Bug Repellant

We used to use Muskol for bug repellant. It is 23.5% Deet and has lots of warnings on the label about only applying it every 8 hours and to use it sparingly and not to spray it in enclosed spaces. The one that really made us not be able to use it anymore were the instructions: "Do not use on children under 12 years of age."

So my husband put together this spray for me to use with the kids with tea tree oil. He got a spray bottle from the dollar store and put 15 drops of tea tree oil with 32 oz of water. We used it some, but were still getting bit.

We added more tea tree oil, but even if it might have helped some, it wasn't enough to keep away the misquitos while blueberry picking. They were too much so I went back to the Muskol.

And here I was picking all natural, organically grown wild blueberries and spraying myself with pesticides! How ironic!

I welcome any suggestions for a less toxic bug repellant. What do you use, how do you make it and how well do you find it works?

Freezing Uncooked Donuts for Fresh Later

Growing up, our family made donuts from time to time. When I was in high school, I made donuts on the weekends to sell. I'll have to post our family recipe and instructions another time so check back later. For now, I'm going to show you how I discovered that I could have fresh donuts every day without having to make the dough every time.

Wild Blueberry Country

We live in an area that is known for its wild blueberries and I had been planning to get out to pick some on my friend's property. So when I discovered that the bush just beyond my backyard is full of wild blueberries I was very excited! 

 Now that I know what a blueberry bush looks like, I'm seeing them everywhere here.