The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly (Weeds, That Is)

It's been a while since my last post. Been very busy taking down trees in the yard for landscpaing, which has now been, more or less, completed. So, now I'm back. (Yes, I do realize that, since I post from work, it shouldn't matter what I was doing nor how busy I was when I got home. But that's my excuse & I'm sticking with it)

Anyway, one of the unintended side effects of all that yard work was that I now know how to recognize Poison Ivy when I see it. Yes, I got into a patch in my back yard, and didn't even recognize the blisters when they popped out, so it had time to develop into a full-blown rash that swelled my calf up to the size of Schwarzenegger's. Or there abouts. So, in case you were wondering, the pic at the top shows a couple common varieties. As you may have noticed in that picture, the old adage "leaves of three, don't touch me," doesn't always hold true. Some varieties have clusters of five leaves, so it might be a good idea to do a Google image search to familiarize yourself with all the many varieties.

And this is what the blisters look like. They can vary in size, but if you see a string of them in a line, big or small, it's likely you got into some poison ivy without knowing it. There's a product called Tecnu, that you can pick up in the local pharmacy, that can prevent the blisters and rash if you use it within 2-8 hours after contact (unless you're highly allergic).

So that's the bad & ugly, now for the good. There's another weed that often grows side-by-side (or at least nearby) poison ivy, that is a natural remedy for it. It's called Jewel Weed and it's flowers are really quite pretty, as you can see. Apparently, if you crush up the stems of the plant and apply the sap to the affected area, it can prevent the rash as well as Tecnu. Funny thing is, a couple weeks ago, Donna spotted some of these little orange trumpet flowers growing in a wildflower field near our house, but could not identify them. Now we know.

Finally, if you're suffering from insomnia, or just insufferably curious, here's a technical page that describes how poison ivy affects the human body. Actually, I found this very interesting, and it got me wondering whether the over-the-top immune response is a result of changes in the human species or the plant species, since the fall of man. Either way, it's yet another painful side-effect of living in a fallen, sin-cursed world.

The Bathroom is 95% Done

We had a very productive few days following my lament last week about how slow this project was going. The walls got done (thanks to a cram sessions Friday and Saturday nights) and on Sunday we installed all the hardware (shelves, towel racks, light fixture, wall hangings, etc.). All that remains it to paint the doors & trim and replace the doorknobs. Woohoo! Oh, and re-caulk the tub. :\

House Hacking

As I mentioned in the last post, we decided to repaint the Bathroom and Boy's Bedroom this month. We knew it wasn't going to be a quick job because when we bought the place, the seller had hastily slopped a coat of yellow paint on the walls, apparently using a Wagner Power Roller. There were thick drips all over the place and a yellow border around the ceiling. So, we planned to take the time to sand off all the major drips using a disc sander. That proved to be the easiest part (for me, anyway - Donna did all the sanding; I just had to move the furniture away from the walls). Then we discovered that the wall under the boy's windows was rotten. It's not clear whether that was from water coming in the windows or the prior owner's dogs announcing their displeasure at being locked in the room (all the doors and trim have deep gouges from the dogs trying to claw their way out). So I had to replace a four foot section of drywall there, and just for good measure I put a vapor barrier behind it to prevent moisture finding it's way in and damaging it again. There was a lot of mudding needed to fix up and cover the various dings and holes in the walls. Also had to close up the holes left when the old electric baseboard controls were removed in the bedroom and bath. I had to replace more drywall in the bath due to water damage from behind the shower prior to us moving in, as well. And install a proper fixture box in the wall above the sink for the new light fixture we bought for above the vanity.

So, it's been a long road, and we're not done yet. That's rather frustrating. And then Wednesday, I had to refinish the ceiling. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, but as usual, we totally neglected to take any pictures of the progress. :( Donna primed the entire bathroom yesterday, and put the ceiling paint on the ceiling. We're on the home stretch, but it's been one of those projects that makes you wonder if it will ever be complete.

Now the kicker, my uncle from Maryland is vising tomorrow, and our house is a wreck. Particularly the basement, where the boys have been sleeping for the last month while their bedroom has been getting it's face lift. He's a reasonable guy and knows all about fixing up houses, so I'm sure he'll understand. And he loves old British motorbikes, so I'm going to take him over to my Pastor's house to visit his "museum" (ie Garage) of restored bikes.