Mommy, it itches!

Well, it is that time of year when we are out and about working in the yard more and in the pastures more. The inevitable will usually happen and we will come into contact with that most awful of weeds....poison ivy. My husband gets it several times a year and although it doesn't affect him as much as it does me (I would rather face down a rattlesnake than poison ivy)it still is miserable to have. However, there is something for preventing poison ivy and treating it. It has been around for generations and it is cheap. For many of us we have it in our homes already. What is this little gem that will battle the wiles of the evil weed? Fels Naptha soap. Yes folks that little bar of soap that we use on our laundry and everywhere else is great for preventing poison ivy inflammation and also for treating it. If you think you have been exposed, take a shower with fels naptha and then wash your clothes with some fels naptha shavings in hot water to remove the oils. Washing with fels naptha to will get rid of the oils on your skin and in your clothes and prevent the spread of the poison ivy. Just remember that fels naptha will also remove all the oils from your skin too so use it sparingly and only when needed to bathe with. I wouldn't use it on a regular basis as it really was not developed for bathing. However, it does work wonders in helping that poison ivy itch. It also helps for really itchy bug bites also. Poison ivy and mosquito season....gotta love summer! Of course, I have another way to battle that poison ivy that threatens to take over the farm.....Lilly, Billy, Buck, Coffee and Tea (our 5 goats). Those goats can zoom in on a sprig of poison ivy from a hundred yards and when they get done the poison ivy doesn't have long left in this world. They follow those vines up the trunks of trees and would climb those trees to get more if they could. I love my little poison ivy hunters, they sure have saved me some headache, because that stuff spreads like wildfire around here. That probably has something to do with the fact that I rarely have the courage to do battle with that menace, so my little goats have been coming to my rescue in the battle against poison ivy. Ya'll stay itch free and have a great day!