Saturday, June 28, 2008

Ticks, Living without Paper Towels, and Misc.

   Ok, First ticks. I hate ticks!! Last Sunday we took youngest DS and dropped him off in tick infested woods at Boy Scout camp. We were only there less than an hour and hubby came home with 2. DD and I were fine. However My hubby is picking up DS from camp today. He has been camping in the woods all week. Even with deet bug spray (and I hate deet because it s a nasty chemical) he is going to come back with tick infested clothes. I just know it. I have the laundry  room prepared. His stuff is going to be quarantined till everything is washed in very hot water and maybe a tad of bleach. Hubby can check him for ticks in the bathroom. 
    
   Now onto my use of paper towels. I was trying to go all week without paper towels.  I was doing ok until yesterday when I decided I needed to clean out the fridge. It wasn't too horrendous but still needed it. I just couldn't bring myself to use real towels. ( I know silly) I could just as easily throw those into the wash with a little bleach and disinfect them after the job but it was easier to use the paper towels and throw them away. I however used 2 rolls of paper towels in doing so. So I failed my task of going all week without using paper towels. On a positive note though, I haven't used any paper towels for cleaning the counters or doing the dishes or drying my hands. So I still feel I have made accomplishments.  

      Other than that it is lonely here today. DD is at a retreat at Church. Hubby is gone to pick up DS from camp. Special needs son is happily listening to music upstairs. I am playing on the computer wasting time, and the little doggies are playing outside on the porch and in the back yard. Actually it is very nice to have some peace and quiet. I am rather enjoying it today. I think I will make some Ice Tea and do some reading . It is summer here and very hot! I keep telling hubby I want to move to Canada. He says no way. I have never shoveled snow, driven on icy roads etc. He is from north Michigan area before moving down south, when he was a kid, and he has no desire to move back up north. It can't be that bad. I would love to make a snowman someday. I have never done that either.

 Well  have a great day all! :-) 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

lhquohI'm live up North but lived in the south as a small child. My mother & all her family live down south (N.C. born & raised there) Ticks are a big thing to them. When I talk to my mom on the phone she asks if I checked the kids for ticks after they've been in the woods. We have ticks here but I don't think they are the same....yes you can get Lyme's disease from deer ticks. But I think my mom's fear is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.....you can get from a tick. My aunt almost died from it. So I can see the hatred for ticks if you live in the south.

Tracy said...

We don't have tick problems where I am...but leeches. Eww. Every time the kids do stuff in the bush near the creek at school they come out with leeches. Gross.

I had to chuckle with the paper towels! You have done marvelously until the fridge incident. And that's what had me chuckling. Ya know, real towels would've gotten into the corners and such a lot better!

Don't worry...you'll get there with practice. Just think how many trees you're saving!

Deeny said...

Tracy, yuck leeches. I have only seen pictures of leeches. How do you remove a leech? I know if it is summer here it is winter where you are. Does it get cold where you are? Snow? Just curious. Son came back and was tick free as far as we could tell. They are taught to check themselves in Scouts and they know how to remove them. But I have all his stuff quarantined in the garage. I worry about Lyme's disease but if you know you have been around ticks and keep an eye out for the distinctive bull's eye rash then you can catch it early. It is very treatable if caught early. My understanding is that people who don't know they have been infected can go quite along time before any other symptoms show up and by then it is much harder to treat. I looked up Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and there where only 500 cases in the US last year. Although that seems like a high number I figure with the thousands of people that live or camp in the woods that is actually statistically a very low number but I guess it only has to happen once. I think if you had a relative almost die from it you would be very concerned.

Tracy said...

I think you can just use salt to get rid of a leech, or a lit match. They suck blood and eventually fall off...but they're pretty gross!

It is mid-winter here. I live right down in the south east, so it's pretty cold, to my way of thinking. We don't get snow though. You have to travel a few hours to find that. Our temperatures in winter are usually around 10-15C during the day. It's nice and cold but the cold doesn't stop us from doing what we normally do.

Amanda #1 said...

You need to go cold turkey on the paper towels! Just don't buy them. I know I sound crazy, but bear with me :) My DH was using them for all sorts of stupid stuff (stuff for which he should have been using a wet rag), so I just stopped buying them one day. He's never said a word :)

I won't lie, I do occasionally wish I had one around, but it's, like, once a week. Trust me, after a week or two, you'll hardly miss 'em!

PS--Thanks for the bread recipe. I'm going to ahve to give it a try!

Deeny said...

Yep Amanda that is probably what I am going to have to do. Just not buy them. But as I type I have anxiety as to how am i possibly going to clean without paper towels! i know it can be done. People have lived and survived without the invention of paper towels. i know it is wasteful. But still the anxiety is there regardless of how silly a thing it is. I just have to re-learn how to do things. And yes I believe you are right I am just going to have to go cold turkey with out them.- I'll let you know how it goes. I read somewhere that it takes 20 something days to learn a new habit- well I will see how it goes. Have a great day Deana