Today’s blog is a bit scatological. If that offends you or if you don’t know what that means, you can feel free to bypass today’s read! As I’ve noted on prior occasions, we have been blessed with a string of Irish Setters as part of the family. Now one thing you need to know is that these dogs are a very, very active and high energy breed. They rarely stand still for much of anything, including taking care of their business. Other breeds stand still and do what needs to be done, and if they perhaps have an indoor accident, it is in one neat and tidy pile. This is definitely not the case with Irish Setters. They have more of a step-and-drop technique. I think it must be something embedded in their very DNA. Now I don’t know if Gordon Setters or English Setters share this trait or not. I’ll have to check that one out. So cleaning up the yard or an indoor error is more tedious task when you own the Irish.
When we moved from Kentucky to Colorado in 1979, we bought a wonderful old house. It had been built by a custom builder who was Jewish. There were mezuzahs on all the outside doors, which we left in place for as long as we lived there. We figured we’d take any help and blessings we could, Old Testament or New! That family was Orthodox Jewish, so we actually had the obligatory two kitchens, which was quite nice. It gave us a second sink for a mud sink, lots of extra cabinet space, and so on. However, the best part was a fully finished basement with two bedrooms, a bath, a laundry room, a large shop, and a very large family room with a wet bar. Our boys were 9 and 12 at the time, so the downstairs became their own private living quarters on through high school graduation. They loved it, and it certainly gave us more peace and quiet upstairs.
Now you are probably wondering exactly what this has to do with shag carpet. That downstairs family room was carpeted with the infamous shag carpet so popular in the 70’s. It was a dark, multicolored brown. I was never quite sure whether to vacuum it or mow it. You could even buy wooden rakes to keep all of the shags standing up nicely and not getting packed down. Casey was our first Irish girl, and from time to time she had a tender digestive system so to speak. Remember, I did warn you that today’s blog was a bit scatological.
On one memorable occasion, Bill, Chris, and I has been out and about. I don’t remember where Greg was. Luckily for him he was at a friend’s house or something. When we arrived home, a very sheepish Casey greeted us at the door from the garage. Something was up! A faint aroma wafted up the basement stairs. Miss tender-tummy had had a very large bout of diarrhea. Guess where she ran to in her moment of distress; you guessed it, the downstairs family room. With total dismay we surveyed the family room with that awful shag carpet. Her step-and-drop technique was evident everywhere! Where did we even begin to clean this up?
Clearly this mess called for an assembly line sort of approach. I was the Scout. It was my job to find all of the dastardly little droplets. Now, how to mark them for the rest of the team? I needed little flags or something to stick in that thick carpet. Ah ha, ruffled toothpicks! Remember those toothpicks with the little colored paper on them for fancy hors d’oeuvres? Luckily, I had a box in the pantry. The Scout carefully made her way around that large family room carefully flagging each little error with a ruffled toothpick. With hindsight I wish I had thought to take a picture of that carpet with dozens and dozens of brightly colored little markers standing up everywhere!
Poor Chris got the job of being the preliminary Picker-Upper. He followed my trail of colored toothpicks armed with a trash bag and a roll of paper towels. As soon as Chris did the initial scoop up, Bill followed behind with a scrub brush and a bucket of hot soapy water. He was the designated Scrubber. After what seemed like hours, the Scout, the Picker-Upper, and the Scrubber had returned that carpet to a far more hygienic and better smelling state.
Shortly thereafter we splurged on new carpet for downstairs, a close weave dense Berber carpet in a light beige color. I don’t think I’ve bought any of those little ruffled toothpicks again to this very day, and I most certainly have not ever had shag carpet again!
©The Eclectic Grandma, 2016
