Last weekend I had family visiting from Florida – 3 teenagers, 2 adults and a large Newfie/Golden mix dog – Buddy.  Every bed in the house was called into action!

My 17 year-old great nephew was in my office/den on the Murphy Bed.  Keeping his room tidy was certainly nowhere on the priority list – I had to fight my way to my computer through bags of chips on the floor alongside dirty clothes, bed clothes and goodness knows what else.  It was best not to look too closely – but I had to access my computer for work.

After the den visit I decided to avoid going downstairs while my guests were in residence (2 in the guest bedroom and 2 on the sleep sofa). Everything and anything can be cleaned up after the fact and some things are just better left unseen!

My cats, though not confined to my bedroom – only ventured out of it on occasion to see if that big dog was still here.  He was – so they expected meals to be delivered to them (which I did) and a litter box be installed in my ensuite bath for the duration.  Ahhhh – the feeling of bits of litter under one’s feet before and after showering !!  Buddy – a trained therapy dog – loves cats and has two of his own at home but my felines weren’t interested in making friends.

Being accustomed to living alone – with that number of extra bodies, it certainly felt like a full house – but also a house full of love and fun though not much conversation.  Chatting seems to be via personal devices these days and not so much face to face.  The teenagers don’t even watch TV which surprised me.  They did seem to enjoy a visit to the Diefenbunker – another surprise.

It’s been 6 days since they all left and I have finally finished all of the laundry and have remade the guest beds for the next visitors.

I think Buddy did me a huge favour.  There had been a skunk living under my shed (this year and last year as well).  A visit from the Humane Wildlife Control (a company called Skedaddle) was scheduled shortly after the gang left.  The process involved encouraging the skunk to leave and then digging a trench around the shed to install heavy duty wire mesh so that nothing will ever be able to dig their way under it again.  The little stinker was nowhere to be found.  I’m guessing he/she moved to another den location after hearing Buddy’s loud and lusty bark.  Thank you Buddy!

Most of my family lives out-of-town so a visit from any of them is a welcome event!  It is always worth the effort and I hope they visit again soon.

Sue