Holy Lou Ferrigno!

We were just finishing up dinner the other night at the picnic table on the porch. I think it was actually the first night we've eaten out there this summer. As we got up from the table, Ben felt compelled to ring the dinner bell ... just because. Out came a very upset wasp. I guess you would be too if you just got your bell rung! It stung him on the top of his hand before he even knew what happened. My cure for wasp and bee stings is to put a meat tenderizer paste on the sting for about 15 - 20 minutes, keeping it moist. It will draw the venom out of the sting and should eliminate any swelling and subsequent itching.

Well, this wasp must have had "super venom" powers. Although there was no immediate swelling, the next morning, his hand was swollen around the bite. By dinner time that night, his whole hand was swollen. By the next morning, it was half way up his arm. And even today, although the hand has gone down a little bit, the swelling is almost to his elbow. His hand looked like the incredible hulk. We did go to the doctor yesterday just in case. He wasn't allergic, it was just how his body reacted, but it was considered "normal." YIKES!

He ran into a friend of his at the hospital and his friend reached out to shake his hand. Upon gripping his hand, he looked down ... man, what happened?!

The doctor did give us a page out of a book on things you can do for comfort ... anti-histamine, hydro cortisone, tylenol, ice... stuff we all know. It also confirmed my "home remedy" of using meat tenderizer. But they suggested making a solution and applying it with a cotton ball. I thought that was a great idea, as I use a ton of this stuff in the summer.

I am a magnet for wasps, deer flies, mosquitoes, and sweat bees. The sweat bees land on the backs of my knees when I'm out working on fence or something, I bend down, they bite me, they die, I scream ... and then run for the meat tenderizer. I guess I come out with the better deal in the end, but it's still aggravating. Anyway, I bought a new bottle of meat tenderizer today and added water to make a solution and will keep it handy with some cotton balls for the next attack.

I think our llama got bit in the mouth one day by a bee. The white clover is very much in bloom and one day he was eating outside my office window and all of a sudden, he started flailing his body all around and started spitting and coughing for several minutes. I was sure he'd eaten a bee ... poor guy. That had to hurt.

Ah, the joys of summer!