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Hullo, Deb !! We thankfully don't get many skunks here. Too cold??? I dunno. Bono once chased a baby bear up one of our trees down by the water and I had to grab him by the collar and run with him up to the house house praying I wouldn't meet da mama on the way. The mama was spotted in the driveway by husband, so he yelled to me, "There's a bear in the driveway!" And I yelled back, "Her baby is in our tree!"

Recently a neighbour's baby goat got free of his pen and was never found. At the same time, someone posted a warning about two wolves and a bear being seen on our road. Yeex! Very sad but skunks be skunks, bears be bears and wolves be wolves.

Friends' dogs have gotten porcupined so many times they don't need to take them to the vet. They know just what to do. Dunno if I could do it, myself if Bono got it in the face. We saw one on a walk once, but we steered clear.

Pet stories make some of the best reading! And having a sense of humour about the literal dead-smelly stuff that Bono likes to roll in, helps. I don't like bathing him after I'm all snug in bed but sometimes ya gotta do whatcha gotta do!

Cute lil pups you have, by the way. I love critters! :)

Great story, and sorry about your nose, in that case! My daughter's nose is the same; very sensitive. My husband smells nothing and I'm kind of in the middle. So I'm grateful that she tells me when something smells in the house!!!

Have a great weekend, my friend!

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Wow. That is an increbile story. The smell once it gets in the house must be unbelievable! We don't have wild skunks in the UK, as far as I know. They look lovely, but I definitely wouldn't want to get near the back of one! And yes, it's shocking how much prices have gone up these days. They're blaming it on the economy, but really, a lot of places are just taking advantage and seeing what they can get away with. They call it 'greedflation' here... 😎

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No mistaking that putrid odor! Smell the air before letting the dogs out at night. We are having these night time invaders too.

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It was bound to happen! We've smelt it for six years mama! Oh boy! A bit better today. The stench is miraculous how it gets into everything including a food cabinet!!! Love you and keep that stink out if you can!! oxox

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Oh no, Deb! That’s so awful, I can’t imagine that smell in my house, it’s bad enough when you smell it outside! I too have a rescue hound with rear end issues, and I’m the same way…. Oh, oh no, she smells…get her out. I’m so impressed with the way you handle all the bumps with grace and humor. ❤️

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It's been impressive to say the least! I have a much grander appreciation for nature! ha ha! We handled it and I gave in and just cleaned, washed, gardened and felt the allergies to it for a few days. My nose was burning. Sleep comes with whiffs from Bea all tucked away in the corner of our room. It's not bad in there without her - but there's no "without Bea" in our house! ha ha! Poor girl. Hope to be back writing soon! Happy Mother's Day Jenn! oxox

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I hope she learned a lesson anyway, poor Bea. Fingers crossed the rest of the smell goes away soon, your poor burning nose! Happy Mother’s Day, hopefully someone brings you a big bouquet of gorgeous smelling flowers!

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Goodness she is the silliest dog! We find ourselves petting her face and telling her we are so sorry and she doesn't care! Then we smell our hands! oh geeze! I am amazed she didn't get an eye problem. Maybe the eyes are strong and protective to the spray? I'm uncertain flowers will help! lol. It's funny (but not) too that our calico cat finds any flowers I get and she jumps on the table or counter to gobble them at night and then leaves us a pile of you guessed it on the ground in a "surprise" place! I have started to say "don't get me flowers!" Reese will just eat them! Naughty animals :).

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Oh my goodness, how funny our animals are! And how can you resist petting your poor sweet stinky dog 😂. I’m glad her eyes are ok. That’s funny about your cat! No, no flowers for you!

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ha ha! I got some flowers from the neighbor and I had to put them outside! Miss Reese is so naughty!! ox

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😂. That’s too funny!

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Up here in the Great White North we’re also feeling the pain of increased prices. Seems to be everywhere these days. Just back from a visit to the UK and the same thing there. Maybe it’ll change when everyone stops going out to eat.

Sorry to hear about the skunk. I’ve had a number of close encounters but, so far🤞🏻, not been sprayed.

Keep smiling (and writing).

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Mark, it's everywhere right? I hope it gets better soon. My heart feels so bad for the elderly and for the young trying hard to make it. The skunk thing was bound to happen! I catch Pepe' on our Ring doorbell all the time! ugh! I have been cleaning to no end. It got into everything inside after only a minute of running into the kitchen. I kept opening a food cabinet thinking "no, can't be." yep. I bought R86 from Amazon. It's helping. and thank you!

I am smiling and hoping to get back to writing! Busy week ahead visiting a friend out of state.

Substack removed me from the feature carousel at the top of the Note's Home page - and they have no good answers for it. A few sweet friends here are reposting for me - but I'm not going to quit. Writing has been a lifesaver since I joined in 2022. I didn't change anything about what I'm doing since I joined Notes in January this year. It's happened to several of us. Substack has changed. Algorithms. You keep writing and taking pictures too! Happy weekend to you Mark! oxox

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Sorry to hear about your Substack issues. Hopefully things get resolved soon.

Happy weekend to you too and I hope you have a lovely Mother’s Day.

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Thank you so much Mark! I love writing so whatever happens I'm keeping going. It has been a lifeline to healing. ox

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First, $67 each for a drink and sandwich is overpriced by such a large amount. But this is reality since Mr. Pandemic gave license to businesses to charge whatever they can get away with. Which is double in most cases

Well, I am not rich enough to pay such prices, so my wife and I no longer go out to eat at any restaurant. This is a loss for me because dining out is one of my greatest pleasures. Iove eating out, the people, the food, the service, the ambiance. But not at these prices. The last time we went, a year ago, my wife and I and our teenage son, it cost us $120 plus tip. It was at a sushi place.

We had a beautiful Siberian husky, Mischa, who got skunked when we lived in rural NH about 20 years ago. Yeah, he chased skunks, squirrels, and other small animals. Well, we put Mischa in a bathtub with gallons of tomato juice. After a few days, the smell went away completely. We let him sleep in his usual dog bed. We are softies when it comes to animals.

Your dogs are cute.

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PERRY!!

Right? We can't afford this life either! John will never retire! We barely go out for dinner (small venue music dates are cheaper!!) - but when an occasional girlfriend moment comes up and she needs to pour her heart out - it's such a treat to go out! But, you should have seen me put my mouth back in it's place when the waitress handed me the machine for my "half" portion? I thought I was paying for the whole thing! INSANE. But more insane is California. It's not conducive to living comfortably at all. It's very sad for so many. We are very fortunate that we are still working and trying to keep up but there is a terrible domino effect to living here, i.e., a car accident (as we're dealing with) "that is not your fault" will cost you and will cost you a lot of stress, healthcare is horrible (wait time months and months, while paying extremely high monthly) utilities are triple from other state's comparisons, taxes are sinister, and on and on. It's not a beautiful state when absolutely no leader has done a thing to make it an affordable place to live (and don't get me started on the terrible homeless situation. The deaths daily. Leaders seem to only profit themselves. If their home is broken into - the perp disappears never to be seen again. There needs to be a French Revolution! People need the courage to wake up and want better and abolish the monarchies!!

There I said it! Back to my big laugh! (even though it's like living in a skunk perfume factory everywhere!!) Awe, sweet Mischa! We are softies too! Only got worse during the pandemic - they were our closet friends and became very spoiled monkeys :). The little corgi was our daughter's that came to stay with us during 2022. He was somewhat of a rescue at one year's old. He was free. Long story. He's a real blessing. So smart and devoted. We never want to lose him. For 13, he's doing good, but I tell my husband we will never buy one. No buying dogs ever. That's another lament of the world and the disregard of animals. Our shelters are packed beyond capacity and there has never been so much euthanasia. It breaks my heart. Purebreds die everyday in shelters! Our Bea was left tied to a tree in a field for a week :(. She's got some anxiety and no one blames her. I've never worked so hard with a dog.

Thanks so much Perry for reading my comedy break! oxox

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If I were to get a cat or dog (I can't my wife is allergic), it would be from a shelter. But we have Arya the Cockatiel, who is devoted to us. We love him dearly. I can't imagine living without an animal companion.

No, I would not blame Bea for her anxiety, but I bet she loves you both, as does your corgi.

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Tomato juice. It works! Things you learn living in the south...Mississippi.

Sorry about the smell my sweet friend and yes everything has gotten more expensive and less good. We are paying for the benefit of eating out not good food. Love you. Oxoxox

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Friend! Everything I read said not to? It was 16 oz hydrogen peroxide, tablespoon baking soda and baby shampoo - leave on 5 min., then wash with dog shampoo. I got this other stuff today called R86. I pray it begins to work. The kitchen is TERRIBLE! It will pass :). I needed a laugh! Life is so funny! Hope all is good with you. love you. ox

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So cute your babies ♥️.

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ha ha! They are monkeys! Thank you :). ox

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OMG! 😂

I have a really funny skunk and dog story! I was performing at Universal Studios years ago and they gave us a suite at the Sheraton Universal across the street. We had our big Sammy dog in our show, and following our final appearance while we were packing; she spotted a skunk searching for food out in the audience part of the theater. Anyway she got sprayed 🦨 🙈 I washed her in the park with tomato juice which somebody brought. Then she turned pink.

Our next stop was Spain but first we were driving back to Las Vegas. Someone new a veterinarian who had a kennel in North Hollywood and we were able to bring her there that night. We left her there while we went to Spain for a week. The groomer is managed to get all of her pink stain out of her for her.

Because I washed her I had skunk smell all over me so the next day while on the plane to Europe I could smell skunk all over my fingers and it just permeated. No one seem to look at me or complain. So it may have just been confined to my own body. And I hope I didn’t smell up a nice sweet at the Sheraton. I could smell it all over my body that night. My husband at the time couldn’t smell it. Skunk lady! 😂🦨

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Charlotte, I know I already wrote back on the re-stack how hilarious this was - but also seriously AWFUL! A pink Samy :(. Boo. and you're on a flight overseas! These things ALWAYS happen when life is busy! It's definitely been a few weeks over here :). Thank God for a good groomer and a place to stay. Don't know how you kept up that schedule!

Thank you for sharing this and for laughing along with me! lol still! oxox

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This is hilarious! So sorry for your troubles. Two quick thoughts: skunk smell = tomato juice - kills it DEAD; "We “split” the bill at $67 “each”" = Bidenomics - we are DEAD!! Chin up, feet moving! Blessings my friend!

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Ha ha! Bob!!! I am dead in this house. and outside. I've done everything. It's AWFUL. But this too shall pass! We can't go out anymore. We rarely do but a friend asked me out! What to do. That was such a great joy four years ago! A real treat. My chin is up and I'm away from home! yikes! Thanks for laughing! lol still. ox

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May 13
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ha ha! Why you're welcome Robin! Thank you for reading and I am so glad you had a laugh! I think we are finally feeling like the smell is dissipating! It's insanely powerful! Poor Bea though, she still smells, especially her face! It's amazing her eyes are okay! How does that work?

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