secret to a happy marriage #417

I cannot believe I forgot to mention perhaps one of the most important highlights from our trip to L'Avenc---our incredibly good fortune of being introduced to The Brush.

A recurring item of contention since Big Jim and I began our cohabitation has been the prolific year-round shedding of the precious Boo's fur. Not only is her coat thick and luscious, often reminding me of the generously frosted confections on a Betty Crocker cake mix box, but also her hair is fine and silky and thusly sticks to EVERYTHING. To vacuum the carpet in the lounge takes a minimum of 20 minutes, not to mention the 5 required afterward to unclog the tubes and clean the rollers. And who knows how much time we've spent picking the little tightly wound fur balls that the washing machine spin cycle creates and leaves behind on our bed sheets and towels.

I confess my only defense in my battles with Big Jim has been that he knew full well before our betrothal and subsequent marriage that the pB---as well as all of her beautiful fur---was part of the package. Additionally, I have spent hours brushing her, collecting the fur tumbleweeds that cling to the corners of our stairs, and paying my share of the vacuum bags to boot. To his credit, Big Jim has gradually accepted that as long as the pB is around, he will occasionally wake up with a mouth full of dog hair (because for some reason she prefers to sleep on his pillow [I believe it to be no accident]), and the now-rarely debated subject comes up only when Big Jim is in a generally cranky mood and needs an easy target for his venting (which as you can see, she feels quite horribly about...).

When we were packing for L'Avenc, I suggested to Big Jim that we take some of our furniture covers with us. Even though the web site said the owners were very pet-friendly, I didn't know whether they would be so friendly if we left a sofa covered with two weeks' worth of pB fur. Big Jim concurred it was a good idea, but as it turned out, at L'Avenc the pB preferred the pink floral area rug in front of the fire for her apres-walk naps.

And after about four days, it had become difficult to discern where the carpet's blue and yellow pastel carnations began and the pB's swirly fur tufts ended, and we were forced to inquire whether there was a vacuum or broom or something, ANYTHING (short of sheep shears) available to help abate the problem.

Big Jim returned with something we believed to be a horse brush. I was still in the bathroom, drying off after a luxuriously hot (solar-fueled) shower, when Big Jim gave the innocently looking brush a try. He yelled up the stairs, "Ohmygod, we HAVE to buy this brush. It is AMAZING! Wait until you see the carpet! HURRY!!!" So I quickly toweled off and descended for an inspection, and indeed I began to understand the degree of Big Jim's enthusiasm. The rug was spotless with just a few swipes of the brush, as Big Jim delightedly exclaimed, "And it only took me 2 minutes, 2 minutes I tell you, to do the whole rug. We HAVE to buy this brush."

We bought two, and we didn't even have to search high and low on the Internet to find what we thought was some specialty horse brush. The penultimate day in the North, we went to nearby Manlleu for a trip to a proper, larger supermarket because, as regular readers already know, Big Jim and I don't travel anywhere without hitting the food shops. :-) And there, at the end of the cleaning products aisle they were, hanging among the mops and dustpans. BJ had unknowingly walked right past, but as soon as I saw them, I gave a quick tug on his flannel jacket, "Look, look, I think that's The Brush."

I am thinking now perhaps we should have bought even more. When we returned home, I looked up the manufacturer, Vigar (aka the Bright Company) and found I couldn't get past their web site's home page, which didn't seem to bode well (although I do dig their design). But at least for now, and only a mere 3 euros later, our home has a new level of peacefulness and tranquility about it. And the precious Boo can shed as much as she likes---as long as it's not on Big Jim's pillow. :-)

hasta pronto,

mylifeinspain

Comments

[Tracy]

OH MY GOD.
Where can we get one????????????