Furry Couches Under the Sea and Blazing Fires

 

Wow. It's Wednesday again. The beginning of Terry's weekend. It seems like it was just last weekend. Crazy how fast time seems to be breezing past. 

Well, we have remained pretty busy since our post last weekend. Nothing to shout out about, except for a method I found to help me take our couch out of the animal kingdom and get possession of it again. 

As anyone who follows the blog knows, we have two long-haired cats and a Siberian husky. They not only make their presence known through their personalities, but they also leave calling cards as the day moves on. How, you ask? 

Let me answer the current question on the table. Hair. Hair is everywhere. I vacuum this couch over and over again, taking up to two hours to complete the task. The couch receives a sheet cover to keep the animals off the fabric itself. However, the hair is either breeding or is sneaking under the sheet to rest on the couch. One way or the other, Togo, Esme, and Kit share that beautiful fur. At least it's gorgeous on them. Off? Not so much. 

I snort hair. Eat hair. My shirts and pants collect it every time I sit on the furniture. Terry walks around with black or dark shirts that have more hair on them than the animals do. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't clean that dang couch every single day. I guess I should, but I don't. I keep the sheets washed and exchange them with fresh ones when the old ones get dirty. 

In between my jewelry crafting paces yesterday, I chose to clean the living room area. We were getting buried under fur, chewed-up cardboard from boxes the cats love, and other items lying about to mess up the place. I picked up some things and put them away. Now, for the couch. I pulled on the sheets and brought them to the floor while shaking the fabric to see if I could get some of the hair off before washing. Looking at the couch, I almost wanted to cry. There was so much hair on it, again. 

Pulling the vacuum cleaner out and attaching the brush and extension, I spent about two hours vacuuming the fabric on our furniture. The more I vacuumed, the hair seemed to be fighting back. I guess our couch would remain hairy forever. 

I don't typically read much. I figure I am on the computer most of the day and do a lot of reading there. But a couple of days ago, I found an article that interested me. It was on the topic of how to remove dog hair from your furniture. Ladies and gents, school is in!

I tried a suggestion the article had given, and wow. That's all I can say is wow. I wish I had known about this many years ago. Not that I have ever owned a dog with a double coat before, but I could have used this method for the five pups we did have. Years before that, I raised pitbulls. I had about 13 to 20 dogs around the home and yard at one time. Nothing compared to a husky in terms of hair loss, but still. 

The article said to wet the glove, then rub it on the furniture. With hidden laughter, I began to do just that. Holy husky hair, Batman! The fur began to roll up into little balls and rolls of fur. My couch looked clean for once. I could see the threads again, without the furry blanket on top of it. 

See how it clumped and came together? I simply lifted the ball off the couch when I was done. The only thing I had to do was to run my gloved hand across the fabric, and voila! I did most of the couch and placed clean sheets over the furniture again. I was ecstatic!

Within moments, I had the hair off the couch and into a bag to throw away. The photos you are seeing are after I spent two hours vacuuming it, with a brush and a good vacuum, plus we keep sheets on the couch to cover the fabric. Then I ran over it with the gloved hand, and all of this still came off. 

Clumped up and ready to go away! I'm so happy! Within about 10 to 15 minutes, I had the couch all cleaned up, hair removed, and sheets placed back over it. It felt so much cleaner! It smelled better, too. I spritzed on some Odoban deodorizer and disinfectant, and my couch didn't smell like a dog's ass for once. Happy, happy momma! I do love my babies, but I do not want to smell their butts. 

Anyway, I thought I would share this little tidbit with all of you in case you happen to have long-haired roommates. Literally cut the cleaning time down to a matter of moments. The gloves are reusable, too, so I simply rinsed them off and placed them under the sink for the next battle of the fur. Simple seems to always win out. 

***

Back in the computer chair again today. I put together a few more pieces and sets to add to my jewelry store. 

Most of the sets or pieces of today fell under the theme of pearls, or imitation pearls, to be exact. But the wooden beads came out too, plus seed beads or opalite, like in the photo above. The chips of opalite add an opal appearance and are quite popular in the making of jewelry, but are actually man-made to replicate the glow and beauty of moonstone or opal. Nothing real earth-shattering in the way of jewelry making today, but at least I accomplished something. 

Speaking of jewelry, I was ordering a chain and other goodies to finish Terry's mermaid and dolphin necklace when I spotted some beautiful Capiz shells. Capiz shells come from oysters or "windowpane oysters," as they are also known. Capiz shells are used to make chandeliers in some cases, and of course, the beautiful wind chimes that sparkle in the sun while making their beautiful sound. 

I love these shells! The second I laid my eyes on them, I had a few ideas come into my mind in terms of what these would look like in jewelry. In fact, I will be making one tonight and will have it in the blog by tomorrow if it comes out well. 

And with a box of 40 ... I'm going to be busy!

As you can see here, my plan is to create some sea creature necklaces using these shells. I find them beautiful, and I always love natural stuff.

***

When the evening rolled around, Terry came up with meatloaf as tonight's choice. Sometimes I pick, other times he picks. I love that because it gives me a break from always having to choose something. I run out of ideas and get into a rut. So, meatloaf and scalloped potatoes it is! We have not had that combination for a long time, although we may not for a long time again. I about fainted when I saw how much beef had gone up. I paid $14 for about 2 1/4 pounds. I didn't know if I should gag, cry, or laugh and move on to Taco Bell. I guess chicken or turkey it is from here on out. I did suggest to Terry that he enjoy his meatloaf tonight, as it may be the last beef he eats for a while. 

After a great meal of meatloaf and scalloped potatoes, we put on our show, Transplant. As we mentioned earlier in our blog, great show! Our plans for the weekend are our regular picnic at the park on either Friday or Saturday, and then a wonderful trip through Wildlife Safari is in the itinerary, too. We discussed that tonight, and the idea was immediately voted in as a plan. They have acquired painted dogs, and it's our first weekend to visit to see them. The run they have set up is nice and roomy. Now they just need the dogs. Of course, we will take photos and write up a post about that!

***

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Today is a gorgeous day. Plenty of sunshine. Fresh air. Or as fresh as air can be nowadays. Terry had a massage appointment this morning (oh, poor baby), and an appointment to meet his new doctor this afternoon. Making it through his massage was tough. I know, I've been there for our anniversary. He purchased an hour block of time for me to see his massage therapist. Lying there, getting a massage. Very tough hour. 😏😒

He returned home. We waited for his appointment with his new doctor, and off we went. It was an enjoyable meeting of the minds, so to speak. Terry was quite happy with the appointment and liked his new nurse practitioner. We both really liked her. She suggested he move to the Mediterranean diet, like I have recently begun to follow. This did not please my man, who loves to munch on whatever he wants.  

Terry enjoys calamari and shrimp, so incorporating that into his diet will be easier for him than for me. I cannot stand seafood except for breaded shrimp, which I have had a couple of times recently. But even adding in chicken, which is recommended by my doctor and his new NP, he can't stand chicken. It's going to be a challenge for us, but we will make it work. 

I don't always have to eat meat. I've been eating lots of brown rice, veggies, avocados, and even some fruit. Terry doesn't always have to eat meat either. In fact, he has cut back or wanted to cut back recently. Not only are our A1C numbers rising and causing issues as diabetics, but now we are worried about cholesterol and other factors as well. That's okay. We will get them under control once again. Turkey, chicken, shrimp, here we come! 

 Instead of our taco salad that isn't very Mediterranean anyway, we are going to have our picnic this evening instead. This sounds like a great idea to me! I love going out to dinner in our favorite place underneath the leaning blue spruce tree. Makes us both very happy. The taco salad with ground turkey will just have to wait. 

***

Before leaving for the park dinner, I completed my new "Under the Sea" Necklace Set. As I said earlier, I ordered some shells. I already had a metal sea turtle and wanted to put the two together. This is the result:

Capiz shell with the turtle and a single freshwater pearl at the end of a satellite chain. I love the Capiz shells! Capiz shells are harvested in Capiz, Philippines, from oysters. These shells are used to create jewelry, chandeliers, windchimes, and are used in many art projects. In some cases, the whole shells are used to create windows. 

Freshwater pearls are from mussels instead of oysters, and as the name suggests, the mussels are in freshwater. I thought the two together were a good combination for a necklace plus earrings. 

I love the rainbow sheen these pieces of shell have on them. 

My next step is to grab a spool of chain and more sea creatures to complete several more necklaces or use wire to finish the task. 

***

We packed up our vehicle to go picnic in the park again. Love our picnic dinners. Safeway first for chips, then Subway sandwiches, following Safeway. Terry ordered a beautiful foot-long meatball sub, with Parmesan and oregano. Looked and smelled so good. Meanwhile, I had my mind focused on a chicken salad wrap with avocado and spinach. Oh, yeah, baby! Awesome. It looked good anyway. 

Off to the park, we went. Sitting in our favorite spot, under our leaning blue spruce, watching the people walk by, play Frisbee in the grass, and some walk their dogs. Bicycle riders flew by every once in a while. Nice day to enjoy the park. 

During this visit, I wanted to do something different. The park is right by the river, but not at riverbank level. You have to walk down to the water, and with my ankle, I don't know if that would work or not. Besides, I was walking alone, while Terry was reading. Off I went on a new adventure. 

I was still very close in proximity to Terry and our spot, but I could see how dry the river was. We are under drought conditions again. Yes, unfortunately, the water level was low. 

Typically, the water is all the way up the bank, as I'm sure most rivers are looking right now. 

Rocks were peeking up above the water. 

Terry and I both spent a couple of moments touching our friend, the leaning blue spruce. Love this tree! I guess the proper term for us is "tree huggers," and I'm okay with that. 

Plenty of shade to enjoy on this hot summer evening. 

I enjoy seeing this Douglas Fir tree too. 

Stewart Park not only looks good, but the aroma of pine, cedar, and spruce hangs on every breeze. 

As I walked back to our spot, I saw Terry with a phone in hand, still reading an article. Our perfect place to be on a summer evening. We should be able to handle coming here until about September or October, before we are not able to withstand the colder weather. 

Now it was time to pack up and return home. We love our visits to this park, but we wanted to go home to finish our evening there. Right before leaving, a man we know rode up on his bike. He asked how we were doing, and we exchanged a bit of chit chat with him. He asked if we had seen the fire. Of course, we got into a conversation about it, although we were quite confused as to which mountain or hill it was that had a fire burning. We soon found out. 

Almost home. Driving on Harvard, we looked to the right, and off the ramp to the I-5 freeway heading south, we noticed several fire trucks, the fire chief, and other vehicles indicating there was a real issue. Just past the sight of them all, we saw what was happening. Yes, there was a fire. I pulled the car off to a parking lot right across from the hill, known as Mount Nebo. 

Immediately, Terry and I both began snapping as many photos as we could. We soon found a trail to hike past the front of Mount Nebo to capture even more photos and even a bit of video. 

The front of Mount Nebo typically looks like this. That's what the "trails" and what looks like a road are like during a regular sighting of the hill. 

The fire does not look very large here, but don't let that deceive you like it did me. 

Smoke was pouring out of the area. I figured it was from water spraying on a hot fire, so the steam and small flames were creating a lot of smoke. No. More of the area was on fire than I thought possible from this angle. There are four acres as of 10:15 PM tonight. 

The flames were fairly small, but spread out. 

Power was shut off to the tower on top of the hill, leaving four or five residents without power for the moment. 

Terry got ahead of me and walked quickly down the path while snapping pictures with his phone camera. 

My question here was, what is the wooden thing that's on fire in this photo? Is it a wooden bench or a stack of lumber? In other places, it looks like an entire building.

As Terry and I drove the mile home, I stopped at a stop sign to ensure no cars were coming. As I waited, I looked over my shoulder and saw the flames growing higher, moving quickly up the hill. Now I was worried. They have the tower and who knows what else up there. 

I turned the corner, then once again, and into our driveway. We sat inside for a bit and watched our show. After the show played, I headed outside to see what was happening or if I could even see anything from our home. Yes, we could. It looks much worse now. 

It appears that the fire has engulfed the entire area. Terry went outside for a bit and sent me a news article about the fire. Apparently, it has burned four acres so far. The fire crews had to halt their aerial attempts at putting out the fire due to a man who thought it a good idea to fly his drone over the hill to get photos for a live Facebook feed. Yes, this was in the article I read on Friday morning. He was cited for interfering with the crew's ability to put out the fire, and he deserved the fine.   

I do see the large equipment on the right-hand side, plus what looks like a building further back from the edge. 

The news crew got an overhead photo:

Photo taken by KPIC

The fire is spreading out and has traveled a ways. Mount Nebo is like most of the hills around the area, with mostly dried-out grass this time of year. There are some trees, but not as many as you might find in Eugene and surrounding areas. This area is a bit drier. 

I went back outside later to see if the fire had been contained. Most of it? No. It has traveled down the hill again and into the lower area. Bless those who are fighting to protect everything and everyone. They work hard and risk their lives to save others. 

A fire engine sits at the top of the hill, at the ready in case the fire makes it up there. 

The fire is not only traveling uphill, but also downhill to other vulnerable spaces. 

As I stand and look at the hill, the left side is where the flames are charging into uncharted territory, with more trees and brush. The right side and the center are where it all began. 

I turn to go into the house where I can fall asleep in my bed, safe and sound. The firefighters and any other responder teams will be fighting this well into the night and maybe even into tomorrow. I almost feel guilty sitting in my swing, taking photos while I am safe. Wishing them all well, and those who may be involved in the fire, having to evacuate. 

Until our next post, remember to love one another. Just keep it in the back of your mind that life can end in a short moment. You can never get back that which is lost in these situations. Hugs and best of wishes to you all. Thank you, too, for reading the blog. We appreciate you all. 

Vicki & Terry Macrae

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