- Poison ivy/oak/sumac is the scourge of the Earth. By which I mean, I have it. AGAIN. This is what I get for daring to weedeat in shorts when it’s 90 degrees outside. :headdesk: I’ve got Ivarest but of course it still takes at least a week to heal up and I’m itching like crazy in the meantime because that’s ALL you can think about when you’re trying not to think about it. :itch itch itch: I am told they do not have this plague in Britain. I’m thinking this is an excellent reason to add to the list of why I want to move there.
- Yesterday was our big shopping trip to find a new entertainment console. After hubs checked the measurements of the receiver again, he realized that for the last year while we’ve been looking, he had the depth confused with the width, so we had rejected several perfectly good ones thinking they weren’t deep enough. The good news about that was that we wound up being able to buy the one my mom had found that’s got this gorgeous sort of tiger’s eye wood. It’s actually a buffet, but it’s a lovely real wood piece that we will be able to use for years.
- While we were up there, we picked up a rug from my mom, helped her do a few things, and swung by Sam’s Club for a big bulk shopping trip in support of my recent obsession with freezer meals. I decided that making up a month’s worth of meals would be just the thing for the two weeks on either side of the move to give me ample time to get the new house set up and this one packed up (would also be great for busy writers, hint hint). I went kinda nuts on Pinterest the other day, looking for recipes and tips and such. I’ve got to do a major reorganization of our freezer today to accommodate. In any event, the whole day took a lot longer than I’d expected (SO MANY OBLIVIOUS PEOPLE–this is why I don’t like shopping), so I didn’t get any writing done yesterday because I putzed around all morning watching HGTV and the Travel Channel.
- It wasn’t a bad week writing-wise, though. I ended up with 624 on Wednesday, 360 on Thursday, and 776 on Friday. I’m closing in on the midpoint scene. There have been a fair amount of bracketed chunks where I’m just not quite sure how to present some stuff yet, but I’d rather do that and keep moving forward. I can fill them in on the next pass or when something better occurs to me.
- Daisy and Callie had a great day out at the grandparents yesterday (yes, we are those people–the dogs are considered grandkids in our family). Grandpa put Daisy in a wheelbarrow and took her to her FAVORITE place–The Playground (otherwise known as the front section of their 6 acres which is her favorite place to run up and down the fence line and bark at stuff). She thought that was AWESOME, so we have decided next weekend to pull Allen’s old wagon down from the barn out there and clean it up. If it’s still viable, we can put a pillow or something in the bottom and start going for walks again, which would make EVERYONE happy. Callie is a naturally very lazy dog, and since we haven’t had any proper walks since Daisy had her FCE (other than a handful of isolated ones), she’s getting a little tubby. So are her mom and dad. So we’ll get the wagon fixed and cleaned up and get back to our evening walks before dinner.
- I’m getting ready to get back on the food blogger wagon. Not my full 3 posts a week schedule yet, but at least A post a week. I’ve been missing it. I’m thinking this week, I’m going to do crock pot pulled pork. In a few minutes, I need to go put the rub on the pork shoulder I bought, and rewrap it so it can marinate overnight. I’ll start it tomorrow probably…beginning on the grill in the morning during my workout and finishing off in the crock pot the rest of the day. Which is, of course, the best part of crock pot cooking. Fix it and forget it.
8 thoughts on “Sunday Summary”
“I am told they do not have this plague in Britain.” As a Fantasy writer living in England, I can indeed confirm that we have other problems instead. Such as non-stop rain for the past two weeks. On the bright side: with this downpour I can only stay home and edit my latest novel. Congratulations on (almost) hitting your writing goals. Have a great week and happy writing!
Kait, I live in East Tennessee and we have poison ivy everywhere! And I am HIGHLY allergic to it — as in quarter-sized blisters if I get it really bad. Two things I have discovered: 1) If you have a really bad reaction that won’t go away, the doctor can give you Prednisone for one week and it will do the job, and 2) You can get a product called “Zanfel” at WalMart for $30+/tube that is wonderful. It is a gritty cream and you wash the exposed area with it following the directions on the tube, as soon as you can after exposure. It washes off the Urishiol, the oil in the plant that causes the reaction. Even if you still get a reaction because your skin has started to absorb the Urishiol, it will be much less, and it *will take the itch away!* Even if you don’t use the Zanfel immediately, it will still help. Hydro-cortisone cream will also help the itch somewhat. — And the worst part about Urishiol is that it never goes away; if you get it on your clothes (i.e. a hunting jacket or such) and you don’t wash it all out thoroughly, you can still get a reaction a year or more later from that garment. And the vines and roots are the worst part of the plant for oil content. And, if you have it growing up a tree and cut it at the bottom, the dead vine on the tree will still give you a bad reaction. — I have had a poison ivy reaction so bad (before I discovered Zanfel) that it took a Prednisone shot and two rounds of the pills just to get it to start clearing up. That was when I had the huge, weeping blisters on my forearms from clearing out around my day lilies, when we first moved here. Now I have to wear long sleeves and gloves, with Ace bandages covering the gap between gloves and sleeves, and of course, long pants, shoes, and socks. I “cook” when I work around it, but at least I don’t get exposed. And the clothes all go straight into the wash, very carefully so that I don’t touch any of the fabric. — Did I mention that I HATE poison ivy??
Good Luck,
Barb Ross
PS – I am sure that you already know that you should never burn the poison ivy, or a log with it on it, because then you could get the oil airborne and inhale it, which is a *really* bad thing for your lungs.
Yeah I’m in Mississippi. It’s just as bad here. Been dealing with it forever. My favorite product for it is Ivarest (there’s both a cream and a foaming wash which also washes off the oil). I just haven’t been able to use the cream as much because it rubs right off under your pants like calamine lotion…and I’ve been wearing the pants because a) shorts at work are not kosher and b) I don’t dare SHAVE with the rash… 😀 It’ll go away in a few days.
Yikes! Hope you feel better soon! I got poison sumac last year while working in my blackberry patch and ended up with a horrible burn on my lower leg. The only thing that worked for me was some sliver cream stuff the docs gave me but I still have a scar. I think nature hates me 🙁 Great progress on your goals and omg that pulled pork sounds soooo good!
Oh, Kait. I am in Florida so I hear you! You might consider an oatmeal bath at night–I found Aveeno works best– but no suggestions for work, however. As for the frozen meals, absolutely! They are a great way to write a lot and eat well, especially vegetables. Have a great week, Kait.
Karen
Oh I had no idea the in’s and outs of poison ivy! Very sorry to read you’ve had another outbreak. I’m chemical sensitive to cleaning solutions so wherever I go, no matter the temperature I must wear a sweater, or a long-sleeved tshirt or some such shirt. I do hope you heal fully and quickly. I’m looking forward to your freezer dinners. I’ve never done anything like that. Have a fabulous week.
I haven’t had poison ivy or oak in a long time. I’m very allergic and so is my husband, so we’ve been lucky for awhile. I HATE the itching. It’s the worst itching ever. I hope you get over it soon.
I’m so glad Daisy enjoyed being wheeled around. I know she would rather run and bark, but she’ll get there.
Ack! Poison ivy… I don’t know if this can help you this late in the game, but goats’ milk… as in drinking the stuff worked for me for years. I actually never had a reaction to the oil until I stopped drinking goats’ milk (goats are naturally immune to poison ivy an love eating the plant, and the immunity gets in the milk) a few years ago because a move had made it hard to find).
Also, similar to your Ivarest is something called Tencu which comes in a creamy “not-quite a lotion” that you can also apply to your skin BEFORE you go out and deal with PI and PS. It wll keep your skin from absorbing the oil.
So glad you’re getting out with Daisy though. Sounds like she’s going to have her own personal limo for your walks. Beautiful.
The meals and the comeback of the food blog… Why am I hungry all of a sudden? Mmm!
Sounds like a great week, Kait. Hope this next was is even better.