Blogger trouble and animal week

I finally managed to log in to my blogger account. I kept getting an error message and when I went to look for help I was directed to a Google group where I couldn't post a question because their log in system didn't work... I cleared cache, deleted cookies, enabled Java script (not that I understand what any of these really mean) but nothing helped. Finally I restarted the computer and that seems to have done the trick. However I'm not able to publish a post in my blog in Finnish as the actual "publish post" button doesn't appear underneath the message. This blog seems to be working although I don't get any pictures ("an error on the page") but at least I'm able to write and (hopefully) publish the post.

So our week with the animal theme didn't really happen apart from that animal poster on Monday. We were busy doing some other things plus the kids spent one day at my husband's sister's. That was great as I got a real day off. We even went out for lunch! I was working on my book resume which I finally finished yesterday. I'm pleased to have it done although it took me an awfully long time.

The animal theme has however been happening in real life for some time in quite unpleasant ways. Let me share some things birefly: A few weeks ago I noticed some hot chocolate left overs in a mug just after breakfast and without thinking about it twice drank it. As I got it in my mouth I felt there was something else there than just the hot chocolate. As I was about to remove that someting else it bit me in the lip. It was a fairly big ant that had dived into the mug for a morning bath and wasn't happy about ending up in my mouth.

Some time ago as I was about to wash the dishes in the afternoon I noticed something strange in the sink. It turned out to be a soaking wet shivering bat who actually swam (I had no idea bats swim!) in the water. After I drained the sink he (she?) hid under the pile of plates and I had no intentions of removing him. Husband got that delightful task as he got home.

And then there are the ticks. The dogs are FULL of them. It's really awful and makes the dogs feel bad too. We always use a tick prevention medicin that is simply poured in the back of the dog's neck and it works for a few months at a time. I however keep forgetting when we applied it the last time so the tick explosion always catches us by surprise. Tomorrow my husband's off to get some of that medicine and hopefully the doggies are better (tick-free) soon.

Oh, and did I mention the havoc the dogs caused the other day? They escaped and completely destroyed the mini plantation we made with the kids. I managed to save one little pot. And just as everything had started to grow. I'm quite upset with myself that I wasn't able to take better care of the little plants. The kids were so excited about them. But I guess we'll just do it all again. Also Matti (one of the dogs) found our soap bar delicious. It's a home made soap that my mother-in-law makes using animal fat. I guess it still smells like pork because the dog just went crazy over the soap and jumped on the laundry sink in order to get the it from a high shelf. I never recovered any of it and he seems to be fine. Next time I'll keep the soap indoors.

And then there are the spiders. Thankfully they aren't poisonous but they sure are disgusting. I've learned to live with the tiny ones that just jump and run away but the big hairy ones... I don't think I'll ever get used to them. A few months ago one was inside my jeans and I only discovered it as I was getting dressed. That caused a lot of screaming and even crying as I got so scared. After that there have been a few around; one in the laundry sink and another one on the edge of the patio. They try to get indoors during the rainy season and that's why we see so many of them, or that's what I've been told anyway.

Enough of insect and dog stories for now. The theological seminar at church starts today and I'll try to get some rest before the classes (from 7 pm until 11 pm, way too late for me).