And what's with this annoying little pop-up box on the compose screen..... "Go to link: - Change - Remove". Get this OFF my screen. No matter how many times you close the box it pops back up.
Has anyone mentioned the term "Beta tapes" or "dinosaur" to the people at Blogger? You know, those things that failed.
Oh look, my signature sign off is in the middle of the post. To fix it is going to cause me a nightmare because all kinds of wierd code will be added to the HTML screen if I fiddle with it. I'm going to leave it right there where it will hint
End Rant...... for now.
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Yesterday I decided to tackle the round brick patio behind the house. It's been a lovely little space but has suffered from benign neglect over the last few years. It's started to look very, very scary. Think a Tim Burton movie on steroids. Very scary.
I started early in the morning at the bottom of the circle and worked around, clearing weeds and tangle from the border, working clockwise. After a couple hours of concerted hacking, whacking and cutting I'd reached the 3 o"clock position. This is where things got really hairy. The surrounding border opens up to a wide area and the tangle took on epic proportions. It was becoming a Brothers Grimm story, the Farmer's Wife enters the dark undergrowth, never to be seen again!
At this point I'll mention that I do not wear gardening gloves. I just find them to be unwieldy and I've never really needed them. The neighbors complain bitterly about poison ivy and garlic mustard but we've never encountered either on our property. Perhaps it's because all the neighbors border large forested spaces but we are up on a hill on a space that was once a horse pasture.
But now I have a dense space that could pass for a mini-forest. As I hacked away at some wild thorny bramble bush I came upon something I couldn't identify but which immediately raised some red flags in my mind. Sure enough my hands and arms started to tingle and burn.
I ran into the house to my computer where the wonder of the internet allowed me to identify the fact that, in fact, I'd gotten myself into some poison ivy. A further search provided an idea for a treatment. Now think about what would have happened in the past. I would have had to jump in my car and drive to the latest library to research the information, all th while enduring the pain.
What article suggested was to douse the affected area with rubbing alcohol. I tore through cabinets only to find that we had no rubbing alcohol. I did have some expensive vodka on hand but quickly nixed that idea, feeling it was better to mix myself a stiff martini and endure the pain.
I thought about what might be equally effective and came up with the idea of pouring nail polish remover over my arms. It stung and burned like hell but I figured that meant it was working and sure enough, when I rinsed off my arms the burning totally stopped.
Have you ever encountered poison ivy? How about garlic mustard? Around here it's an invasive plant that threatens to take over, kind of a northern version of kudzu.
OK, I'm going to hit the publish button again and woe be to Blogger if anything goes wrong.
13 comments:
When we get into poison ivy, we use bleach. It stinks like crazy, and burns, but it will dry the rash up quickly! Living in the South, that stuff is everywhere - about the only thing that naturally chokes it out is kudzu. I'd rather have the poison. :)
If you're into homeopathic remedies, look for Rhus Tox and Tecnu. The Rhus Tox will help you build up an immunity, and Tecnu does an amazing job of washing the poison oil off your skin, clothes, and pets. Our local pharmacy stocks both. Read here: http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/homeopathic.html
Have a great day!
Kay
Two words: Fels Naptha. Look it up on that Internet of yours! My mom always swore by it.
Paying close attention to the remedy for poison ivy. Fels Naptha sounds like a good one. Bleach? Yikes! The worst case of poison ivy I ever had was being in an apple orchard where they were burning off brush. I breathed in that smoke you see and oh, it was nasty. Had to have cortisone shots that time.
Remedy for blogger: little gear in upper right on first page. Menu drops down. You can go back to the old format. If I were you, though, I'd keep learning the new one. I'm almost to the place where I don't have to switch back and forth anymore.
Haven't run into poison ivy, but Texas fire ants can bite like the dickens. And, boy, are they fast.
Why, they can run up a pant leg fasten than you can say holy ****!
My son used to log, he always poured gas on his poison ivy, not much of anything else in the woods when you are logging. I take Rhus tox, and there is a product called Ivy Block that I have used, I try to stay away from it, but have had to go the steroid route 3 times in the last several years. It seems I can walk by it and have it.
take care and watch what you are weeding! Pam
We always have Ivy Block on hand. It's not cheap, but it works amazingly well. My husband and daughter really have terrible reactions to poison ivy and the Ivy Block (it's a sort of soap in a tube) keeps them from having to go on steroids! My grandmother used to put turpentine on everything.
I am an expert on poison ivy, and can say without reservation...
You people are all insane! Bleach, gas, rubbing alcohol, turpentine,and Suzanne, my heavens! nail polish remover!!!None of those things are good for your skin.
First of all, poison ivy does not cause an immediate reaction. That was probably stinging nettle. There may have been some poison ivy next to it, but you usually don't feel the itch till some hours later...and it is bad.
I am very allergic and the slightest exposure can cause a head to toe rash. But even for me the best thing to do is:
1.Rinse the area well with plain cool water. Soap can help to spread the oil. Warm water opens your pores.
2.Use a mild soap and cool water without rubbing too much.
3.Pat dry.
4.Avoid the stuff religiously in the future. Leaves of 3? Let it be.:)
Good luck with your weeding project. Hope it goes better now that you know to avoid the bad plants.
I would just like to report somewhere that I am feeling in a similar mood regarding blogger. They have had me change my password three times this morning alone. I can't imagine what horrible merry-go-round I've landed on, but it's not fun. Hope that this comment flies because I've lost a ton of them this morning.
I agree with Mary Rex, you would not have got a quick reaction from poison ivy as it takes a couple of days to show up. We wash after the exposure with lye soap.
Hope you got to the poison ivy in time. . . if not. . .
Aveeno soap if you can find it, if not steroid cream
I agree with Cheryl. Fire ants in Texas are a serious problem. A couple of years ago, unknown to me, I was dragging my leg through an area of active fire ants while weeding. Those suckers apparently sent a signal to bite and it was all over but the screaming. I had at least 100 on my ankle. I spent 6 weeks in a wound clinic. I still have to wear a funky stocking.
Thank Goodness we don't have fire ants up here! How awful! We do have a high incidence of Lyme Disease from ticks, and West Nile Virus from mosquitoes. It hardly seems safe to go outside anymore!
I live with my mom now, in the suburban house I grew up in and have never seen any snakes around. Ever. In 58 years. The neighbors just took a video of a garter snake in their hostas. Snakes are good in the garden, but it is good to know you just might see one! And thanks to the neighbors' quick video, knowing it's not a poisonous one.
Another note on Poison Ivy: I do not recommend spraying it with weed killer. It is a woody vine and the weed killer will just kill a few of the leaves, making it hard to see where it's growing...learned that the hard way!!
There are products now,(Technu is one Kay mentioned)that do really work if you are able to use them within an hour of exposure.
Hope everyone has an itch-free summer:)
Oh Suzanne, sorry about your poison ivy. Did the polish romover work? You probably need to use it around your house, too. PI deposits an oil on your skin that comes off onto other things. Your keyboard, and things in your medicine cabinet may harbor the oil and reinfect you, or infect the next unsuspecting victim from oils that came off of your hands. (Yikes! I hope it doesn't come through the Internet!)LOL
Hugs!
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