Make Your Own Insect Repellent

What's the bug situation like where you live this year? Due to our very mild winter here this past year, the bugs are so bad already. We really do not like using the store bought brands of insect repellent. I never knew how simple it is to make your own but it is very easy. The absolute best part too, it has a very nice, fresh fragrance. I really hate those nose burning sensations that come after using aerosol insect repellent. You just know, those can't be good for us to put onto our skin.

I did a bit of searching around on the internet and decided to make my own concoction using essential oils. I love using essential oils but was skeptical about how well homemade repellent may work . I decided to give it a go and just see. Here’s what I used. 

Using the ½ pt. jar, I filled it almost to the top with Witch Hazel. Then I just added 15 to 20 drops of Citronella and Lemongrass. You could stop there and that would work just fine at repelling the insects but you can take it a step further, by adding 10 drops Lavender or Peppermint e/o. I really love peppermint because it has a nice cooling effect on your skin. It is great for cooling off and keeping the bugs away at the same time. I also added 10 drops of Tea Tree and Geranium oils, to help repel ticks. The ticks have been really bad around here too.

Papaw and I both were pleasantly surprised by the spray. He really hates insect spray of any type and heavy citronella fragrance makes him a bit nauseous. He liked this spray. We both misted ourselves good and even a bit on our clothes, before going out to work in the garden yesterday evening. We were really pleased by how well it worked.

I felt very good about repelling the insects this way. The spray has a light and refreshing fragrance and no heavy chemicals being absorbed  into your skin. I have sensitive skin and those store bought repellents seemed to leave my skin with a burning sensation. 

After adding the drops of essential oil, I just placed the lid on the jar and gave it a good shake. It will look cloudy after shaking. Then using a funnel, just add to a mister bottle. Make sure to label the bottle. I tried using a sharpie but the ink came right off the bottle so, I had to make a label for it. Oh, one other thing, the oils will settle to the top so, shake well before each use.

          

                                         Love and Blessings!

Tidbits...

It has been a while since my last blog post. It is my first post since eblogger has updated us all. I do not embrace change, when it comes to getting use to how certain things work on computers. I feel like we learn something just in time for the next change. I am going to give it my best try here and I hope, I figure out how to write, format and properly post a new entry.

Our garden is coming in quiet well. We were probably overly anxious this year about getting our garden going. We had many evenings that we were out tenting sheets over our plants to protect them from frost. Next year, we will pay attention to our neighbors around that have been growing gardens successfully for years and start when they do. Although I must say, it is nice to see our garden flourishing and we are getting things like kale, spinach and radishes already.   Papaw is thrilled with his garden so much so, he is already planning to enlarge it a bit next year. 

 

Our little hobo that came to us many weeks ago is doing so well. He has gained weight and appears to be healthy. We had a vet to stop by and see him to give him his shots and test for heart worms. He says he is is fine and is one lucky fellow. It seems it has taken him weeks to really get his body restored from the starvation that he went through. Where ever he came from, we just feel blessed he is our dog now. He is so lively. He loves playing with Doodlebug too. He is her shadow. He also follows Papaw to the hen house daily. He always wants to get in on a treat. Papaw has taken to keeping doggie treats in the barn. When he takes the treats out to the gal, he always takes a few doggie treats out for Buddy. Oh, Doodlebug decided to call him Buddy. Everyone would always call him by saying, "come here buddy." He is everyone's buddy here and we love him.

Hope you all are doing well. Until next time, blessings!

Breaking Ground

We are so happy! Don't let the photo mislead you. These two clowns are giving me their version of Gary Wood's famous American Gothic painting. They think I should paint them. Don't you just love it? I love Papaw's shirt too.

This week has been a great week for getting so much accomplished around here. I was so grateful to Home Depot for their sale on Cyprus mulch. Yipee! I say that now, as my back and knee throb and ache. My flower beds around the house are weeded and almost finished. We have a bit of landscaping to do along the front of the house. Also, a bed used for a retaining wall out back needs to be cleared and something done to it, before I can truly declare that job is truly finished. We have several bushes that have to be moved. I am turning our front flower bed into a salad bed. I think it will be the perfect spot to do that. We have some very big bushes that really need to be taken away from the house so, it will be perfect time to give the salad bed a try.

I am overly joyed to report that we have our very first real garden spot tilled and the soil amended! Papaw, Doodles and Joe Joe worked on that project Tuesday and Wednesday and it is done. We will be dropping our first seeds in the ground this afternoon. Below are a few photos of the big event. And believe me, it was a very big deal for us to reach this milestone. Our grounds here are very hard and full of clay. It is almost impossible to get a shovel in the ground. We had tried with a small tiller, several times to till a little spot over the years but it was impossible. We saved and finally bought Papaw, that well needed tractor he had been dreaming of. Heck, who am I kidding? It was my dream too, to see him on that big tractor. I am already thinking about what I will like to can and preserve for fall and winter.

Meet the boss of this job, or so she thinks. This is Doodles and she loves gardening. Who am I kidding, this kid just loves dirt, no matter what she may be wearing. You'll see what I mean in the next few photos.

Yep, that's her out there in her new Sunday skirt that I just made her, giving careful thought to Papaw's chore at hand.

She starts helping him line up his tractor to move around some of the composting material. Since he was new at all of this, she really thought he could use the help. *grin*

 

She may think she is the boss of this project but she still don't mind jumping right in there and getting a bit dirty, IN THAT NEW SKIRT and flip-flops.

She did quickly realize, with a bit of suggestion, that she really needed to take that skirt off. Lucky for  us, she had a pair of shorts on underneath and just stepped right out of it in the middle of the garden.

 

Yep, that Papaw is wearing a John Deer hat on his Massey Ferguson tractor. He said he didn't want to get his good hat, (his Massey Ferguson hat) dirty. 

Papaw and Doodles work and play well together. He spent so much time teaching her about the tractor and even letting her help turn the composting material under. She thought it was the coolest thing ever. She really loves the new beginnings of our farming days.

 

Isn't this a thing of beauty?

Job well done, you two!

After all that work, they had to do a bit of cleaning. First of themselves.

Then they cleaned their tools and tractor.

 

I knew this would quickly go down hill if Papaw got his hands on that garden hose.

 

 And I was right. It was all out war or at least until...

she got her hands back on that hose.

 I do think she lost. That big guy can be scary when he points his finger at you.

Mean old Papaw!

Blessings to you all!

Blessings

I am starting this blog post today, without a clue of a title for it. It has been a few weeks, since I have blogged anything. A lot has happened but where to start?

After the trying few months at the beginning of the year with illness, I am happy to report, everyone is doing fantastic. Papaw is back to his old self and so is his mom. They are doing great and feeling better since their surgeries. We all are so grateful to God for their health and speedy recovery. Papaw said, he understands that statement by, the Vietnamese monk Thich Naht Hahn that goes something like, “the only way to know that you appreciate what it feels like to NOT have a toothache, is to have had a toothache.” I know I didn’t quote that exact but hopefully you understand the meaning. Papaw says, now he really knows and appreciates knowing what it is like NOT to have kidney stones. I am just grateful they are feeling better.

 More good news…Well it is for Doodlebug and I. We have been wanting a dog for so very long. Papaw just kept saying no, that we didn’t need another animal to care for. Well, God had a different plan and we now have a dog. We had this sweet little guy show up at our house a couple of days ago. I had heard noises outside at night on the porch on several occasions. I would go out to look but would never see anything. Well, he had been hanging around here and hiding out during the day and eating Lucy, our cats’ food at night. 

The other day, Doodles and I were sitting on the sofa, working on school work. We spotted this little dog on the porch. I went out to take a look at him. I was in disbelief at what I saw. He was starving. He could hardly stand. How he managed to climb the 14 or so steps up on the porch was amazing. His legs were so shaky. He does appear to have something wrong with one of his back legs. It was easy to count his ribs because his stomach was sank in so. It was so sad.  I called Papaw and Joe Joe up from the barn to take a look at him. We fed him some food and gave him water. We tried to get him to let us touch him but it appears he must have been abused because he backs away from our hands. 

Over the past couple of days that he has been here, he is starting to trust a bit more. He has taken to feeling comfortable enough to sleeping on our porch now. Papaw has been going out on the porch and sitting on the floor and leaning over on his side to get down low. In him doing so, it seems to help the dog feel less intimidated. 

As soon as we can, we want to bath him and remove ticks from him. Right now we can’t really get a hold of him to take good care of him. We are in hopes that in time, we can give him the care he needs. We are feeding him small amounts 3 to 4 times a day, giving him water and lots of love. He did seem to be a bit lively this morning and his legs appear to be stronger.  I just love seeing him come to me, tail wagging. I know it is only because, I am holding food or a Milk Bone right now. Soon, maybe he will come to me just because he wants to be petted.  I am trying to rub him palms up and he still backs away. He doesn’t trust hands. That is why I do believe he has been abused. I have not had any experience with an abused animal but I do trust that in time and with God's help, we can help restore this little guy's trust in humans.

I do not have any idea what God has planned for us with this little guy. I guess we will keep our eyes open to see if he did have a loving family that misses him and wants him back. The way he behaves now, I feel it is hard to think he came from a loving family. We are going to check to see if he has been chipped and if not, he has a home now. Papaw even likes the little guy too. Yesterday, when we returned home from church, he went right out to the front porch with a Milk Bone and sat down on the steps to visit with Wishbone. Doodlebug has taken to calling him Wishbone. The rest of us want to call him Hobo. We will just have to wait and see what sticks. 

Hope you all are having a blessed start to your spring. We have to get busy trying to till our garden spot. I do wish we could catch a few dry days to be able to do so.

Many blessings!  Ah, I have a name now for this blog...