Dreadful, Despicable and Downright Disagreeable

Sometime in the first few days of June, I took it upon myself to clear out some vines that were taking over a portion of our backyard fence. I had just bought a pair of garden loppers and was anxious to try them out on the various vines and limbs that were beginning to irritate me.

So, whack whack whack, off with the vine on the fence! Snip snip snip on some small tree limbs hanging where they shouldn't be. Stuff it all into a trash can to be hauled away by the garbage guys.

I didn't work long, probably about 15 minutes -- I am not a gardener and don't enjoy that sort of thing (although, I secretly wish I did... 'cause looking at the gorgeous flowers grown by fellow bloggers make me want to see if my black thumb would turn green...) Anyway, I went inside and considered that enough yard work for the day.

Fast forward a few days -- I wake up with a couple of raised red bumps that I thought were bug bites of some kind.... then the next morning there were more and I was getting creeped out. Off go the sheets! No bugs in sight. I vacuum around the baseboards and tell hubby I want him to spray.

Next day, more bumps. And the next. They're getting bigger. I'm freaking out! I had been using Cortizone 10 that I had on hand but needed more so when we went to Target for a few things, I showed the pharmacist the bumps and asked about something to use on them for itching. She asked if I had been working in the yard recently, because it looked like poison ivy!

Smack me upside the head! I hadn't thought of poison ivy -- only being bombarded by some creepy crawly! I was actually relieved that it was only poison ivy....

"Leaves of three, let them be"

Poison ivy even has its own special poetry

Only poison ivy....  HA!!  I'm about a week and a half into this now, and believe me, you don't want this horrible stuff. The cortizone keeps the itchiness down but there are a few places that seem to itch all the time and when the stuff wears off.... OMG!!!  Sometimes I phantom scratch.... hubby calls it "air scratching" LOL!

It's growing up the tree

I turned to my pal Mr. Google and found out all manner of things I didn't want to know... I confirmed that the vine was, in fact, poison ivy. I won't show you pics of my arms and legs lest you run away screaming in fear and disgust but suffice it to say that I did see photos of other arms and legs that looked just like mine -- and lots than were worse -- I'm the one running away in fear and disgust now!!

Way up the tree

all the way up that tree...

I swear I have never seen this stuff on the fence before now 

so apparently it's pretty fast growing.

I also learned that the urushiol oil from poison ivy (the stuff that causes the breakout) stays potent, essentially FOREVER unless deactivated!! You not only have to wash it off your body, you have to wash your clothes and garden tools too. An allergic reaction is possible for a year or more if the clothes were never washed. Can you imagine?!

"Side leaflets like mittens will itch like the dickens"

(Another little poison ivy rhyme)

Do you see the mittens?

I started thinking back and knew which shorts I had on (yeah, I know -- shorts and gardening don't mix, but it was on an impulse) and I hadn't washed them but had worn them again. Hubby calls them my "uniform" since I typically wear them a few times before washing. (Oh, quit it, you know you do the same thing...) I'm thinking, well the rash on one of my legs right at shorts level was spreading -- could this possibly be because of the shorts??

So I started washing -- hot water, hot dryer. I've washed those shorts and my gardening gloves four times now. I've also washed the sheets, just in case, although it can't be spread by anything except direct contact with the vine. So my shorts can be a carrier of the oil, but not my sheets. But I still feel better washing them. I even washed every t-shirt I own as an added precaution!
Hot hot water.

Yikes! I found some by the shed....

But I also found a homemade concoction made of Dawn dish washing liquid, vinegar and Epson salts that's supposed to get rid of it without the harsh chemicals of the store-bought stuff.

We'll see what happens, if it ever stops raining...

And we won't even speak about how much I'm itching.... and itching.... and still itching....

And so I will leave you with something much less itchy and awful...
.

Do you remember this little ditty? From The Coasters, recorded in 1959.

Measles make you bumpy
And mumps'll make you lumpy
And chicken pox'll make you jump and twitch

A common cold'll fool ya
And whooping cough can cool ya
But poison ivy, Lord'll make you itch

~ sharing this despicable plant over at AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter D

Don't get too close to your monitor, or you may be next!!

♥♥