Organic and Natural Body Care Summer Recipes Part 4

Anti-Bug Repellant

Can't you just smell that soap??? :-)

I love the smell of lemon and rosemary, especially in a soap...but that's not the point here :-)

Back before I left on vacation, I was hoping to get this post done, but time ran out on me so I had to postpone! We had a great time with family and friends, but I am glad to be back in my little spot and get back to a routine again.

I have a terrible time with insects and mosquitoes biting me this time of year, especially since we've been drowned with rain since the first of April! It has rained nearly every day since and though I do not complain about the rain, I do NOT like all the extra mosquitoes it breeds :-)

There are many different alternatives to using toxic DEET that though they have to be reapplied often, are much safer and healthier alternatives. Here's a few that we use around our house and how we apply them....

    1. Lemon Juice : I slice open a lemon and rub it all over everyone's arms and legs. DO NOT do this if you have just shaved your legs, ladies!! lol! Experience is speaking on this one....:-)

    

     2. Bar soap : We do not use commercial soap for bathing because of chemicals and sulfates contained, but keep a bar on hand for insect repellant. Really? Stop and think about that...something that is supposed to clean you can keep insects off you because it will make them sick. So, what does it do to you? Might want to research that :-)  Anyways, I slightly wet the bar and rub it all over exposed skin, but NOT the face. You never want to inhale the fumes of anything containing chemicals, not even bar soap. 

    3. Sage: I have two large sage plants in my garden that grow beautifully and interestingly enough, never suffer from bug infestation. The herbs that I plant near them never do either :-) Mosquitoes especially do not like the smell of sage. There are a couple different things you can do with the sage leaves....you can break off the leaves, tear them in half and rub furiously all over your body (you can do the face with these:-), you can steep the leaves in a bit of boiling water for 15 min., strain, and bottle in an old hairspray bottle and keep in the fridge for instant spray on repellant (this will go bad in a week or so), or you can combine the sage leaves with rosemary, lemon balm, and pyrethrum flowers in olive oil or another favorite body oil, infuse for three weeks, strain, add vitamin E oil for prolonged shelf life, and rub on every time you go outside! 

See, you don't have to use that dangerous rubber and plastic solvent DEET!! You don't have to compromise your brain cells and those of your small children for the sake of a few mosquitoes! In Nature we can find God's answers to so many of our day to day troubles if we will just take a little time to learn and apply what we learn. I am so thankful for the wisdom of our Almighty God in that He, at the beginning of Creation, made a way for us to be able to deal with the troubles of our sin-cursed world. Isn't He so good?? 

Learning about plants and herbs has been such a blessing to me as the more I learn, the more I see the hand of God in my world surrounding my day to day life. I see His provision in providing herbs for healing, wild and edible plants for eating, and others for just pure enjoyment because of the beauty that they provide for the eye, which in turn brings a smile to my face! 

CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD

by: Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

LOWERS preach to us if we will hear:--

The rose saith in the dewy morn:

I am most fair;

Yet all my loveliness is born

Upon a thorn.

The poppy saith amid the corn:

Let but my scarlet head appear

And I am held in scorn;

Yet juice of subtle virtue lies

Within my cup of curious dyes.

The lilies say: Behold how we

Preach without words of purity.

The violets whisper from the shade

Which their own leaves have made:

Men scent our fragrance on the air,

Yet take no heed

Of humble lessons we would read.

But not alone the fairest flowers:

The merest grass

Along the roadside where we pass,

Lichen and moss and sturdy weed,

Tell of His love who sends the dew,

The rain and sunshine too,

To nourish one small seed. 

 

I challenge you this summer to look about you as you go to and from your place of work or play, and take notice of all the wonderful things that God has placed in our world for you to enjoy either by sight or by taste. The Heavens truly declare the glory of God, and the firmament doth show forth His Handiwork! We just have to take time to notice and learn :-)