Not So Smart

Today started out well . . . at least at reminding me how my brain isn't in a particularly grand working fashion. Our outside temperature was a little cooler today that it has been recently, so I thought, I'll go out and water all the plants before it gets too hot. Sounds reasonable, right? Well, it was. It was wonderful out there watering our myriad of needy plants--some in pots, some not. Then I noticed one of those pesty (related to Dracula) kind of insects. I blew them away and went about my necessary business--watering plants.

A little while later, I noticed that my ankles were stinging, itching, and all that kind of fun stuff. I went on watering, paying little notice to the slight diversion around my ankles. Brilliantly, I skoffed at the growing itch and sting. When those discomforts became nearly unbearable--against my stoic resolve to go on--I looked down at my bare ankles and legs. Eeeeeeewww! There were all kinds of lovely welts already formed without any scratching to increase the histamines in my skin doing their thing. I, in an effort to record my lack of wisdom in failing to apply any insect repellant--see I told you: Not So Smart. I did take pictures. It was just so bad!

This is my lower leg and part of my foot--in case it's hard to figure out! My foot is resting on the chair that's almost visable. (I'm sorry my leg is so large and ugly, but that's just the way it is. You can close your eyes and move on, if you like, of course. I am.)

Fortunately I had some great stuff to put on the bites and haven't itched since! Now if I could only find 24 uncoated Bayer asprin tablets, I could make another batch of this great solution that stops itching and dries things up--even poison ivy attacks! If you know of a source of UNcoated Bayer asprin tablets in the U. S. , please let me know where I can find some! Debbie, at Life's Funny Like That, could you come capture these stinkin' mosquitos for me? PLEASE?

Would you like the recipe for the great STUFF that dries up all kinds of wicked skin problems?

14 fluid oz. Isopropyl Alcohol (in a 16 oz. bottle)

1 oz. powdered Alum

24 uncoated Bayer asprin tablets

Add the alum powder and Bayer asprin to the alcohol remaining in the bottle, and shake it well. Leave it alone for a couple of weeks before using it. It will turn purplish due to the alum, I think. Shake it before each use and it will dry things up like you won't believe! (The older it gets, the better it is.) I have one bottle that I made up more than 10 years ago--YES--MORE than 10 years ago. My daughter, who is HIGHLY alergic to poison ivy, got into some recently. I gave her the "stuff" and I think her rash and itching were gone in less than one week.

OH, before I forget. If you get into poison ivy or poison oak, wash the affected area VERY PROMPTLY with Dawn dish detergent and water. The grease cutting action works on the oil based irritant of the poison ivy/oak to "deactivate" it, according to a lady I know who's a professional chemist. Plus it has something to do with the pH levels of each. It does work. My husband and two of our daughters are very sensitive to the stuff and the girls have had it so badly in the past they had to have cortisone shots! (Before we knew of these two GREAT things to help. Cortisone shots are not fun--or cheap!

If my mosquito incident wasn't enough to confirm my "not so smart" status, I'll give you another example. I'm feeling so "smart" today, let me tell you! My son is working at a fireworks stand, as I mentioned in an earlier blog. I took him lunch today--as I usually do--and visited with him for a few minutes. When he was through eating, I left to get some other errands done--but I went home first to deposit his dirty dishes, etc. After getting back home I realized I'd left my purse in his stand. That includes everything one would usually find in a woman's purse (maybe), including my cell phone. I felt so smart--again.

I went back to retrieve my purse and give him a bathroom break. I'd brought a little grocery list with me and thought of something I needed to add to the list. So, I opened my purse to get a pencil so I could write down what it was I needed to pick up at Wal-Mart. Then, after I got my pencil, ready to write, my mind went blank. Seems to be a growing problem, doesn't it? I called my husband to see if he could think of things I might need to pick up while shopping. He mentioned a couple of things, but not the one lodged (irretrievably) somewhere in my brain.

You just have to love those situtions, right? One, two, three--so far today. Lovely. After I returned home with most of the stuff I'd set out to get, I finally DID remember what I'd forgotten: Clorox and Clorox wipes. The ONLY reason I actually remembered either of them was that my kitchen sink smelled to high heaven because I'd discovered a couple of rotten potatoes earlier and stuck them in the sink while I cleaned out the basket I usually keep them in, until I could dispose of the nasty things in the compost pile. I needed Clorox to clean up the mess and smell, thank you very much!

So, I've exposed to anyone who reads this little blog that I am certainly not smart. Sob. Truth. :(