Fight Poison Ivy with Ivarest

Early this spring I received samples of a new product called Ivarest. I received both the Ivarest Poison Ivy Cleansing Foam and the Ivarest Cream Poison Ivy Itch Relief. When I first received the samples, I knew this was a set of products that I will definitely be using soon.

Later that month, the girls and I went fishing so I packed up this duo in our first aid bag for just in case. Luckily, we didn't come into contact with anything that would have needed these products.

Unfortunately, a couple of weeks later while my husband was clearing the back of the garden under the trees, he came into contact with poison oak and poison ivy. Of course, typical of him, he doesn't come in right away but rather finished the job first before coming in to complain about his arms. By the time he came in, he was sweaty, dirty and miserable. His arms had started to itch and a rash was already in full bloom. We immediately went into the bathroom where he rinsed his arms and we put the Ivarest foam all over both arms. He then rinsed them off again and immediately got in the shower. When he came out, we applied some of the Ivarest cream all over his arms.

I'd love to say the itch and rash went away, but no. His arms stayed itchy and even started developing welts. It stayed this way for almost a week! The good thing is, that he did get some relief from the itching every time we applied more Ivarest cream. He was grateful for that on nights when he wasn't awakened by the itching on his arms. He said that was the worst time was at night when he didn't have anything else to distract him from the itch.

If you're likely to run into poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak and the likes, make sure you keep some Ivarest on hand. I have a feeling that the itch would not have lasted as long if my husband had just come in immediately to wash off allergens and toxins before they had a chance to get under his skin.

Ivarest Poison Ivy Cleansing Foam, offers 50 percent more product than leading cleansers and retails for $5.97-$8.99. Ivarest Double Relief Formula retails for $4.37 - $6.99. Both products are available at select drug stores, supermarkets and mass retailers nationwide.

Garden, 2009

Warm weather finally came and our garden is back to its verdant condition that I had missed. I got so excited when plants started popping up that I hadn't had much time to update the blogs! There's just not enough time in the day to enjoy everything we want to do.

So here's a quick update of the garden:

This was taken in the early spring, around February. What was growing were plants that came back from the previous season. We hadn't planted anything yet.

This is how the garden looks now. The scuppernong grape vine has completely covered the frame we put up. The oregano had already started to flower, the cilantro had bolted and all other herbs have take hold. We've even already harvested some gree beans!

Come take a peek...

Come and take a peek at my backyard. I can't wait for it to start looking green again :)

The Spa in Your Own Home

Even during these hard economic times, or rather because of it, there is nothing better to improve our disposition than having a nice, comfortable living space. So people, even though they may not be able to afford to step up to a bigger house right now, are opting on doing improvements and renovations of the homes that they are in now.

We all have our ideal standard bathrooms in mind or rather in our fantasies, but if you can't afford that, simply adding or changing bathroom accessories can do wonders to an old and outdated room. For instance, kudos showers are quite stylish and functional at the same time and would make a marked improvement in any bathroom. If you're in the UK, check out Fairfield Bathroom Direct for your redecorating and improvement needs.

Make Your Own Seedling Pots

It's still frosty in the mornings, I know, but it will be spring in a few weeks and it's that time again to get the garden going. We've already started planning ours and have some of our seeds purchased and ready to be germinated.

As much as possible, we like to re-use what we already have rather than purchasing new supplies every year. So when we start our seedlings, we'll be using the trays we already have on hand. However, if you don't happen to have any, don't go out and buy containers that you'll just discard or use for a short time anyway.

I found this very helpful tutorial online on how to make your own seedling pots from newspapers. And it totally makes sense! You can plant your seedlings, pots and all, in the ground since the newspaper will deteriorate anyway.

I'm going to show it to the girls. I'm sure they'll love making the little cups and it sure would save me from having to spend any money on seedling pots.

Professional Landscaping

We have a freeform style to our backyard gardening, but some people, and I wish I was one of them sometimes, like a more sculpted and manicured garden.

Allstates Landscaping is a Utah Landscaping company that has been in business since 1985. They are committed to making landscape dreams possible and they have done that for a great many communities in Utah. They will not only create your landscaping dream, they will also maintain it for you if you wish.

A great many Utah Retaining Walls have been created by Allstates but that is just one service they provide. They can custom design waterfalls and water features, create a paved patio and meandering paths through your gardens or even make you your own putting green in your own backyard! Wouldn't that be a luxury. If you've ever dreamed of making your backyard an extension of your living space, Allstate is the landscaping company to call in Utah.

Utah Snow Plowing service would definitely be needed in the winter time but Allstates' maintenance service can also include property clean up such as removing weeds and leaves to trimming and pruning trees and shrubs. They offer scheduled mowing and yard maintenance services on a regular schedule or you can contract them for specific jobs such as mulching and sprinkler repair.

Spring will be here before you know it. This is the time to get estimates and planning your garden. When the weather gets nice, you don't want to miss one minute outdoors!

Winter Finally Came and I Missed It

Yep, we finally got snow after a fairly mind November and December and wouldn't you know it, it was the day I was out of town! My daughter Jade was nice enough to take some photos for me though.

The Backyard, Autumn

This is how our backyard was looking at the end of the summer. I think this photo was taken in October and not quite everything had turned brown yet. We actually still had plenty of greens and herbs hanging around. Now, it is pretty much just brown and barren in the backyard. We can't wait until spring and get started planting again.

Stylish Clean Living

I hate cleaning but love having a clean house. I guess that's why I tend to lean towards contemporary designs that are almost spartan but still beautiful, comfortable and best of all uncluttered. Spacify.com is a website that specializes in modern, contemporary furniture. Whether you're looking for home furniture or for your office, Spacify is a great place to start looking for modern designs with clean, simple lines that encourage minimalism. They don't look cluttered so you won't be tempted to clutter them up.

They have designs and accessories for every room in the house. They have a great selection of Leather Sofas, for instance; including an array of modern office furniture like this Corner Computer Desk. I just noticed that they also have great pieces of lighting fixtures. If you're in the middle of designing your home or office, Visit Spacify now and stop wasting time. They've got everything!

Opo Flower

This beautiful flowering plant has taken over our garden. This virginal bloom is from the opo, a member of the squash family. As you can see, if you've been around squash long enough, that this is a female flower. How can you tell? You can tell this is female because of the fruit already starting to form at the bottom. Look again... see it now?

This fruit can grow to over 3 feet, depending on the variety and can weigh anywhere from 3-5 pounds. It doesn't really have a whole lot of flavor, it's quite mild; it holds an enormous amount of water so any dish you put this into can get pretty soupy. The texture, when cooked is very similar to zucchini.

Normally, I buy one of these squashes a couple of times a year when I see them fresh at the Asian market and I have a craving for them. This time around though, from just 1 plant we've gotten three huge ones and there are four more plants coming up and getting ready to fruit! I've given away all I can, but now I've got to start cooking them.

Stop, LOOK, Listen

I canceled my vision plan because of Zenni Optical $ 8 Rx Eyeglasses. Seriously. I'm not just saying that to advertise for Zenni. I have turned to a believer especially after I computed the $30 a month I was paying on a vision plan that I may or may not use within the year.

Incredible Stylish New Frames From Zenni are just as good as the ones you pay for from on optical store for hundreds of dollars. If you are not convinced whether they are a legitimate operation or not maybe you'll be a believer if you see that Zenni Optical was on FOX news! Yep, even their investigative team had to admit, Zenni Optical is a great deal for prescription glasses users.

Herbs Galore

It's been raining every evening for the last five days and the plants in the garden are just loving it. We are too, because we can finally start enjoying some of the garden's bounty. These herbs, for instance came from our backyard. We made a delicious ratatouille with these herbs and some zucchini, tomatoes and eggplants, all from our garden. Nothing could have tasted better! I'll post the recipe in our kitchen soon. It should have been up already, but you know how it goes with blogging, it keeps getting interrupted by real life!

The Garden's Alive!

Things are coming alive!