[Sarah J]

I may have missed this somewhere so will ask it here. How do yall protect your legs, etc, while working outside?
It soon will be so hot here and wearing jeans and all in the summer heat is hard to do. Wearing shorts, or summer dresses is much cooler. But with so many bugs outside that bite, what do yall do to protect yourself? I really hate using products like OFF and such. (dont like putting toxins on my skin)
What do yall use to protect yourself when outside, in the yard?
In the woods, I think I would always wear jeans pretty much (snakes,etc) but when working in the yard, with animals, or gardens,... what do yall do?

I drink sakanjabim. Those middle ages people had it right! This is sort of a medieval Gatorade...it's a vinegar and sugar drink. We start drinking a glass a day starting about now. Within a week or so the bugs *don't like you* at all. Continue drinking a glass a day - the vinegar in your system keeps the nasties away. It doesn't help with things like sunburn, flying objects from the lawn mower, getting scratched by your protective roosters, etc, but it *does* make a terrific alternative to Deet - keeps ticks off, too!

2 quarts water
4 cups sugar
Heat over medium flame until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add 4 fruity tea bags (I like blackberry or raspberry), 4 sliced oranges (peel and all - just toss it all in!), and 16 ounces of red wine vinegar. Cover and let it cool for several hours. Remove the tea bags and oranges, squeezing them out as you remove them. Bottle the syrup or put it in jars. We prefer it cold so refrigerate it or keep it in a cooler when we're camping. But it's *vinegar and sugar* so can sit on a shelf just as easily. DON'T try to drink this straight! This is a syrup - you mix it 1 part syrup to 3 parts cold water. My sister prefers hers warmed up but I can't stand warm drinks in the summer time!

We hear a lot of complaints about ticks and gnats and flies all summer long, but we just don't get bothered by them much.

-Sarah