Habanero nightmares? What? Week seven included my “final” encounter with habaneros. Other scary things are needles, the dark and electrical cords. Here’s the story.

Habaneros: I was removing the dried fruit from the strings wearing gloves and a mask. The oil in the night shade oil in the air was enough to send me into an allergic response. My throat was swelling shut and I could not catch my breath. I coughed and coughed trying to catch my breath. About the time I threw up, the little dog decided to pee on the carpet because he was scared. In all the hub bub I managed to swallow two Benadryl and take the black mop outside to get some air. It did not help much. I sat on the phone with my mother for the fifteen minutes waitng for the Benadryl to take affect. It was scary.

Then blind lady dumb mistake happened the very next morning. A large spice shaker that had once had peppers in it was used for sugar. Apparently the pepper spice had not been cleaned out thoroughly enough. I used the sugar “spice” shaker on my Chex cereal the next morning and had the same throat clinching reaction. Two Benadryl again. Enough scary. No more of any of the Habanero night shade fruit fro me. Everything I canned this fall has the little bite of “pow” in it. Real bummer.

Needles are scary! Though I had my EPI pen in hand, I did not end up using it. Other needle experiences involved the pine cone needle stuck in my palm for two days. I had to have Gavin take a needle and fish it out. Epsom salt bath for that hand. And Kona wiggled on the needle at the vet appointment and the pain afterwards was not much fun. But they say the distemper goes into the muscle and usually always causes some pain if the dog does not stay active enough.

Inflammatory allergic response to nightshade vegetables is part of my reality. Knowing which fruit is next is the hard part. The first one for me was a relative of the ragweed: the potato. More in the nightshade family: the peppers list is long and exhaustive. What’s next? Keep the EPI pen handy for when it happens next time is all that I can anticipate.

Week eight of Kona concluded with a bath. I could not figure out why my puppy did not seem soft. Of course, he had not had a bath in over a month. Yes, that’s why. Kona is scared of the blow dryer. He carries on like the electirc shock is about to get him. I think it’s actually the sound of the blow dryer. He’s so little I can see the sound being very loud.

Other electric cord scares? Well, he did try to drag a cord out from under something one day. But I got after him right away. Into the crate he went while I put the offending cord away. And rather than taking the cord down ourselves, we had the electric company take the supply off of the old house. It was becoming a fire hazard. It was time for me not to worry about it any more every time the rain or snow melted down the side of the porch walls.

Reading the book “your dog is your mirrot” now. Will have to give more update on that one next time. Today is the beginning of week eight and tomorrow is Thanksgiving day. Which we are hosting for our kiddos.

Happy Thanksgiving to my USA readers. And to everyone else, do find something to be thankful for. I am grateful that Benadryl still works for me and that the EPIpen is still in the case! I am also thankful that Kona is exactly what I wanted in a snuggly puppy.