I swear it was clean an hour ago!

I cleaned my living room, it was picked up, neat, and vacuumed.  That was 1 hour ago. 

A lot can happy in 1 hour when you have a puppy.

After 1 hour

As you can see from the photo.... the dogs decided to de-fluff a toy. They generously spread the love  fluff across the whole living room. As well as spreading the dog toys across the room as well.

After I've cleaned (again)

So to help me get this BusyBeaver house clean I have 2 (yes 2) vacuums. After using my last vacuum to death, I got a Bissell Lift Off Revolution Pet Vacuum.

It's done pretty good for the last 8 years. (approximately)

That's with 2 cats and 2 dogs and a kid.
It's still hung in there and cleaned well.
I will say my old version (because you know they are always improving things), is a beast.   It's heavy and I don't really feel like carrying it all around my 2 story house.

So for upstairs, a few years ago, I received a much smaller, more portable vacuum..

I use this for my stairs, and the smaller area upstairs. It's fantastic, and light enough my son can use it to vacuum as well. BONUS:  one less chore that I have to do.

These two vacuums help to keep us ahead of the game in the pet hair.
Now in our house, I've come to terms of never being one of those "magazine homes".
I heard it most eloquently put....


" Clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy."

Really, when it comes down to it, would you rather spend your time cleaning or spending time with family.
When we are at the end of our journey, looking back, what do you think you'll wish you had spent more of your life doing? Dishes, or board games with the kids? Getting ice cream, or vacuuming?

Clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy.

Skunk Remedy!

Not in the so distant past (2 weeks), my dog came up against a neighborhood skunk.

not my picture -  justskunks.com

I had seen the skunk earlier in the evening, trotting along the outside perimeter of my fenced yard, big, bushy and mostly white.  As skunks are most active during the twilight hours, I wasn't too concerned at 2 am when my dog wanted to go out.  Even when she came back inside, there was nothing abnormal in her behavior.

It  wasn't until after she had been inside for a few minutes and rubbed along the carpets that I noticed the smell.   In case you have been fortunate enough, like myself, to have never smelled concentrated skunk.... it does not smell like the dead skunk at the side of the road.  Its more like concentrated garlic that's been burnt.  Of course to everyone it smells a little different, but regardless, it hurts your eyes and nose. 

So, the best remedy to rid your pet of skunk smell:

* Baking Soda

* Hydrogen Peroxide

* and Dawn dish soap

Use 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 teaspoon dawn dish soap (or any liquid dish soap really) and 1 qt bottle of hydrogen peroxide.  Mix together immediately before use, I put mine in a big bowl and used a wash cloth to wash my dog.  

Some Tips:

- Use a washcloth

- Avoid getting this in your dog's eyes

- Take off your jewelry - it will tarnish

- Take off the dog collar - it will rust!

If you are reading this recipe in hopes for your own dog, I pray that you can keep your dog outside till bath time to avoid stinking up your house.  As it was 2 am, I was not able to do that. 

This mixture works really well, it removes the odor, rather than masking it like tomato juice does. 

Plus the ingredients are so cheap and you can find them in your grocery store or pharamcy.  

So now my dog is clean, but my house stinks of skunk.  It seeps into everything!  Clothes, carpets, cabinets, and bean bag chairs. 

washed the bean bag, but had to throw away the beans

I did lots of research.  I saw recommendations of boiling vinegar, room fresheners etc. 

I even tried boiling vinegar with oranges in it. That did smell better, but now my house smells like vinegar and skunk.  It was so bad, even the door to door salesmen didn't stay at the front door long. :)

The bathroom I gave my dog a bath in smelled so bad, we couldn't use it for a day.  THANK GOODNESS I have a second bathroom. 

Then I stumbled upon a FANTASTIC remedy.  Coffee. Go buy the largest and cheapest ground coffee you can find.  Then put the dry (unused) coffee grounds into bowls around the house.  It absorbs the odor wonderfully.  It made a huge difference in just a little bit of time.  (I've heard it can also work on smoke odors, but can't vouch for that)

As for the bean bag chairs, I had to throw away the Styrofoam beads, they absorbed the skunk smell.  

I managed to get them into trash bags and outside, which helped with a lot of skunk smell as well. 

A fortunate (kind of) thing, once your house is skunky, you tend to get used to the smell.  So I had to ask neighbors and relatives if it was improving as I couldn't really tell anymore, unless I left the house for a period of time. 

So if your dog gets skunked... good luck!  Just remember, when skunks have babies they may be more offensive/aggressive and not give as much warning as usual.