Post pantry: the Cabin Fever Club, De-skunking recipes, and the Central Lake Harvest Festival

This is what happens when I talk to a lot of people in one day and all of them make sense.  I have a bunch of little thoughts that I’m just going to sweep into one post so you can bounce around and see if anything appeals to you.

The Cabin Fever Club

Over the winter we can get a little . . . insular.  We can hole up in front of the woodstove and never see anyone but the other people out walking dogs or shopping at the IGA.  But this year things could be different.  This year we could have a Cabin Fever Club.  The name is all Bobbie Patterson’s idea, but I intend to steal it shamelessly and run with the concept.  The plan is that we (“we” being whoever wants to belong) will find interesting things to do and circulate general invitations via email, snail mail and/or tele-mail, whatever works.  Then we can go do the interesting things together, saving fuel and our sanity in one fell swoop.  Very simple.  We will not be a 501(c)(3).  We will be nowhere near that organized.  We will have no dues and no bylaws.  Instead, we will have fun.  A movie.  Popcorn and a DVD at the library.  A concert.  A hike in the park.  Brunch at Sonny’s.  Dinner at Pearl’s.  Meatloaf and mashed potatoes at my house.  A picnic at the Nature Preserve.  A computer workshop at Barnes Park, with child care for the young parents who’d like to come.  Let me know if you would like to be part of this.  You can leave a comment or you can email me (see the “Contact Us” over at the top of the right-hand column?) 

De-skunking recipe

Some of you may remember that the Cowboy was unfortunately skunked earlier this summer.  He has begun to smell less noticeably skunky and more noticeably doggy.  Andrea Romeyn mentioned that Sky had also had an unfortunate encounter, and wondered if I knew of any remedies that did not threaten both the dog and the environment.  Herewith the recipe provided by Arleen Westhoven, Eden Shores neighbor and naturalist at Grass River Natural Area.

• Ingredients: Equal parts baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, Dawn dish detergent and lemon juice
• Equipment: Towels and a bathtub or galvanized tank
• Method: [Edit 9-25-08: See Katherine’s useful comment re the advisability of proper attire.]
  • Corral the skunked dog in the bathroom-or in the garage if you have a tank suitable for dipping sheep and a source of hot running water (Note: if you have hot running water in your garage you do not need these instructions-you have people for this stuff)
  • Mix the Ingredients together in a larger container than you think you’ll need-the mixture will bubble over in a very satisfying way once you add the lemon juice
  • Remove the dog’s collar and dump it into the bubbling container to soak
  • Put the dog in the tub or the tank and apply liberal amounts of the bubbling mixture to all surfaces that you can reach, working it into the coat and not omitting the bits between the footpads
  • Rinse and repeat until the dog smells more like lemon than skunk, or until the dog makes a successful break for it, or until you have just had it with the whole thing
  • Rinse off the dog’s collar and replace it, unless the dog has escaped, in which case you might reasonably be expected to write the whole experience off to bad judgment and vow to keep a cat instead

Central Lake Harvest Festival October 4, 9am-3pm

The Central Lake Chamber cooked this one up.  I am reliably informed that it involves cute little kids in Halloween costumes, an outdoor craft fair, a flea market, a farmers market, prizes for the cute kids and for costumed pets, and both breakfast and lunch served by the Masons.  I don’t see how you can go wrong.  (Miss Sadie fails to see the humor in pets in costume, but the Cowboy wants to go as a fairy prince.)

Really, if you can’t find something in there that tickles your fancy, you need a fancy tuneup.