Tuesday Twitterdeedum

~~~~Birthday Pups. Upper photo: Kea and Webster as babes. Lower Photo: Todd, Kea and Brooke---or Brooke, Kea and Todd. Can't tell for sure which is which in this photo. Two years old, Sept. 1, 2009.~~~~

I itched so bad this morning that I thought I'd be going nuts before the day was out. There's this big red splotch on my left bicep, and it stretches almost to my elbow.

A nasty bee got me yesterday while I was tipping over the water trough. Seems I created an earthquake of sorts for their little nest hidden just under the outside rim of the tank. It was a nasty sting too. I could feel the stinger poking me for an hour or so afterward.

Yes, I treated it---with baking soda and cold water. Forgot about the penny idea. Lord knows I've got lots of penny pills stuffed away in a bathroom counter drawer. I knew there were some other tried and true remedies for the sting, but baking soda has always been my method.

This one has hung around and stretched out more than most stings I've experienced. I think the location and the bee ire make a difference. That poison has an easier time swimming around in soft flab, so it spreads itself and then creates an unbelievable itch.

I've also noticed with bites or stings over the years that morning tends to be the itchiest time. I think it's cuz we don't move much during the night, and when we get up, we wake that itch up for its next day's work. A couple of hours into the day and the itch usually subsides.

I read a few more home remedy cures, just in case it persists. Amonia, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, snug arm bands are just a few suggestions from the folks writing in who've endured similar stings.

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Speaking of stings, I'm doing a story about a neat ol' cowboy from Kansas right now. He's an Appaloosa owner, and he's also a WWII Army-Air Force vet who spent 14 months in German Prisoner of War Camps, dining on cabbage soup and sawdust bread. These days he greatly appreciates freedom and good food.

Anyway, yesterday we were talking about the cost of raising horses. Seems we put out a lot more bucks up this way----feed, vet bills, shoeing, bedding, etc. In Western Kansas on the big ranches, horse owners grow their own feed, do their own doctoring and don't worry much about bedding.

Doctoring in a lot of cases involves rattlesnake bites. With oodles of rattlesnakes and curious horses, snake bites are a common problem. The horses stick their noses down to see just what that critter happens to be and ZAP, they're bitten.

My new friend Ken told me it can take a couple of weeks or up to several months for a horse to get over a snake bite. Between the swelling, which can restrict them from eating, and the time it takes for the poison to come out their system, he says there can be some pretty messy situations with some horses.

He says he's been keeping his fingers crossed because so far no horses have been bitten this year. Last year he treated three.

So, I guess it's a good idea to be careful where we put our hands and our noses cuz something could be there, just itchin' for a fight.

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The snake bite discussion got me to thinking about how lucky we are here in North Idaho. We don't have poisonous snakes. We don't have hurricanes threatening to blow our houses or our lives down. We've been very fortunate in the forest fire department this year. We just have winter, and it doesn't kill or maim anybody. Just slowly drives 'em crazy like bee sting itches.

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Willie's heading back from Boise today. He says he has a vocational teachers' picnic today. He says he's got picnics just about every day this week. That will keep the food bill down, for sure.

This weekend Debbie's coming up and bringing the grandpuppies. I've told Kiwi and Kea to get ready for the visit, which will include lots of running, a little growling and adoring humans ogling over just how cute and funny the doggies are.

Speaking of doggies, "Happy Birthday to Webster, Brooke, Todd and Kea---and to your siblings." You're two years old today, and you'll never imagine what a difference you've made in the lives of all your owners.

Guess I'd better get the doggie biscuits out and let Kea know how much I love her. I'm feeling bad cuz I yelled at her and booted her out of the house earlier this morning after she tracked mud all over the kitchen floor.

I guess on one's birthday, one has the right to bend the rules a bit. I'll have to go make up to her for being such a stern mommy.

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Enough twitterdeedum for now. Happy September. Happy Tuesday. Stay away from the bees. They're hungry for human flesh these days!