Hello Good Neighbors,

I finally climbed off my soapbox Friday and got down to business on Saturday. I sold most of what I put out to sell, so I can't complain. I had one small box leftover to donate to the Senior Center for them to sell. So everyone wins.

We did have a scary incident during our yard sale. The neighbor's dog got loose and it was a mean motor scooter. She ran to our yard and tried to attack my husband two times. He managed to extricate himself from the situation and we called the dog catcher. The officer arrived and tranquilized the dog and took her away, but unfortunately for the neighborhood, the owner retrieved the doggie this morning and now we are living in fear for ourselves, but also all the people and children in the neighborhood. How do you get along with your neighbor when they think their dog isn't vicious? We haven't figured it out yet either.

I saw on the news today where the dry weather in Oklahoma is driving worrisome varmints inside homes. One woman saw a scorpion in her son's bedroom and she said she had never seen one and didn't really know what to do. I remember as a small child I was stung by a black scorpion that was in our bathtub when I reached down for the scrub brush. I was only four or five years old, but I still remember the pain. Momma grabbed me up and raced me across the street to our neighbor's home. She took a chaw of tobacco and wet it real good and put it over the sting, then wrapped it. It drew that poison right out because I didn't suffer with that sting anymore.

That brings me to my way of thinking about homemade remedies. I don't know very many, but I remember a few that I've been taught and have used before. Of course nothing is guaranteed, but what the hey, if it works, then use it, right? I don't have one for dog bite though.

I got stung by a yellow jacket once and if you don't know what that is, it's a very aggressive and angry wasp. My arm swelled to about the size of a skinny watermelon. My Granny suggested I put a sort of poltice on it of vinegar soaked real good on a rag, then wrapped  with a dry cloth. Done that for several hours and it began to draw. I could feel it drawing and it helped. It didn't cure it, but it got me by. In fact I still have a knot on my arm to this day and I run a mile from them yellow jackets.

Another time my mother-in-law suggested  potato scraped onto an insect bite and covered with a small bandage for my first baby when he was bitten by a mosquito. I guess it worked.

Once upon a time a good samaritan told me to use wet tea bags when I went canoeing and got blistered by the sun. I'm a dark headed fair skinned Okie that burns like toast in a wore out toaster. I was desperate enough to try anything. I kind of reminded myself of Lucy when she got sunburned and then tried to model a wool suit. OUCH!!!! Did it take the sting out of the burn? I'm not sure, but I  had the most awful brown streaks down my legs and up my arms and even on my face from rubbing those wet teabags on the burn. I was a sight for sore eyes for awhile, until the tea stains wore off.

Well, I guess that's enough jibber jabber for tonight. I hope some exciting news will break soon so I can share it with you all. While we're waiting let's take a load off and take a deep breath, then look around at all of God's wondrous works.

Till later,
Okie Girl @ Home