Poison Ivy

Ugh. Poison ivy. Am-I-right?  I am severely allergic!  When I was 9, I was a giant, oozing, walking scab that summer.  I've never had it that bad since then, but I'm very cautious. Even so, somehow I got some on my leg and then it spread to other regions. According to my Mensa brother, you have 3 hours to get it off your skin before it does its damage. Also, you need to use something that cuts grease, because it's the oil from the plant that causes the itching but also the spreading. In addition to a good soap, something abrasive is good to scrub it off to make sure there's no oil left on your skin.

I've done a few things to clear it up. To quell the itching, I take hot showers; I set the shower on a single stream so it has a bit of pressure to it, and then I target it to itchy areas. It itches even more until the natural histamines kick in to quell the itching. This also works for bug bits but NOT sunburn!  Adding heat to heat adds more heat; because PHYSICS.  If you have a small area, then you can also heat up a spoon and apply it to the itchy area for poison ivy and bug bites.

After the shower when I'm itch-free, I spritz jewelweed over the affected areas and let it dry. It helps with the itch and it helps to dry up the poison ivy.  There's some down at the "lake" that I will make sure to harvest in the next coupla weeks. The last thing I've been doing is taking homepathic, Rhus Tox. All of this has helped me stay relatively comfortable and the poison ivy is drying up and going away. Which is where I want it!

I'll leave you with Susun Weed talking about Jewelweed.  :-)

M&M Monday

Last Monday, I went down to Richmond to do some more house hunting. The girls know we're going to Mystic Pet as soon as I wheel my suitcase out the door. I shut the door so that they wouldn't come out before I could move the car to get them loaded. And so they sat by the door:

Millie waits against the door.

Maggie stands beside her, waiting to come out.

Car is backed up against the hill, ready for them to load up.

Maggie gets in first, Millie follows.

Heading down the road. 7 miles of dirt 'n' gravel.

And then I was in Richmond, bought a house, and came back.

Lena brings the girls out to the car.

We get back home . . .

Tabby Bobcat says hello Maggie. The camera didn't capture them touching noses. So cute!

Come on, girls! Time to get out.

It took 15 minutes to coax them out. You can't be in a hurry with these two!

 Here are a few pix from Saturday--Gorgeous & green:

Maggie trots out to the woodshed.

Tabby chillaxin'

Hullo.

*sniff*

Maggie

Maggie heads back up the ramp, Millie hanging out.

"It's good to be me."

"What's that?"  Could be a train, a canoe on the river, a car, a deer, etc.

Hullo.

*yawn*

Zzzzzz . . . .

Meanwhile, back on the porch . . . 

Maggie & Tabby

 Maggie has a hot spot on her foot that she has periodically been licking. I'm trying apple cider vinegar (1/2 ACV, 1/2 water) & dabbing it on the spot. Will let you know how it works. Also, she positions herself under my feet to get rubbed and yesterday she maneuvered her ear onto my toe. This is how I discovered she has ear mites--with a waxy, tarry build up. So I gloved up and got some olive oil and cleaned out her ears (Millie's, too). I read somewhere that olive oil is soothing and also smothers the mites. Today I did another application but used chickweed oil to help with the itching part. You just gather the chickweed, chop it up, & saute it in olive oil & let it cool. I put it in a container & put it in the fridge, so it becomes more of an ointment. According to herbalist Susun Weed, you can make chickweed pesto. I've not had it, but I'm sure it's yummy. Chickweed is really good on bug bites, or itchy things.Once, my dog Barkley got poison ivy on her belly (her fur wasn't as thick as M&M's & she had very little on her tummy). I crushed up some chickweed & rubbed it on her and  the rash cleared up. Internally, chickweed is a remedy for constipation, so you don't want to eat too much--altho, I'm not sure what constitutes as "too much." I guess you would find out soon enough!

I've been also sprinkling powdered nettle on the dog's food along with their salmon oil, to help with any allergy stuff. Here's more info on nettle. So the girls are doing well; enjoying porch days and grassy days and essentially, just being dogs.  :-)