August Purge

[nswef]

stings are awful and take a long time to stop itching and swelling...at least in this house. Thus the vigilance!! Glad you purged them.

[rosarugosa]

Speaking of itchy, I don't think I told you guys the itchy dress saga, but sorry if I'm repeating myself. Last summer, I got a great maxi dress at Savers. It was so pretty, raw silk, fit me perfectly, and only cost about $7.00. I like long dresses in the hot weather. I mostly wear them at home, but they are cool, comfortable and cute. So I bought this dress late in the season and never wore it last year, but I did wash and iron it. A few weeks ago on a hot night, I was wearing the dress while sitting in the gazebo with a book and a glass of wine. I had a bit of itchiness, and I thought a mosquito had gotten me. As time progressed, I got a couple more itchy spots, so turned on my Thermacell mosquito repelling device. It took me awhile and a lot more itching to realize that I seemed to be having some kind of a reaction to the dress. When I took it off, I had hives all over my upper torso! I took a Benadryl, and the next morning, there was no sign of rash or hives.
So apparently being a glutton for punishment, I washed and ironed the dress again on the off chance there was something in the fabric I was reacting to, and maybe a second washing would eliminate it. I really liked the dress and didn't want to give up on it! I put it on last night, and started feeling itchy after a few minutes, so took it off and I will not be keeping it.
Google tells me that some people do have allergies to silk, although silky silk has never bothered me. I'm not sure if I've had anything that was raw silk before.
Anyway, goodbye pretty dress! Should I donate it under the assumption that the problem was me, or send it to fabric recycling or even trash it under the assumption the problem was the dress?

[rosarugosa]

In case you are dying of curiosity. Wasn't I lucky that I was at home, and not at a restaurant or something? Yikes!

itchy dress.jpg

[happystuff]

That's too bad, rr. Glad the rash didn't last long.

[Yppej]

RR give the dress to someone you don't like.

[sweetana3]

Having had hives for most of 3 years, our reactions are pretty unique to each individual. I would donate. (I was either allergic to the pines all over NC or the new house and chemicals in it while in NC). Would not wish them on anyone.

[rosarugosa]

RR give the dress to someone you don't like.

LOL. I actually tend to like most of the people I know in real life, and I don't think it would fit Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert.

[catherine]

They probably are not Carpenter bees. Carpenter bees are the size of bumblebees and they’re black and gold like bumblebees they just have a somewhat different color pattern. They are big slow buzzing things. They would not follow you.

Maybe Catherine will chime in here. Are they yellow jackets?

Yes, you sound like you have what we had last year. There was a nest in the compost and a nest in dead wood (see picture). I only got stung twice when I disrupted the compost pile, but the "Bee Stump" tribe never bothered me. They did, however, bother my family members (not DH) just because they were there. I was intimidated into removing them but, frankly, I was a bit sad about it because while they don't pollinate, they do prey on garden pests.

My neighbor told me they are common yellow jackets.

Note DH's experiment with Tootsie Roll pops. We learned that yellow jackets actually love them! It was licked clean in a couple of days Maybe they thought it was a strange new flower.

bee stump.jpg

[happystuff]

catherine, it's like you had given them their own address sign and treats. LOL. I love it!

[rosarugosa]

Catherine,
That is so cute with the sign, and who knew they liked Tootsie Pops?