. They are too long … nothing is short enough for 36-inch windows. They arrived today … which is when I realized I can’t reach the curtain rod without a ladder. I will have to wait for the Tall Son to give me his hands. I recognized I have passed my time for climbing ladders.

I am tired. On the positive side, there are places in my house that are cleaner than they’ve been in years and which haven’t been clean since my last mental crash. Cleaning isn’t everyone’s response to problems, but it makes me feel better. At least I’m doing something that needs to be done. Cleaning is the last truly mindless activity in my world.

I just took the bandages off and it looks good. No more bleeding and he’s walking better. I’m pretty sure that all that tape sticking to his fur was bothering him as much as anything else. I left the bandage off and put on a lot more antibiotic cream. I’ll take a new look at it in the morning.

What a day.

Categories: #Photography, dogs, Home, Humor

Tags: #Health, #Photography, Daily Post, dogs, Household Stuff, wounds