July 14, 2012

Bee Balm blooms right after the 4th of July.  Its flower head reminds me of fireworks.

Monarda something..I am getting old I cannot remember it’s second name. didyma that is it I had to look it up.  Years ago those names just rolled of my tongue ..not so much anymore.

I had many interesting visitors at the museum this week.

Jimmy from Lincoln Nebraska requested his Grandpa and Dad stop by on their way to get some bait.   Far Guy was working for me that day..but I was volunteering and sealing a rock wall in the Resort room. Both Grandpa and Dad were impressed that I remembered Jimmy’s name and where he was from.  He is a one of a kind kid how could I not remember him. I use his story in every talk I give.  Jimmy is doing great in school and so far he has marvelous teachers that challenge him.  He was bummed out that Civil War Sunday was going to happen after he goes back to Nebraska.

Vickie from Ellendale North Dakota came by the museum  because of what I have written about it on my blog. It is always fun to meet a blog reader!

My sister and her son have never visited the museum before.  They said they had a great tour!

It was a busy week.

Far Guy is still struggling with his dry socket after he had two teeth pulled eleven days ago.  He is into making his own concoctions now. Oil of Cloves and an Olive Oil mixture take some of the hurt away. He saw his Dentist and some kind of medication was put into the gaping holes in his mouth but the pain returned about six hours later. Another phone call to the Dentist yielded no results other than it should be on the down hill side by now…or very soon.  Far Guy was angry..and says he is looking for a new Dentist.

The other night when I was at Bingo he cooked up a concoction in the double boiler.  It was a mixture of Jewelweed stems, olive oil and he said a drop or two of clove oil just to make it smell good.  He cooked it all up and then strained it into a jar..it is his latest poison ivy remedy..and no I do not have poison ivy at the moment..so he is quick to offer it for any other problem I might have..like charley horses or dry skin.  He is waiting patiently for me to get poison ivy so he can get some real feedback:(

Poison Ivy

I have a spot of Poison Ivy that is stubborn and slow in going away.  Sometime someone or some dog brushed up against the ivy with their pant leg or their furry leg and then rubbed up against the bench in the kitchen..the bench sticks out enough that I routinely bump into it..hence the Ivy.  Far Guy washed down the benches with Dawn dish soap..

I needed some Jewel Weed.  It is in the Impatiens family.  It is also called Touch Me Not.  The seeds shoot off into the distance if you touch them when they are ripe.  

The stems is what you want to harvest, we usually pick a side branch.  Open the stem and spread the watery goo on the ivy..in a few days it will be gone.  I have noticed an improvement in my Ivy with just a few applications. Of course I am using Far Guys Jewel Weed soap too, he special orders it off of the Internet. 

This is something Far Guy came up with years ago..during his research into native plants…he dabbled into home remedies..he has never had poison ivy on his skin.  He did have it in his eye once back in 1994, using the weed eater without eye protection. (He went to the eye doctor and got special eye drops.)

I hate the ivy and this is my second bout with it this year.  I used to be able to get shots for it.  A series of three shots in March.  The FDA took it off the market..I was a real unhappy camper.

Minnesota has an over abundance of Poison Ivy…it grows wild everywhere. 

Do you have Poison Ivy where you live?  What do you do to prevent it, and what do you do to stop the horrific itching?:)

Wildflowers: Jewelweed

Far Guy is a jewel of a guy, he cooks most of the time and we split the housework..

One day a few years ago I came home from town, probably after a horrible grocery shopping experience and he was cleaning up the ceiling.  Now why in the world was he washing the ceiling?  He had a hair brained idea, he had ordered a whole bunch of Jewelweed off of the Internet..it was fresh..so he put it in the blender and made a slurry out of it..except he doesn’t have a license to run a blender..so of course the top came off and green goo covered the ceiling and many other things too.   The green goo that did not end up on the ceiling ended up in the fridge.   Some of that green goo was mixed with a liquid soap, I was instructed to use it for my poison ivy..well low and behold green goo works to stop the itch and the spread of the dreaded Poison Ivy.  He tried to talk me into doing a more scientific study where I would rub Poison Ivy on both of my arms and wash one with Jewelweed green goo and leave the other untreated.. well I may be a bit of an adventurous sort sometimes..but I am no dummy.

Jewelweed or Impatiens pallida grows wild here in Minnesota. It likes to grow near the lakes. It is a native plant.  It is also called Touch-me-Not, this fits it perfectly.  The seed pods shoot seeds in all directions if they are touched.  It’s thick fleshy stems hold the green goo. I have found both the yellow colored variety and the orange spotted variety.  The orange seems to grow taller than the yellow.

Far Guy showed Adam how the seedpods explode when they are touched..Adam thought it was pretty cool.  Far Guy took a few stems filled with green goo to a local soap maker..his idea of having his own Jewelweed soap may again become a reality one of these days.  He told the soap maker if she put it into a blender to make sure the lid was securely in place:)