No-See-Ums...

Now you don't see them, now they B-I-T-E you!

Arghhhhh!

Went out kayaking (F-I-N-A-L-L-Y)...wanted a sunset shot...was earlier than necessary, so paddled around for a while, waiting, waiting, waiting.  Ah what's that I spot on shore?

It was a relatively calm day.

Paddling around, I'm titling this one 'Dashed Dreams'

Almost gone, golden sunshine. 

 
I couldn't hang out any longer to get the beauty as the sun 'hit' the water.

Scratch - scratch - scratch - yikes! It's the attack of the no-see-ums! 

Quick head for shore! 

Google natural remedies. 

Ahhh...found some recipe ideas from The Boat Galley:

1 oz essential oils

9 to 19 oz carrier oil or alcohol

The site lists several oils and what they protect from.

OILS

citronella oil (no-see-ums, mosquitoes and biting flies)

cinnamon oil (mosquitoes)

lemon eucalyptus or regular eucalyptus oil (mosquitoes, ticks and lice)

castor oil (mosquitoes)

sweet orange oil (fleas)

rose geranium (ticks and lice)

CARRIERS

Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil or any cooking oil

Witch Hazel

Vodka

Well, organic coconut oil I have on hand...stopped by the local health food store and picked up Citronella and Eucalyptus.  Thought I'd go with the Citronella only as the yellow flies are horrid this time of year.

Plus I've never applied anything like this to my skin and wanted to know if there would be any reaction.  Coconut oil with or without lavender oil is no problem, but better safe than sorry!

Took a 4 ounce mason jar, let the oil liquefy and then added about 25 drops of the oil.  It was pretty strong smelling!

Essential oils are concentrated, you do not want to use anything that is diluted.  The original article (worth reading) emphatically states take care, you don't want to use tiki torch oil on your skin!

My finished product.

Slathered some on and went for a bike ride. Noticed a few 'bugs' (dead) on my arm, so far so good.  Came home and puttered in the yard, messing with my plants.

Had a couple of yellow flies land and try to bit, but very select places on my foot!  I'm attributing this to missing that particular area (knuckle of my big toe! and the back of my foot).  Overall I think this will work.

I was looking for witch hazel (which I thought I had in my linen closet), and found some skin so soft bug repellent...guess the main ingredient?  Citronella oil!

Made up my own spray using an 8 oz bottle filled with witch hazel and 25 drops of citronella oil.  I'll be trying it...soon!

July 2014

Hmmm....I was wondering, is anybody else reading through in the Bible in a year?  I began July's reading, realizing I'd made a HUGE mistake, but no one said anything...looked and realized I'd not posted this month.

So while slightly delayed, it's now correct (I hope!):

George Whitefield

George Whitefield bio from Chapel Library (you may read his works online or order through their website).

George Whitefield (1714-1770)

Born in Gloucester, England; the best-known evangelist of the 18th century and one of the greatest itinerant preachers in the history of the churches of Jesus Christ. Whitefield worked together with John and Charles Wesley in establishing the “Holy Club” during his studies at Oxford University. By God’s grace, Whitefield experienced a genuine conversion and came to see that his “holiness” was only filthy rags. He realized that he needed to rest by faith in the finished work of Christ and began to fervently preach the necessity of regeneration.

Whitefield was an ordained minister of the Church of England. When opposition to his preaching closed church doors to him, he led the way in preaching outdoors and in traveling wherever he could to air the message of salvation. He shared this work with the Wesleys. He was mightily used of God in England and the American Colonies during the “Great Awakening,” and ceaselessly preached the sovereign grace of God, the necessity of the new birth through faith alone in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. In New England in 1740, he preached to crowds as large as eight thousand nearly every day for over a month. This tour was one of the most remarkable episodes in the whole history of American Christianity and a key event in New England’s revival. Whitefield died in 1770 in the American Colonies in the midst of a preaching tour, which is as he had wished.