Do Your Clothes Turn Orange!

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Well, Sunscreen is the culprit.

Especially one ingredient in almost all sunscreens.

It's the Avobenzone.

(And most moisturizers that have a sunscreen in has this too!)

If you read carefully, it says "May stain some clothing"!!

Well when I was younger, I didn't wear sunscreen or I chose like a number 4!!

Of course, this past year, I had to have some small skin cancers removed so then I started wearing nothing less than a Broad Spectrum SPF 30 or higher.

These are what I was using.

That's when my clothes started turning orange when I would wash them.  Especially around the neck and on the sleeves.

It was driving me nuts.

I was totally bleaching the heck out of my white shirts.

You can only do that so many times before they fall apart!!

As you can see, the higher the SPF, the more Avobenzone and the oranger my clothes were getting!

But why my clothes and not my daughters!!

Well it so happens that it is the chemical reaction that happens between 

the Avobenzone and iron which is in harder water.

Like WELL WATER!  That I have!

I have a water softener but there must still be more iron in my water than city water.

I had to find a sunscreen without the Avobenzone.

There are just a few and they are made with Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide.

You know . . . like Desitin ointment!!!!

Well, let me tell you one thing.  It certainly is waterproof!!

 You can hardly even wash it off with soap!

But if I have to be uncovered in the sun, I guess I'll have to wear it.

At least it doesn't smell like the old Desitin.

Remember that smell?

Sort of like fish oil!

Well, my clothes haven't turned orange for the past month.

So I guess that's a good thing.

If anyone knows of a more pleasant sunscreen without the Avobenzone, let me know!

Shirley

  

Laying Low On 90 Degree Days

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I'm not a fan of below 20 degree days and bad roads in the winter but these 90 degree HUMID days are worse!

You're sort of trapped inside for them too.  At least I am anymore.

I go out to do my jobs with the chickens and barn cats etc, earlier in the day and then for only short periods of time.

These were today's small accomplishments.

This morning, early , I shoveled a path of stones over where it's always muddy.

That will be better.

I opened up a pathway between the chickens two runs.

I made a short wire chicken tunnel there.

They like it and run back and forth all the time!

I put some cold water in this container and gave them a weed and clover salad.  They are supposed to stand in it to cool off but so far they're just leaning over to get their snacks.

(Yesterday they had cold watermelon.)

I found this rack? in the back and thought it looked like a perfect roost!

So far they haven't gone near it.

I put some cold water in the kiddie pool for Monk, the St. Bernard, to stand in but so far he hasn't done that either!  He can't stand this heat and just wants to come back into the AC.

When it's hot, the chickens dig holes in the cool dirt and dust themselves or just lay in them.

Pepsi wonders why on earth they want to get themselves all dirty like that!

I think they were talking.

I also, of course, changed out the chicken's, cat's and dog's water and scooped the poop board in the coop.

Then I went shopping in the cool stores!

Now I just may watch a movie this afternoon.

Shirley

Happy Summer

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Rain, Rain, Go Out West!!!

I've been trying to weed the front gardens between rains!

At least the weeds are really easy to pull out!

BUT:

A bouquet for you.

Shirley

It's a Jungle Out There

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We've had so much rain along with some hot weather and intermittent sun.  

That mixture makes for a JUNGLE!!

My brick path through my front garden is disappearing!  I think I will have to go out there with my hedge trimmers and just take it back!!

This hydrangea is so big that it just flops when it gets flowers on it.  Does anyone know what to do about that?  Can you divide hydrangeas??

Look how cute my little sun flower is.  I raised them from seed but I had intended on having big tall ones but it seems I bought the wrong seed.

My little vegetable garden.  I really like the raised bed!  Next year, I want two more.

This clematis climbs all over everything.  The rain knocked a lot of the blossoms off.

My smoke tree is a smokin'!!!!

I got this cute bird bath at TSC  and put it out yesterday to replace my broken one.

Happy Summer!

Shirley

Welcome Summer!! Finally!

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I went to lunch with my friend Pam today.  Good BarBQ at Bullies and lots of great girl talk.

Then on to Buehlers, my favorite grocery store.  Not the big one, I go to the smaller one in town.  I don't like the huge grocery stores.  They wear me out because I'm so unorganized I always have to go back after things I forgot and it's a mile to the other side of the store!!

When I got home, I did some wash then sat out with my chickens.  To me, that is sooooo relaxing!

Call me crazy, you non-chicken people!

Hello Dottie!

This is Pepsi, the friendliest of the barn cats.

Momma-cat (Angel) is a little more shy and keeps her distance.

She's Pepsi's mother.

I guess I removed their dinner bowls too early, they came up on the deck to finish the little bit that was left.  (Thats my last egg of the day I had just collected.)

My tiny garden is growing like crazy.

There's four eggs in my blue bird house.

In celebration of the first day of summer, I made myself a strawberry sunday, complete with whipped cream.

Yummmm!

Shirley

Picnic For One

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Linking up with A Southern Daydreamer for "Outdoor Wednesday"

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

This is the second time I'm using my tiny little grill. But this time I invested in this chimney starter to get the coals started. If you read about the first time I used it, my coals never got really hot and it took my turkey burgers over an hour to "slow cook"!

Not taking any chances, I fried up my drunsticks in oil, inside!! After all, I really don't want to die from my own cooking!!

The chimney starter worked perfectly as promised and within 20 minutes I had red hot coals.

I brought the drumsticks out to be finished up. I painted them with BarBQ sauce, put the lid on and let them smoke in there for that taste.

Waiting, waiting. Went in to get the corn.

All ready.

I have to say, this was beyond delicious!!

I have to say, I'm glad no one saw me wolfing this all down!

Drink is Strawberry Lemonade and desert is, of course, a brownie!

I will also have those left over cold drumsticks I can munch on tomorrow. Nummmmmmm.

I'll also be linking this post to Foodie Friday

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Shirley