it's a day for AC

Yesterday we had a HORRIFIC storm roll throughthe area. 3 actually...They started off life as small things, but 1 from the south, 1 from the west, and 1 from the north/west all collided in our area. not good...but not as bad as it could have been. 3" of rain in 30minutes couldn't be absorbed by the ground or the sewer systems..so a LOT of flooding. Rather like a flash flood in the desert. One, possibly 2 tornadoes out of it.

And now..the heat. Heavy fog this morning. We're predicted for 87F, with a 90% humidity. I've got the dehumidifier going and fans moving the air around. AC will go on in a bit. Poor bunnies are already just LAYING AROUND like so many stuffed toys.

Interestingly, they all are going for the plantain, and leaving the apple leaves, dandelion and grasses alone.

Sure hope al of you are staying cool and quiet today.

Sounds gruesome, Ann. Keep as cool as you can.

Not too hot here, but we're supposed to get heavy rain later. I went out an picked the bunny greens early - lots of mallow and Queen Anne's lace and tender ends on grape vines today, plus some dandelions, raspberry leaves, wild violet leaves. The mosquitoes were fierce and I was wishing I had rubbed on some catnip before going down there. I may go back out for some fresh alfalfa and timothy but it is in the other direction and I needed a break from the bugs.

Lots of critter activity. We had a bat in the house for the second night in a row (often get one on hot muggy nights... they follow the cooler air down from the attic) and MidnightCoder had to do his thing with the butterfly net. He's great at catch-and-release. We love the little beasties, but I do wish they would not come in the house. Marilla :benice: caught a mouse in the night to her delight and this morning she was stalking a cottontail outdoors. It was too big for her to attack, but she was all aquiver with excitement. She has a tremendous ability to pretend. I've often seen her re-enact a hunt just for the rush.

A nice first morning of summer here, all in all.

Loads of heat and humidity and mosquitoes here, too! Poor Bunny-wan Kenobi looks like he has chicken pox, he's been bitten so many times!

I've heard of the catnip thing, Maggie... I take it that really works? What do you do?

I want to get more bats here... maybe they'd rid us of the mosquitoes. And cats are so fun to watch when they're stalking something! I grew up with cats, and it was a hoot!

For the catnip, I just grab a handful of leaves and mush it up... then rub it on my skin and hair. It helps. Doesn't get rid of them all, but definitely reduces the numbers - and the numbers of bites. I figure it is a lot safer than DEET. Of course, you may have people wondering about your peculiar perfume...

Silliest true cat stalking story I've ever heard was about a cat that decided to stalk a deer. It very carefully went through all the motions: butt aquiver, belly to the ground, tail twitching... slow, slow approach. But when it finally got within pouncing range, the poor cat realized just how big its quarry was... and turned to look back at his owner as if to say: "Now what the heck do I do?" :roll:

I'm going to have to consider growing catnip, then. My mom's highly reactive to fumes, so I can't use the typical repellents... and I worry about their safety, too. My kids, too, with the asthma, and eczema... I just don't want to take the chance. I've been using Bert's Bees, but it doesn't seem to be working now. Maybe it's too old, and I need a new bottle. My mom even had to avoid me for a few minutes after I put that on, while the volatile oils in the essences vaporized.

That is so funny about the cat and the deer, Maggie!! :rotfl:

Oh, Ann. I feel bad for you. I don't do humidity well at all. Hopefully you can stay cool.

Thanks Maggie for the catnip trick. I may have to try growing some too. I am allergic to the sun, and it breaks me out to no end. If I use any chemicals, fragrance, or dye, I end up not being able to take my leppar looking self anywhere. Now, any tips for all natural sunblock and I'm set!

Well... back in the late 40's and 50's, my mom used to sponge strong tea on us until we developed enough tan that we didn't burn. She claimed it worked, but I was too young to remember. You could certainly give it a try, Paula. Of course, the ozone layer was intact back then in the dark ages, so no guarantees it will still be effective.

That might be an idea. I may try a patch of skin, just to make sure it doesn't make me look like some sort of side show freak. Sunscreen makes me much more photosensitive.

Sorry for the hijack, Ann!

Heck. THis is a coffee klatch Talk goes around and around, left, right, up, down and sideways :lol: I've never been sensitive to the sun, and would probably curl up and DIE if I had to avoid it. so I'm not much help and find it very interesting! And the catnip thing...I need to try that.

Of course, it's a coffee klatch, Ann. It's under "Around the coffee table" after all.

MidnightCoder laughs at what he is pleased to call my "hedge witchery", but the mosquitoes were bad enough the other evening that he tried the catnip. He claims it doesn't help. Maybe you have to believe... :roll:

MaggieJ":bnovdnhj said:

Of course, it's a coffee klatch, Ann. It's under "Around the coffee table" after all.

MidnightCoder laughs at what he is pleased to call my "hedge witchery", but the mosquitoes were bad enough the other evening that he tried the catnip. He claims it doesn't help. Maybe you have to believe... :roll:

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You forgot to tell him to think happy thoughts! No... wait... that's for flying.

My husband is the King of Condiments. He uses enough garlic and pepper that nothing bothers him. I'm sure vampires would rather starve. On the flip side, everything gets me. Bugs, poison oak, the sun. I just suffer it out and look for natural solutions. My husband calls me the conservative hippie. LOL

pfaubush":30apo3u9 said:

My husband is the King of Condiments. He uses enough garlic and pepper that nothing bothers him. I'm sure vampires would rather starve. On the flip side, everything gets me. Bugs, poison oak, the sun. I just suffer it out and look for natural solutions. My husband calls me the conservative hippie. LOL

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:lol:

The mosquitoes really go for me... and then a few years ago, I started having these orange flies come after me at dusk. I'm ALLERGIC to them! And they are so aggressive! I sure hope they don't live here.

I've heard of allergic reactions to the sun. Those are very rare. I can't even imagine.

Have you tried making your own sunscreen? I might try it myself, just because I don't trust all that stuff that's in the commercial stuff. You can simply take some zinc oxide (non-micronized, so your skin doesn't absorb it) and mix it into your favorite lotion. Some people use titanium dioxide as well, but zinc oxide is more effective, and TiO2 is apparently slightly carcinogenic.

Non-micronized zinc oxide has been used for various applications for millennia, and can be found in diaper rash preparations in strengths up to 40%, which is more than you need for sunscreen. Rather than absorb UV rays, which commercial products do, non-micronized zinc oxide works by reflecting the rays.

One natural sunscreen I had considered but had not bought because of price is at this site: http://products.mercola.com/summer-survival-kit/ - it describes the sunscreen not quite halfway down. Their SPF15 contains 3.5% ZnO and 3.5% TiO2. From what I've read, you can substitute more ZnO for the TiO2 and just use 7% ZnO. SPF30 would then be 12% ZnO, and SPF50 would be 28.5%. It would take a little math, but you could figure out how much ZnO to mix into your lotion.

You can get ZnO at http://www.libertynatural.com and probably other places.

If you prefer, you can make an oil-based sunscreen, which is described here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemad ... Materials/

This is what I've been using as a mosquito repellant: http://www.burtsbees.com/natural-produc ... llent.html - works rather well, but I think mine is too old now, as the mosquitoes don't seem to mind it as much anymore.