Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Monday, August 15, 2011

Poison Oak, Sewing and Embroidery lessons, Word of Wisdom

My son, bless his heart, went to work looking like he had not slept in a week.  His co-worker, told him he looked like he was on drugs.  

His eyes were swollen, his ears were swollen and covered with poison oak, as well as his entire body.  I was about to take him to the doctor for a quick fix, when we started using a spray bottle of apple cider vinegar and water (50/50).  

He had been using a wash that we've always used, followed by a cream to dry it up. It just kept showing up in other places on his body.  

We mixed the water and apple cider vinegar and he sprayed himself, anytime, including taking a small bottle to work with him.  He looks so much better and he's not scratching.

I think we found the culprit too - one of the dogs.  We think the dog slept with him, then spread it, and spread it.  We did a major wipe down/clean up too. Even I got it on my arm after walking in the house and only being home for about 15 minutes.  I looked down and my entire wrist to elbow was covered in poison oak.  

We've got all three poisons here, so we have to be so careful.  We have poison sumac to kill this fall, and we've already killed much of our poison ivy.  It's the oak that keeps showing up.

As for the sewing and embroidery, my 9 year-old daughter has shown more interest than the older girls.  She's been asking for felt to make her Tiger Needle Case.  I did help her with the pattern and cutting (very sharp scissors).



She completed the embroidery, and the stitching to bind the two pieces together.  She also did the drawing for the nose, mouth and dots.

Tiger meets Tiger, and approves of him.

This morning I sipped soothing, hot coffee, from a mug from the Gauley River.  It's a mug from my Uncle.  The kids find these mugs/cups very special and take special care of them.  The mug made me remember the words of wisdom my Uncle told me.
Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
These words will now be written in my quote book, and read over and over, along with others.

5 comments:

City Chick said...

Sorry about the poison oak & sumac. Hope you can get it under control.

Both my girls enjoy doing embroidery. They're both working on pillow cases. Next are t-shirts. I just got a cool book from the library: Embroidery for little miss crafty by Helen Dardik. Adorable projects!

Candy C. said...

Great words of wisdom! Tell your daughter she did a really GREAT job on the needlecase! :)

Margie said...

how do you get rid of poison? we have some growing in our ivy, and we have no idea how to get rid of it!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks for the tip on the embroidery book. She's now working on a felt frog pin cushion.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Margie, we (gulp) had to resort to using a special round-up weed killer. Then when it dried up, we pulled it all away from the barn.