Mosquito Spray

12 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by Jamie Lee in Thrifty Style & Decor

Tags

DEET, DIY, Essential oil, Health, homemade bug spray, Insect repellent, Mosquito, Ophelia, West Nile virus, Witch Hazel

Ugh. Mosquitoes.

Annoying at the best of times, downright troublesome at the worst. Like when you’re playing Ophelia and you are dead and corpse bearers are bearing you on a bier to your grave and there is lace draped over your body and a mosquito is trapped under the lace with you but you’re dead and can’t swat it away from your ear or eyelid. Ugh.

Every night I make the choice: spray myself with DEET or take my chances with West Nile. So far, my fear of the West Nile virus (and the bites and welts) have trumped my fear of a daily dose of DEET.

Homemade mosquito spray to the rescue? Maybe.

I used half witch hazel and half boiled water, with 10 drops each of eucalyptus, lemon, and lavender oil. Shake it up and spray. I tried it the other night, but at the last minute, before I went on stage, I chickened out and sprayed myself with DEET. I really don’t like being bitten on stage, and the air was thick with mosquitoes. It may have helped – I was the only actor who didn’t get eaten alive that night, despite soaking ourselves in DEET.

Maybe I’ll be brave enough to try it tonight . . .

Maybe.

This Week:

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by Jamie Lee in My Life

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bread, dogs, Home, Ophelia, rain

On Sunday, Will baked two loaves of whole wheat bread.

On Monday, Ziggy pulled the bread off the kitchen table, kept one for himself and generously gave the other loaf to Kingsley.

On Tuesday, I started rehearsals. Hurrah! The designers have outdone themselves this year – Steampunk and Tim Burton-esque 1950s. So bloody beautiful. Ophelia cries black, oily tears that streak down her face. Haunting.

On Wednesday, I drank my third Superfood shake for breakfast. They are very filling, and I find I don’t need to snack before lunch. However, I have not yet turned into a superhero. Maybe it takes more than a few days . . .

On Thursday, I rode my bike to rehearsal. In the rain. (Note: Need to buy waterproof biking gear – getting to work and drying your jeans and socks under the hand-dryer in the ladies’ room is not fun)

Today, the sun is shining (finally!), I’ve got a good cup of coffee, I’m gainfully employed (yay!), and I’m looking forward to my bike ride to work. Life is good.

Have a great weekend!

Fresh Rhubarb and Ophelia

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by Jamie Lee in Canning & Preserving

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ophelia, Oxford English Dictionary, Rhubarb

First day of rehearsal today.

I had a date with Ophelia the other night. She says a lot of words that I don’t understand, so I made a rhubarb crisp (with some fresh from the garden rhubarb that my friend Jenn gave me – so tart!), and sat down with the Oxford English Dictionary.

Well, sort of. The free version online, that is.

I really wish the Saskatoon Public Library would offer access to the real dictionary online to library card holders, but I understand that it’s very expensive to do something like that. Still, the free version is pretty good. Not nearly as exciting as the real thing, though. And yes, I get excited over the Oxford English Dictionary. Who doesn’t? It’s bloody amazing.

The crisp was delicious, and now I know what Ophelia is saying. The first step is done – understand on an intellectual basis what’s going on. Next step, make it live. Find the why. To badly quote Picasso, “say it with brushes and paint!”