Itch. Itch. Itch.

Every once in a while, I try a new product. Sometimes - well, usually, it's on recommendation. And 90% of the time, a recommendation works out well. Not so much this time. I can't help but think that the new spray facial toner I've tried is giving me a nasty case of hives. 

Twice. Honestly, the first time, it didn't bother me. But twice since? Hives. On my neck & chest. Bad. And I can't use cortisone cream - nasty reaction which was, actually, HIVES. 

It was this stuff. And I'm not saying it's bad. It got great reviews, aside from the person who recommended it. I'm just "one of those." One of those people who, if there's a 1 in a thousand chance of something going awry? It's me. 

I'm rather bummed. I like to use natural products, and I like the idea that this is a small company in Colorado, woman-owned, too. That being said... I've got hives and I'm trying to get rid of them without using cortisone cream. Do you know how difficult that is? (sigh)

So Hubby bought me some CeraVe "anti-itch" lotion. The tag on the bottle says, "stops itch in 2 minutes, keeps itch away for 8 hours." Not so much... It was about 2 hours. And I started itching again. 

We've ditched most of the old stuff  we used to use on our skin, but I was thinking, "maybe I've got some Noxema in the basement." I didn't. But I did find some Burt's Bees After Sun lotion. The aloe vera seems to be working. So far. I'll probably slather it on again tonight before I go to bed, and see how that works. I even took off my BellaBeat. It wasn't bothering me, but my sternum area was so irritated that it wasn't worth wearing it. 

It's Fall, Y'all...

I can't decide what color my front tree is this year. It's red. It's gold. It's yellow. It's brown. All at once. And tonight's a gorgeous full moon. Which I'm unable to get a decent photo of because of light pollution. Gotta love living in the 'burbs. 

As the season is changing, I'm watching both of our trees. They're both a little over 25 years old; two maples. The one in the back is a bright orange in the autumn. This year, it's not doing so well in terms of the colors. They're more muted. That happens sometimes, but the tree is in good health overall. I'm chalking that up to Mother Nature - when she's confused, the colors don't turn out so well. 

The one in the front is supposed to be a flaming red - like Lucille Ball's lipstick (Google that if you can't immediately picture it). Again - the tree is confused. It's the weather. This one is also healthy as the proverbial horse, so I'm not too annoyed at the odd colors yet. We'll see how this shakes out when the season really gets rolling. 

As for the milkweed, I've got red bugs on the pods. And the pods are just now starting to burst. I'm sure I'll have more milkweed than I can use. I should gather up the spare and offer it for folks. Note to self: Do that this weekend!! 

I'm not sure what the red bugs are, but it seems like they're enjoying the pods. 

The parsley is still looking great, even after the first frost. We got the tomatoes taken down, and Hubby is going to pull up the carrots this weekend, as well.  

Of course, there's eighty bazillion and five carrots - we'll see how many of them are fit to eat. I didn't thin them out enough - which is what caused the immediate demise of my radishes this year. 

I think that I was able to thin out some of the carrots late in the season, but we'll have to see what actually grew in the plot. Could be that I end up with a bunch of "carrot straws," which are good for not much of anything! 

(Note: now I'm itching again... Looks like the aloe vera isn't doing its stuff either... Maybe a Benadryl night.)

So, let's chat about Orchid Nation...a/k/a the shelf in my living room. I found some river rock, and I also got some lava rock (small pieces). The lava rock is kind of a mess; you have to drain it like crazy. 

I switched up the bark in the keiki (the baby) and then gave the rootless phal a drink, and replaced her bark with the rock + lava rock combo. I'm pretty sure that if I can keep her leaves green, I can encourage her to sprout roots. It's going to take months, if not a full year - and I think having the rock/lava mixture will encourage humidity. I've filled the water to just past that bottom rim there on the left - that's enough to give it a little "terrarium" feel when the rootless phal is in there. The leaves are still pretty turgid, and there's a new one sprouting in the center. Of course, that's a defense mechanism to stay alive, but we'll take it. I think I can make her happy again. About a 20-30 minute soak every other day, not wetting her crown, and tucking her in that humid environment - we'll see. The Orchid Gods can perhaps give me this one, as I'm learning my lesson. 

Knitting...

Along with more Prayer Patches (we think we have over 200 of them, and I've done about a dozen), I decided that I could probably knit the kids some hats for Christmas. 

Using the Emergency One Day Hat pattern on Ravelry, which is now my go-to hat pattern, I'm doing a red hat with gold stripes for Kid #1 (who's loved red since he was a baby) and a gold hat with either brown stripes or maybe red for Kid #2 (who doesn't care what he gets as long as it's something I've knitted). I'm thinking that maybe I can also toss in a scar for Kid #1 - I have no idea if he's got any of the ones I've knitted through the years. I know Kid #2 has - even an incredibly ratty one that's falling apart - he keeps it because he says it's still warm. It's horrible. I told him, "Ok, you can keep it, but don't tell anyone I made it!!" 

I frogged Kid #1's hat once already; I had a moebius strip...it wasn't supposed to twist. And then I started the ribbing. I decided to jazz it up and do a twisted rib. It's K2, P2, so what I did, of course, was knit the Ks through the back loop for a nice little pop. It's easier to tell on thinner yarn (like on a sock's ribbing), but this does make the knit rows in the rib stand out a tad bit more. I'll see if I like it enough to repeat it on Kid #2's hat. There are only 5 rows of ribbing on this hat, so it won't make me want to scream. 

I'm thinking I'll be working on the hats for a bit; we have sufficient Prayer Patches for Pocket Priest's installation, and I can still whip them up during my evenings catching up with Dr. Who...since I'm teaching during the time it's on (Sunday nights), Hubby is taping it for me. I'm not worried about spoilers. I just want to see how the program evolves this year. 

Here's a great way to see if you've actually cast on the proper amount of stitches: do an even ribbing (like what I'm doing here). I ended up with a "spare" stitch. So I put markers every 20 stitches, and found an extra - which I just P2tog (purl two together) and fixed it in the second row of ribbing. Nobody will ever know - except you all... 

Random Picture...

I dug back in the archives for this one. It's back when we weren't crazy and could have a nice back yard. 

We still have that concrete bird bath, and it's still enjoyed by the birds. This was back in 2012, so it was the first year or two that we had the raised beds for the garden. And the cages there were either herbs or potted flowers - we have digger-squirrels, and anything that's not caged is fair game for the little buggers. 

Those are our white plastic chairs that Hubby scrubbed and repainted. I'm not sure they're usable now - it's been a long time. 

I miss having that back yard sanctuary thing. I think I need to get back out there and this coming spring do something positive. Not sure what, yet. Most likely a native plant garden, as we've got the front yard rolling in that direction. If I can convince Hubby to dig up a bit more? Maybe more milkweed and coneflower. Will keep you posted there. 

Looking forward to any comments - let's chat!