Fleas can suck it.

July 19, 2010

So where’s the website, you might ask. Where are your products,  you might also ask. You could then even ask why anything isn’t being done here, And I’d simply answer:

Fleas.
Yes. Fleas. I do not have an infestation. But I did have a problem. Apparently most of the heated northern hemisphere is having a problem.  With the fleas, that is. However, for the past three weeks, dealing with this problem entails the following:

Washing every scrap of clothing. Every. Single. Item. All sheets, towels, drapes, pillows, pillowcases. Vacuuming every single crevice in your home. Vacuuming every surface area you can reach of your furniture. Using a citrus spray solution to clean anything hardwood or not vacuum-able.  Why citrus? Citrus repels and kills. It’s like the best flea gun ever. Also, bathing all animals in the house every three days or so is required.  And since there are now 7 animals, not counting me or the kid, there’s some time spent in the bathroom.

Why the problem then? Well, I had two cats. One was a rescue given to my daughter. Before I could get the rescue fixed, she got the pregnant flu. Teen cat pregnancy at its finest. Both cats were outdoor cats. Where the flea population is (as I learned afterward), and numbers far more than the grains of sand on all the beaches in the world. Those cats became indoor cats. The pregnant one gave birth to five gorgeous kittens.  The fleas also gave birth to other fleas. At an exponential rate.

Since you can’t use anything toxic around baby kittens, and you also cannot use an over the counter flea treatment on mama cat until said kittens are 6 weeks+ old, I had to use alternative means. i.e. citrus spray, peppermint oil spray, constant, constant, constant vacuuming, washing any clothing that touched the ground. My washer hates me. Passionately.  And then, more cleaning. However, I finally got my order of diatemacious earth (DE) in. It’s this fantastic powder that is made from grinding diatoms, incredibly razor sharp shells that slice and dice flea eggs, larvae, and gets through the adults’ armor and kills them via dehydration. Nothing could make me happier. Like, ever.

It took over 6 hours to clean two rooms and the kitchen and treat with the DE. Because, as was mentioned above, you have to clean every nook and cranny and then some. Now I’m doing the stairs and the upstairs. The only thing helping me find my happy place is that whatever remains of the fleas are screaming as they die.

Every thing I’ve made for sale, has been washed. Every thing I had in progress has been washed. And some of those things had to be trashed since unfinished and unsewn edges like to ravel and sometimes actually pull whole sections out. I’m further behind in work than I dreamed of.

Oh, and I have a leaking pipe in the basement. This I also lay at the feet, or whatever, of the fleas. Because it’s all their fault. Back to cleaning I go. Once this problem is resolved, then I can continue on my merry fucking way of doing things that make me happy. I clean when I’m angry to calm down. All this forced cleaning does not have the same effect. It makes me sweaty, very sweaty, dirty, and somewhat grumpy. There’s no calming down until I’m done, can take a break and watch some True Blood.

Moral of this story? Fleas can suck it.

2:27 pm