Oak Mite Bites

 I worked on the rock path next to the front bed yesterday.  I was out there for about an hour.  Right after I came inside, I hopped in the shower and scrubbed.  This morning, I have no less than 8 new oak mite bites.  

Now, if you're not familiar with oak mites, they're not visible to the human eye, so you can't even pay them back for biting you.  Also, they don't so much bite as burrow.  Gross, I know.  Their bites are, perhaps, the itchy bites I've ever had.  Not sure how they compare to poison ivy, since I'm immune to that shit, but from the way Hubs reacts to his bites, they're pretty much on par.  

Unfortunately, our house is not only surrounded by oaky woods, we have a huge, old, white oak that overhangs most of the front yard.  And, you guessed it, oak mites hang out in oak trees - unless it's windy when they blow out or dry when they drop out on their own.  It's hard to go outside without being exposed to oak mites.

What does one do about the bites?  Well, pretty much every anti-itch thing on the market doesn't cut it.  (I've tried just about all of them over the years.)  In fact, Benadryl gel just makes the itch worse.  The only thing I've found to get rid of the itch is to take a fingernail, dig it into the center of the bite - which sometimes has a little blister in it - and dig it out.  Hurts like a bitch.  Then take a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol - the strongest you can find - and scrub the bite with it.  Stings like a bitch.  THEN take merthiolate and dab some of that on.  Burns like a bitch.  It's pretty much all bitchy, but it's better than the constant, overwhelming itch.  

You may have to repeat the process.  I guess that's probably because the first round didn't actually get the mite out of your skin / kill the mite in your skin.  

Sometimes, I have to wait until the bite is at its itchiest before I do the above or I really will have to repeat the process.  It all depends on how much itch or pain I can stand at any given moment.

Sure, the easiest way to handle an oak mite bite is to stay inside.  I've heard bug spray works, too, but I hate the thought of having to spray myself down every instant I stepped out of the house.  If you can't do those things, you can try my method.  Unfortunately, your mileage may vary, so I make no guarantees.  It's just something you can try to ameliorate the itch.  

Please note that merthiolate quite often leaves a mark, so accept that you might have a scar thing in place of an itch thing.  I have made my peace with that.  

Please also note that oak mite bites seem to be more susceptible to infection.  Pay attention to those things even if you don't use my method.  A simple scratched bite can turn into something nasty in a hurry.  Rubbing alcohol is your friend.  

Now, if you'll pardon me, I've only treated about half the bites I had last night - the ones that wouldn't let me sleep - so I have to go gouge, sting, and burn myself.  

Marketing Monday - Thicker Than Water

Hi.  It's early.  I got like 3 hours of sleep last night due to cats, bug bites, and thunderboomers.  But at least I can get a jump on the marketing thing, so yay. 

Starting today, THICKER THAN WATER is absolutely free. Get this throwback to the old, hard-boiled crime novels of yesteryear before it's too late. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F88QQ2P4

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 25

Okay, so it's Week 25.  Imagine that.  It makes sense, though, since we're about halfway through 2026 and half of 52 is 26.  Look at me, mathing in the morning and junk.

I was a slug this week.  I only wrote once for 909 words.  I could make excuses, but meh.  Marketing also didn't go well, but even so, I moved 57 copies of DE.  People must not read much in the summer because my page reads are way down.  :shrug: I'm halfway between marketing a book this week and not bothering.  Tune in tomorrow to see what the choice ended up being.

No reading.

I made a batch of my Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies this week.  We finished them yesterday.  6 days for 2 people to demolish 35 cookies.  I might make more cookies today - only because I'm tired of paying for cookies.  Then I'll get tired of making cookies and go back to buying them again.  It's a vicious circle.

This past week, I did all sorts of active things.  I sewed the cover for the cat bed I made, took two walks, did stuff with the greenhouse garden, worked in the yard, and went grocery shopping.  I don't think any of that was particularly calorie-burning, though.  (Maybe the yard work.)  Weight: 179.4

I'm not sure if I talked about the cat bed I made a couple weeks.  I took a 'feather' topper for a queen-sized mattress, folded in half, and stuffed into a queen-sized flat sheet that was folded in half and safety pinned.  Well, one evening, Sawyer being Sawyer, discovered the safety pins and decided to attack.  I had to remove them so he wouldn't hurt himself.  The next day, I sat down and sewed the seams where the safety pins had been.  Then Hubs and I wrestled the topper back into it.  It looks good and the cats enjoy it, and now it's safe.

The greenhouse garden is chugging right along.  Still only two tomatoes - both of them ripened and we ate them.  I learned this week that carrots don't like it hot, and it's hot in the greenhouse, so there ya are.  The tops of the carrots are still pretty small and I'm not seeing the shoulders of the carrots yet, so I'm not harvesting, even though that pot has been growing since early March.  The potatoes... same.  The two surviving green peppers from last year that got munched... One is thriving.  The other is pathetic.  The three peppers I rescued from the feed store are doing okay.  Some of the trees are getting big, but I had to give the last rites to two oaks and a hickory.  I don't think pot life is good for those species.  The redbuds in the ground - Randy and Rudy - are trying to live, but critters aren't making it easy for them.

Working in the yard... Well, I had planned to go out and start digging up the rock paths to remove weeds, etc., but Hubs was out picking up sticks left by the last few storms.  I ended up helping him and then I got the idea that it was about time to prune back the cedars, so we did that.  Then we had to go around and pick up all those limbs.  By the time we did all that, I was tired, so the weeding project got put on hold.  We're starting that this morning - me on the paths and Hubs on the driveway.  Gah, the driveway... we haven't hit those weeds in years and it's so bad that you can hardly tell where the driveway is.  It all looks like yard.  None of this will be done in a day.  Tune in next week to hear how well we progressed.

The fawns are coming into the yard more often, but I keep forgetting to put out the trail cam.  Maybe I'll remember today, so I can post pics next Saturday.  

And I think that's about it.  Busy busy... or at least the illusion of busyness.  Have a great week wherever you are.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That - Late Again

After waking up late yesterday, I started this post, then got distracted and called Mom, then went grocery shopping.  Woke up this morning to see I'd never completed nor posted this post.  Derp

I read something last night about carrots - they thrive best between 60 and 70 degrees F.  Oops.  The inside of my greenhouse these days has to be topping 100.  :shrug:  So, they either steam or they get eaten by critters.  I'm letting them steam.  We'll see what happens at harvest time.

Today's bird is a Barred Eagle-Owl.  Weird looking dude.  Possibly stoned.  Could be an extra in Disney's The Sword and the Stone.  

If you're into super-intense crime shows, check out Line of Duty - a UK show about a special group of police officers who investigate police corruption.  It's so intense I sometimes have to take a break in the middle because the villains are PISSING ME OFF.  But it usually works out in the end.

I'm calling the little fox Reynard. (Rey for short.)  It's after a mythological fox figure I reached while writing the Once Upon a Djinn series.  Yes, I am a nerd.

This morning, I read a neat story about a dude who'd just gotten out of prison and was on his way to a job interview when he saw a car accident.  He got off the bus and saved the man who was trapped inside, thus missing his job interview.  Online donations afterward gained him over $50K and three job offers.  As Hubs said, this is what sites like GoFundMe were created for.

I have encouraged Hubs to jump on some type of social media so others can benefit from his sparkling wit, canny insights, and wry humor, but he'd rather douse himself with gasoline and play with sparklers than use social media.  I can't say as I blame him.

While I was out and about yesterday, I stopped at the local store to pick up smokes for Hubs and I.  There was a brand-spanking new cashier there - like first hour of first day new.  I'll call him Jay.  Anyway, I told Jay I needed two cartons of smokes and the types, and he went over to the rack.  After much assistance on my part, he finally located what I needed.  Then he rang everything up and told me the total.  It was about half what it was supposed to be, so I let him know he hadn't rung up both cartons.  After we went through the whole 'first time processing a check' thing, Jay thanked me for being honest.  It's a sad world when pointing out that a cashier hasn't rung up all the items is worth a thanks because honesty is shocking or something.  I'm glad I caught it.  The guy seemed nice and I didn't want him to get fired.  Also, it doesn't help local businesses when they don't get paid for their products.  While my smokes are the cheapest smokes a gal can buy, they aren't cheap in the scheme of things.  Miss ringing up a candy bar?  Eh.  You're out a couple bucks.  Miss a carton of smokes and you're out anywhere from $30 to $80.  After I left, I mused about it being nice if they'd given me an 'honest customer' discount, then I laughed.

Okay, time to get this post posted and let you get on with your day.  Have a great one!

Marketing Monday - Dying Embers

It's Monday, so that must mean Marketing Monday!  :throws confetti:  Today, I'm offering Dying Embers in all its glory.  It's a helluva book.

Starting today, DYING EMBERS is free through Friday. It's a fast-paced story of justice and revenge with a satisfying ending. I hope you all enjoy it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TEQK7OU

Sunday Update - 2026 Week... :shrug:

 I've been up for 2 hours and the coffee still hasn't kicked in.  This does not bode well for the rest of the day.  Anyhoo...

I wrote stuff early in the week and then I tweaked my wrist, which made writing ouchieful which got me out of the habit so after the wrist was better I still didn't write.  Still, I got out 2578 words out, which is better than nothing.  I'll try harder this week.

Marketing occurred.  Near the end of the week, FB started being less of a turd, so that was something.  I'm also trying to shift all of my marketing from my personal page to my business page.  The problem with this is that my personal page is shown as a top contributor to most of my marketing groups.  Starting over with my business page, without that 'top contributor' thing, means I'm climbing my way up from the bottom again.

Reading also occurred.  I'm making progress through Leadership by Rudy Guiliani.  Unfortunately, I've been reading this same book in tiny spurts for months now.  It's not the book.  It's totally me.

No baking.  It's too hot and I'm too lazy.

On the activity front... well, like I said, I'm lazy.  I did some gardening, some cleaning, and some shopping - but not nearly enough to make a difference in my health or weight.  I did weigh myself... Meh.  Weight: 180.0

If you were paying attention yesterday, the big news in my week was the broken picture window.  It hasn't fallen out yet, but Hubs has covered the front porch in plastic, so when it does fall, it'll be easier to clean up.  

In gardening news, I picked my first tomato.  It was a grape tomato, so nothing spectacular.  Not even enough for a small salad.  There's another tomato ripening out there that's bigger.  It might give us enough slices to adorn two hamburgers.  There are loads of tomato flowers, but no more fruits yet.  The taters are huge and bushy.  The carrots are growing right along.  I had to put two tiny oak trees out of their misery, but loads of other trees are still doing fine - including several of the ones that the critter munched.  Randy and Rudy Redbud are... wait for it... still alive!  Hubs was in the yard and noticed that while all their leaves were eaten, the stems were solid and now they're starting to grow new leaves!  Yay!  

Last night, we had a humdinger of a storm.  Actually, we had storms throughout the day, but last night's was larger.  And it came with two tornado warnings within minutes of each other - neither of which was actually close to the house.  Eh, it's better to be alerted about these things than get blindsided, so there ya are.  Between the day storms and the night storm we lost power probably 4 times.  I hate resetting clocks.  I hate flashing clocks more, though, so there ya are.

The does are all post-pregnant, I think.  I saw the first set of fawns yesterday.  Yay.  I still have no pics of fawns, though.  

And I think that's it for me.  Here's to a stress free week for us all.  Feel free to drop a comment and tell me how your week went.  

Saturday Trail Cam Snaps

 I didn't put the camera out at all this week.  Unfortunately, the sheer size of the files is making my computer drag.  I'm deleting a bunch of stuff today, so it's back to working right again, but egads.  Who would've thought that you could fill up a 120GB harddrive so fast??  Okay, I should've but that's beside the point.

Anyway, I did take some snaps with my trusty ol' Nikon, but they're not happy pics.  Here's the story (as posted to FB yesterday)...

Hubs is out mowing the lawn. I was in the kitchen getting ready to spell him when I heard a sound like a huge balloon popping. I walked into the living room to see WTH it was, when suddenly it sounded like it was raining REALLY hard, and the front window looked like it was awash with water.  I looked at the window harder, because there was no way it could've been raining that hard on the front window, which looks out onto a covered porch.  It wasn't raining and that wasn't a balloon popping.  The lawn mower had chucked a rock into our front picture window and the tempered glass was blossoming into a spiderweb pattern like you wouldn't believe.  Thankfully, it's a double pane and only the outside pane is damaged, so no glass will be falling all over the living room floor.  Unthankfully, the nearest glass places might maybe get someone out here today or next week or on the 24th, and glass being delivered is 2-3 weeks out, if we're lucky.  

Addendum:

Local glass guy made it out already - which puts him way ahead of his competitors - and gave us a quote in no time.  It is not good, but I already got a ballpark from the internet, and it's in the middle there, so it could be worse.  Still, if you want to help out, buy an ebook (or two) or a paperback (or two) to help offset the costs.  Or if you have Kindle Unlimited, you could read a bunch of my books without any extra cost to you, but $$ for me.  I'd really appreciate it.  Thanks.

And now for the pics:

Closer up:

It kinda looks like the stained-glass filter in my image editing software, but it's for-realzies.

And now for the artsy shot...

That one kinda looks like birds... or a shot through an electron-microscope of dermatitis. It's through the glass looking up at the wood ceiling of my porch.  

So, we're dealing with that.  Then I go to move the curtains and the damn rod came apart - easily fixed, but irritating.  Then Hubs is making lunch and the top comes off of the mustard while he's squirting it on his sandwich - messy, but annoying.  Derp.  THEN, after I took those pictures and downloaded them, my computer slowed WAY down and kept giving me the 'not responding' message.  It was not a banner day in the Sanderson household.

I spent a hour deleting photos late last night and I've been at it again this morning, so that's getting fixed, but come on...

And that's me this morning.  I hope your day is awesome and nothing harshes your day.  Peace out.

Thursday This n That

 You know how people say they can predict the weather by the body parts that hurt?  I've decided it's not the weather, it's the barometric pressure that causes previously broken bones to ache.  Yeah, I've been thinking about this because the ankle that I probably broke (but never went to a doctor for) a few years back is shrieking at me.  Oh, and my broken bones scream at me in reverse order - newest to oldest - which is why that ankle is taking the stage ahead of the foot, the pelvis, the thigh, or the collar bone.  Actually I'm kinda thankful the pelvis breaks are being quiet.  When those hurt, it feels like someone kicked me in the crotch.  Not fun.

Potatoes.  The package of seedling potatoes I bought says 90-120 days from planting to harvest.  Several sites online say you harvest potatoes after the green parts turn brown and die back.  I need to research this further because why would they die back if they're happy and well-fed in the greenhouse??  But if that's not the key indicator, how will I know if they're ready at 90 days or at 120 days or somewhere along the way?  It's not like I can see the potatoes growing under the dirt there.  I told Hubs I need ground-penetrating radar, like they use to look for bodies, but small so I can look for potatoes.

I've been procrastinating about going shopping, so I really have to go today.  I have Old Mother Hubbard's freezer.  There's one chicken breast and one container of soup.  Oh, and a boatload of frozey-pops.  This does not bode well for a yummy dinner, so off to Wallyworld later this morning.  The cats are also down to one can of food, which is tragic.  Or will be if I don't get them more food today.

Hubs just came in with the coffee pot to refill my mug.  I picked it up and hovered over it like Golem, saying 'my precious'.  We laughed... well, I laughed anyway.

Roku 'monsters' channel was having an Abbott and Costello marathon yesterday - A&C Meet Frankenstein, A&C Meet the Invisible Man, A&C Meet the Mummy.  I watched part of the first and part of the last.  (The Invisible Man one was never my favorite.)  I used to have the mummy one on VHS.  I do love me some Abbott and Costello.  

Speaking of The Mummy, the best book of that sub-genre is Anne Rice's - The Mummy (or Ramses the Damned).  I think it's her best book, but that's me.  

Okay, I'd better get back to marketing.  (Not that it's doing me much good, but it's better than nothing.)  Have a great day wherever you are.  Peace out.

A Whole Lot of BS

There's a whole lot of BS going around the internet lately, and I don't mean me*.  So let's address some of it...

I've been seeing people talking about how we can't be allies with Israel because they attacked the USS Liberty back in 1967.  First off, that's stupid on its face.  We've become great allies with freakin' Japan, for petesakes.  One ship in 1967 is a drop in the bucket compared to what Japan did.  Second, from what I understand, and I understand quite a bit, the attack on the Liberty wasn't intentional.  No, I'm not going to list my reasons.  Go do some research of your own.  And this has been refuted before.  Many times before.  But any of the many people who irrationally hate the Jews trot this out when they feel the need, hoping people will buy the BS.  (Maybe because so many people do buy the BS.)

Then there's the Karma-low Anthony thing.  The whole defense of this killer is a pile of steaming BS.  In fact, the whole set-up where the other kid got murdered is BS.  KA went there to start something - in a totally premeditated way - and while I'm not of a mind that he went there with the express purpose of killing someone, it was the foreseeable outcome of bringing a knife to a track meet and then inserting oneself into somewhere one wasn't supposed to be and then instigating BS.  He wasn't responding to being bullied or to being attacked or to some kind of racial nonsense.  And since when did someone saying something turn into a justification for ending their life?  That's a whole 'nother level of BS right there.  

Speaking of a whole 'nother level of BS, what kind of hell has the UK descended into?  I mean, it's leaders sunk it there, but this is getting ridiculous.  Immigrants commit a shitton of atrocities and get slaps on the wrists, but you say anything that might maybe be construed as racist - or lied about as being racist - and you're in deep BS.  Or dead, as the case recently was.  And now Ireland is burning because some sick freak immigrant tried to behead a guy who was not only mentally deficient but also partially deaf.  I don't think legal residents of any country should have to put up with anything from squatters and illegals.  

And then you've got the BS where a family in FL had their horses stolen, only to find the corpses of their beloved family pets butchered for ingestion.  Yep, some immigrants from somewhere that they eat horse, decided they would steal a family's pets and cut them up, so they could sell them for other people to eat.  Gross.  

Or there's the bitch who decided that she wanted to stab a bunch of highly-trained, barrel-racing horses right before the competition.  That chick should get lynched.  I'm not sure if she wanted her horse to win or if she just wanted the attention (she claimed to be the one who discovered the horror and wanted to help), but really... what kind of BS is that?  Freak.

It's BS all the way down.  Some mornings, it doesn't pay to get out of bed, put your feet on the floor, and step into BS up to your knees.  Blerg.

*Cuz my initials are BS.  Get it?

Marketing Monday - Project Hermes

 It's Marketing Monday again.  Today's offering is Project Hermes - my political/medical thriller.  What can I say, I was channeling my inner Crichton.  Or maybe my inner Flynn.  

Anyway...

Starting today, PROJECT HERMES is absolutely free.  (Always free with KU.)  Get your copy of this fast-paced, thrilling ride now!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017Y6G0EW

I designed that graphic this morning in hopes of bypassing the silly FB rules about certain words being verboten. I'm hoping not using anything with d-e-a-d in it will work.  :shrug:  ETA: Nope, FB is still harshing my day.  One post and when I tried for a 2nd post 25 minutes later, they said I couldn't post anymore.  Turds.

Sunday Update - 2026 Week 23

Well, here we are at the start of another week, which means wrapping up the week before.  Lemme warn ya, though, it wasn't that exciting of a week...

I did write.  I got out 3025 words over 3 days.  Then I fell into the lazy pit.  I think I have a title for the book now, though - Song of Dream and Dragon.  Although, that doesn't feel quite right.  The dream part feels right, but the dragon part... not so much yet.  And the song part?  Meh.  Dream of Dread and Dragon, perhaps?  We'll see.

Marketing went rather crappily this week as FB twisted the rack on me.  When I switched marketing images to one without the word 'dead' in it, things went easier, but for pitysakes, how does one talk about FB's forbidden subjects without using any of the forbidden words?  Nope, still don't have the funds to pay for marketing, so there ya go.

Not much reading this week.

In baking news, I made Irish Soda Bread, which is so insanely easy I wonder why I never tried it before.  Oh, yeah, buttermilk.  I never have buttermilk in the house and I thought making my own would be a PITA.  Turns out, it's not, so there ya go.  I made chicken stew to go with the bread.  Mmmm.  And yesterday, I made pizza.  Yum.

On the activity front, I was pretty much a toad last week.  We did get one walk in and I did some stuff in the greenhouse, but other than that, nope.  Weight:? - don't ask.

The inside of the greenhouse looks like a rainforest.  Still only two tomatoes, but plenty of flowers on all three plants.  I planted the three peppers from the rescue I did at the feed store.  They're doing okay, but they came with issues, so I'm not holding out too much hope.  I thinned the carrots again.  Then I watered everything and fed the food plants (with store-bought food this time... the weed tea stinks so bad I'm giving that idea up.)  I'm thinking about taking more of my potted trees and transplanting them back into the wild - to free up space in there and to give them all a better chance at thriving.  As long as the deer don't eat them, that is.

Speaking of deer... The deer are pretty much all post-pregnant and they're starting to bring their babies to the yard.  Yay.  In Boo news, several of the deer have developed a taste for my irises.  When I see them eating my irises, I go out and chastise them, but they don't care.  One of the does looked up at me with an iris leaf hanging out of her mouth and then proceeded to munch it whilst I was scolding her.  On the upside, they haven't bothered my second redbud tree - Rudy - yet.

Not much else going on around here.  I'm hoping for a better writing week and to up my activity.  Tune in next Sunday to see how that goes.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to chat about your accomplishments in comments.  Peace out.

Saturday Trail Cam Snaps

 Here we are again at Saturday, so it's time for some Trail Cam Snaps.  Let's get to it...

I call this one "Racoon Butt":

And here's a better shot of said raccoon:

Incoming squirrel!

Attempted Murder...

Deer Standoff:

We'll see what next week brings.  I'm hoping to catch some fawns.  Fingers crossed.

Thursday This n That

FB sucks.

X is pretty okay, but I haven't figured out how to use it for marketing.  (Not free marketing, that is.)

We have fawns!  Yay!

Chex Mix Bold is addictive.  Unfortunately, my intestines do not enjoy it as much as my tastebuds do, so I stay away from it.  Additionally unfortunate, Wallyworld had a big ol' bag of it on sale and right there by the checkout.  Thus, I couldn't stop myself from buying it.  Also thus, I am paying for it.  But it's soooo damn good.  Especially when you add a handful of mixed nuts to a bowl of it.  Yummers.

Getting old blows.  I used to be able to eat whatever whenever and never worry about it.  Now?  I look at wheat the wrong way and I get into issues.  Stupid.

The inside of my greenhouse looks like a jungle.  It's scary in there.  And hot.  When the tomatoes finally fruit and are ready for picking, I'm not sure how I'll get back there to pick them.  The potatoes are taking over.  I expect them to reach sentience any day now.  Oh, and I picked up three new bell pepper plants, because they were free, so now they're in there, too.  If I disappear, it's entirely possible I got lost in the jungle.  Send help.

It seems like everyone I know is neurodivergent, which begs the question 'if everyone is neurodivergent, is it really divergent?'  Think about that for a minute.

I made Irish Soda Bread for the first time, and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.  It's a super simple bread to make, too.  Messy, but easy.

For a woman who enjoys making bread, I have a weird quirk.  I can't stand having dough on my hands and I have to get it all off or I feel like I'm wasting food.  This is not a problem when I'm making a stiff dough bread product, like pizza crust, but for a wet dough... GAH!

Also, enjoying making bread and having issues with digesting wheat definitely do not go together.  Good thing Hubs enjoys eating bread, so there's less for me.

Okay, that's probably enough out of me.  Have a great day and feel free to drop some of your own observations about the world.  Peace out.