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What are you up to today? This week?


heidiiiii

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Have the day off to mow, babysit, and clean. Tomorrow the band plays a parade, then back at the chores. We're hosting an old-fashioned ice cream social here at the farm on Sunday for our July DAR meeting. Lots to do!

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Have the day off to mow, babysit, and clean.

"Day off" and "mow, babysit, and clean" do not belong in the same sentence! But the ice cream social sounds like great fun. Our municipal band hosts an ice cream social every summer. That concert is always well attended. :D

I have been up since 3 am. Apparently a squadron of mosquitoes got me when I went out to finish planting some flowers just before sundown last night. Strangely, I wasn't awake of them at the time, but I woke up itching and am still wide awake and trying not to scratch. It's now nearly 6 am and getting light out. Think I'll put on some DEET perfume and go do some weeding while it's still relatively cool. Today's high temp prediction is 93F; a good day for a siesta.

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Congratulations Tracy. I love being a grandma. My grandkids just call me grandma Wanda. Not too original.

Gail?? I have a dear friend in Dana Point, She walks the shore almost every night. Wish I could be out there with you all. I miss SO CA so much.

Kathie B. When we were at Truman Dam this past weekend my daughter had some bug deterrent that didn't smell. It was for the little buzzy buggers as well as ticks. I used some, no oily leftovers and no smell. It's in a Brown can. I am sure she got it at wally-world. It says formulated for ticks, but works on the little blood suckers also. FYI the had an AWESOME fireworks display off the Truman Dam on Saturday. Best I have seen since I left California. Huntinton b

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Well shitezel, my keyboard posted before I was ready. Huntington Beach is what I was trying to type. I love the display off the pier

Also Tracy....3 hours is better than 12. My closest grandchild is over 4 hours away. All the others are between 6 and 12 hrs (IF you don't stop for a potty break)

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I have a cousin who is Polish and she is Busha (boosha)

I have been Mommy for so long and to so many, and my mother has been Grandma, that now that I am a grandma, no one knows what to call me. My husband tells the baby to go see mommy (and then says grandma), my daughter says mommy's here when I visit (and then corrects herself). You would think after a year and a half, some name would have stuck. I will wait and see what the baby calls me.

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Congratulations Tracy. I love being a grandma. My grandkids just call me grandma Wanda. Not too original.

Gail?? I have a dear friend in Dana Point, She walks the shore almost every night. Wish I could be out there with you all. I miss SO CA so much.

Kathie B. When we were at Truman Dam this past weekend my daughter had some bug deterrent that didn't smell. It was for the little buzzy buggers as well as ticks. I used some, no oily leftovers and no smell. It's in a Brown can. I am sure she got it at wally-world. It says formulated for ticks, but works on the little blood suckers also. FYI the had an AWESOME fireworks display off the Truman Dam on Saturday. Best I have seen since I left California. Huntinton b

Wanda, Dana Point has it's harbor, which is nice to walk around. Come and visit next time you are here.

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<doing a double take at the spider picture> I swear by all that's holy, if I ever saw a spider that big, I'd grab my .38 and unload on it. Then I'd reload and do it again! OMG, that is one seriously scary spider!!!! I've heard stories about the camel spiders in Kuwait (Bruce actually did use his side arm to kill one) which has convinced me never to go around camels so I'm adding bananas to the list. No tallyman for me! Daylight come and me wanna go home so fast that I'd be just a flash of light!

Deb, don't worry about bananas. They're only called that because their abdomen is sometimes the shape and color of a banana. Ironically, we have about a dozen banana palms on each side of the house, but the banana spiders aren't there. They're on both sides of the front door and under all of the other trees. As long as they're outside and not in any of our walking paths, I'll let them help with limiting the insect population outside. The one in the photo is medium sized compared to the ones I grew up with in Orlando. It's still early in their season, so the ones around our house are still small (about the diameter of a saucer). I'll take some photos when they're full size, around September or October.

I hope your doctor has good news for you, Deb. The doctor not telling you your results over the phone is infuriating, but the fact that he or she thinks you can wait for them is hopefully a good sign.

I was able to cut a few saplings and bushes within a small part of the yard yesterday after removing about a dozen spiders and their webs first. However, there were even more behind those first few trees, so I'm going to hold off until winter to go any further into the backyard.

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Doctors never like to give results over the phone. Face to face they can pace the effects to the patient's reactions and anticipate questions.

I am also a great fan of leaving spiders in the outdoors alone! The kinds of critters we used to see in their webs convinced me I like having them out there doing theiir thing on other bugs and nasties.

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I'm the same way! Once I found a huge, beautiful (and terrifying) spider in my office. I tried to tell a big manly man about it so he could take it outside, but he shrieked and promptly stomped it. I felt so bad. These days I just try to shoo them off into a corner where hopefully no one will notice them (far away from my desk, naturally).

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With a nice long pencil or ruler, gently coax the spider onto a paper napkin, fold the corners together nd take it outside and shake the napking over a shrub to give it a new home.

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Or pop a drinking glass or other container over it, slide a piece of thin cardboard (or even printer paper) under it to trap it for deportation.

On a slightly different scale, I once used a wastebasket and a drawing board in a similar manner to evict a possum from my bedroom.

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"Day off" and "mow, babysit, and clean" do not belong in the same sentence! But the ice cream social sounds like great fun. Our municipal band hosts an ice cream social every summer. That concert is always well attended. :D

I have been up since 3 am. Apparently a squadron of mosquitoes got me when I went out to finish planting some flowers just before sundown last night. Strangely, I wasn't awake of them at the time, but I woke up itching and am still wide awake and trying not to scratch. It's now nearly 6 am and getting light out. Think I'll put on some DEET perfume and go do some weeding while it's still relatively cool. Today's high temp prediction is 93F; a good day for a siesta.

Well, the weatherman is calling for rain, so inside and out have to be ready. Quick swipe thru on Sunday, and bake a couple of cakes, and there we are!

Have you tried vinegar on the mosquito bites? I'd never tried it before this summer, but it does work.

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Have you tried vinegar on the mosquito bites? I'd never tried it before this summer, but it does work.

I'll give it a try next time I'm attacked!

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What works on chigger bites besides clear nail polish? Our last trip to the Havana house I came home covered in chigger bites and we're headed back Tuesday on our way to DH's mother's birthday bash; I don't care to show up covered in itchy red blotches or in shiny patches of clear nail polish...

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The things we learn here! I'd never think to use nail polish, but if it works. . . .

I got some Chiggerrid once for us and noticed it went on and looked like clear nail polish, so next time I tried that and it worked.

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A little bit off color, but I have read that Vagisil cream is good for itching bites. Anybody ever hear Bill Cosby's routine for Toothache? Too hilarious :bigwink:

Moving my 7 foot tall bookcase today to prepare for painting the front room. It is trading places with my Vermont Jr, so she will probably get some much needed cleaning TLC. Maybe she will stop bugging me for a re-hab job if she gets a new home and clean.

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The nail polish seals off their air supply and the little buggies just suffocate underneath it. It works for ticks too. Windex is another good option for itchy mosquito bites. Wet down a cotton ball or tissue and hold it over the bite for a few minutes. The ammonia neutralizes the venom and the itching stops. For those of you with swarms of mosquitoes ready to carry you away.......did you know that they're most attracted to the colors light blue and yellow? Avoid wearing those colors when you're out in the swamps and you'll have fewer bites.

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We always keep a bottle of ammonia and witch hazel ready in the summer. They are our go-tos for bite relief. The prevention is way harder for me than the after treatments.

Butterflies are attracted to blue as well. Must be something about the eye function and what regions of the color spectrum they all see.

I've read that the chigger actually isn't burrowed under your skin, it's the gifts that it leaves behind that causes the itching and redness. Their saliva creates a little mess inside the bite hole and creates a straw effect for them where they bite in your skin. It makes it easy for them to feed but the mess they leave behind takes a week or so to be reabsorbed by your body. It has a fancy science term that I can't remember right now. Some folks try things like calamine lotions or sprays, Lamisil ointment, Colgate toothpaste, a saltwater or oatmeal bath or Listerine mouthwash to help with the itching.

It's the prevention, again, that is the most important. The mosquito sprays provide some help. Wonder if you used a lemon/eucalyptus oil mixture if it would help. I read a while ago that it can be equal to DEET in it's effectiveness. Here is what I saved from the site I was at.

Another potent tool to have in your arsenal is lemon-eucalyptus spray. This natural mosquito, flea and tick repellent is government-approved for being just as effective as DEET. On top of that, you can easily make your own spray for around $2 a bottle.

Here's the recipe: Simply take a small spray bottle and fill it up halfway with distilled or boiled water. Next, fill up the rest of with some witch hazel from your local pharmacy. Then top it all off with 50 drops of lemon-eucalyptus oil, commonly found at most health food stores. This solution is also safe for your skin – just dab a few drops on a cotton ball and apply

I also read somewhere that you can mix sulfur and talcum powder together and sprinkle it around your ankles and sleeve openings to prevent them from biting but you'll stink to high heavens in the meantime. Eeeew

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