Our RS has two new counselors and the Enrichment counselor is going gangbusters on home & family preparedness, food storage and gardening. We have two workshops a month--one on a Thursday evening, one on a Saturday morning--and a food storage item of the month that is featured as the refreshments.
This morning, I hosted a workshop on composting, complete with full color handout with all the info an aspiring composter needed.
We had 9 people total. I had wrapped up most of the overview when Minerva showed up with her kids. The rest of the ladies were eating refreshments Monica brought--crisp tortilla rounds, cheese, lettuce and cooked beans, this month's starring food storage item.
Two women had to leave early, so I took them outside to see my compost bin in action. Minerva and her 3 girls came outside with us. They'd been to our house before and headed straight for the backyard swings.
I had just shown everyone the compost bin's innards when the screaming started. I looked to see which kid was screaming and why. To my everlasting horror, I saw there was a wasp nest under the swing Stephanie had been on and she'd gotten stung.
The wasps were buzzing angrily near their disturbed nest, so we walked the screaming, crying Stephanie back to the house. She had three stings: two on her arm and one on the corner of her mouth (which explained why she'd been screaming into her closed hands). Minerva called her pediatrician to ask what to do.
I wrapped some ice cubes in wet paper towels to help kill the pain. One mom had Benadryl, so we had her take one. Minerva had children's Tylenol at home, so she packed up the girls' things and headed out. Stephanie was somewhat calmer by then but still obviously in pain. After that, everyone else packed it in, too.
Hard not to feel like the world's worst host after something like that.
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Bummer! I unwittingly disturbed a yellowjacket nest in my backyard a couple of years ago, and got a sting on the arm. Of course I went straight upstairs and Googled what I should do. ;) Sounds like the moms in your case were on top of things. Ice pack with the meds would be the only thing I would add (and ibuprofen, because it's anti-inflammatory, not just analgesic, would be my drug of choice over Tylenol).
What did you do about the nest? Paper wasps' nests can usually be knocked down with a long stick (that's what we used to do under my parents' eaves), and if you're vigilant they'll usually get the message and head elsewhere. Yellowjackets are a different story. Here most nests die over the winter, but I don't know what would happen in the tropics where you live!
Oy! Not fun. The bummer with wasps, bees, and yellow jackets is, unless you're an apiarist, it's hard to know that when two or more apia are gathered together, there you have a hive.
The first time I was stung by a honey bee, I was six and it got me on my bare heel. After I got over my initial distress, I was more upset that the bee was going to die because it had stung me. I felt bad about that for years.
All that said: You're still the bee's knees in my book, ME. ;-)
buzzkill about the bees, but more about the composting please! My mom was on a compost kick while we visited this summer, and I kind of caught the bug - I would like to hear about your methods/experience.
I called Minerva last night to ask how Stephanie was doing; fine enough to play at the park a few pain meds/hours later. When I saw Stephanie today at church I gave her a hug and told her she was brave and I'm sorry she got stung at my house. Next time, I said we'd stay inside and play with the kitties instead.
I noticed another wasps' nest above our garage door when I went out to get the paper this morning. When we got home from church, Mike zapped both nests with this Raid wasp killer that shoots from 9 feet away. I watched him zap the one under the swing. The wasps scattered on impact; we'll probably knock down the nests to discourage any new residents.
'Tis the season for wasps to build houses, say the locals. Public works will remove nests, but I think we've got ours handled.
H, I use a compost bin for kitchen scraps, dryer lint, dried leaves, grass clippings and shredded newspaper. I talked about bins, compost piles (where you rake the raw material into a pile and let it sit) and sheet composting (digging the raw materials directly into your garden beds and letting nature do the rest). I went over the right (and the wrong) things to compost and we had a good time.
We've also been using Feline Pine cat litter, which is compostable. I either use it out of the box as mulch in the front yard or put it in the compost bin to break down more before using it in areas where we're growing foodstuffs. I can send you my handouts via email if you'd like. :)
I love composting! Sounds like we're not quite as thorough as ME, but even so, it really reduces your waste. We don't do much yard debris (since we don't have any large leafy trees any more, and leave our grass clippings on our lawn, and most of the rest is noxious weeds with seeds), but all of our vegetarian kitchen scraps + eggshells. We've been using the same bin for 7 years, and it's like magic--it's never filled all the way up! At first we had to be somewhat cognizant of the proportions of brown/green material, but now that it's been going for a while, there is always enough brown stuff (ie. the compost we've already made) to digest whatever green stuff we throw in. Very cool.
dryer lint, i'm intruiged! please email me any compost info you have! (do you need my email address?)
Oh no, how awful for you! But how were you to know, not being a frequent swinger? ;)
Maybe you could host another event some other time and do a "bee" theme, just to sort of make light of the situation. Honey cakes, black and yellow plates, lemonade, etc.
Too funny, Adriana. It's true: we are infrequent swingers compared to people much younger. ;)
I was indignant about my first bee sting. I was wandering through the back acreage of my funky Quaker school minding my own business when I got stung. I hadn't done anything to bother the bee, so I was mad.
The last bee sting I got was in h.s. during cheerleading practice. I swung my arms around and hit a passing bee. The stinger was stuck in my middle finger, which got hugely swollen. I flipped people off under the guise of showing them my bee sting. :)
Let me know if you decide to have a bee-themed party. I made honey baby cakes with fresh sage for a book group a few years ago when we discussed The Secret Life of Bees. Yum.
Oooh, JA, those sound fab! I'm toying with the idea of offering mi casa for a baby shower/tea for a woman in the ward. May I add your recipe to the menu I'm planning in my head regardless of where said shower takes place?
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