Muscadine / Mosquitoes

Last night Kyle and I went out to

harvest some of the muscadine grapes

that are finally ripe.

We got FIVE POUNDS!!!!

(That includes seeds, etc...)

Tonight we are going to try

our hands at making

muscadine jelly.

The bucket weighs .75 on its own & our
scale isn't super accurate... lol

(he is using sugar, I am 

using xylitol - a sugar alchohol

that measures 1 : 1 to sugar

but is SUPER poison for dogs

so I don't use it in my daily cooking)

Aren't they beautiful?

Each basket is just about 2.5 pounds.

We are excited to give it a try!

Meanwhile, I put a couple of our own

beef short ribs in the pressure cooker

for dinner.

Sauted them up in some bacon fat

(rendered from the bacon I baked on Saturday...)

They were delicious!

I figured the guys would be hungry after a day

outside at cow camp.

More about camp later in the week...

but day 1 went well.

Anyhow.

While we were harvesting grapes,

the mosquitoes were harvesting ME!

I got eaten alive!!!!

Bountiful Balm to the rescue!

This was in the pack of yumminess

Rozann and Nancy sent me for my 

birthday last year.

I haven't used it much, since (knock wood)

I haven't had many boo boos this year.

I keep it in the bathroom for when I feel

a cold sore coming on.

It seems to significantly shorten the time

and it never gets to the big puffy, scabby,

seriously ugly stage.

But last night I liberally applied it to all

the millions of big, puffy, angry, red, ITCHY

mosquito bites all over my calves.

They immediately stopped itching.

And then I forgot about them.

This morning there aren't even any dots

on my legs where I got bitten!

This is my new favorite stuff!!!!!!!

(It has plaintain and St Johns Wort among

other awesome stuff in it...)

From the website...

Ingredients:

Infused Olive Oil, Beeswax, Calendula, Plantain, Goldenseal, St. John’s Wort, Myrrh Gum, Tea Tree Oil, Grape Seed Oil, Safflower Seed Oil, Vitamin E Oil

Suggested uses:

– Insect Bites

– Bee Stings

– Cuts

– Sores

– Burns

– Eczema

– Dry Skin

– Rough Heels

– Cracked Hands

Benefits:

– All-Natural

– Antibacterial

– Cloth Diaper Safe

– Non-Staining

– Non-comedogenic

I wish I'd brought it with me though.

I discovered a bite on my neck

that is now driving me CRAZY!

LOL

(I'm pretty sure there's a mosquito in my car...)

(aaaaaaah, summer.)