Bringing in flowers from the outdoors-yes or no?

I just can't. And won't.

I inspect flowers (slyly!) at others homes it scares me so much.

Will you bring flowers in from the yard or garden?

We have gotten bites recently from standing in cut grass at the park, sitting on our front porch, playing on a playground. I believe they are in bushes, trees, grass, flowers 😥

Am I being overly paranoid?

Thanks, Girlie.

I am struggling terribly with my anxiety and paranoia. Compliments of Lyme and co!

We do go outside. I've got 3 young adorable boys who need fresh air and to run around. And, while the sun feels good...I don't enjoy being out anywhere anymore. It's not even just woodsy places I have to fear...it's our own yard and local parks...
And those flowers people bring into their home 😜
I even think about ticks as I walk to my car...at home or in a parking lot.

My cats are indoor only cats. So, I don't have to worry about them bringing them in.

Actually there's only one kitty now.


It's nice to have pets that don't have any fleas. The fleas used to always jump onto me. (When we used to have cats that went outdoors)

On the other side of the coin - I refuse to allow Lyme to control me any more than it already has. I prepare myself, treat my yard and animals and watch my grandkids closely as they love to play outdoors (when they are up here anyway).

I still garden, do yard work and even bring in flowers - but they are all either treated or inspected closely. I use astragalus now that I'm healed from Lyme to help prevent any reinfection and it seems to have worked so far. I've used it for about a year and a half now. What I haven't found out yet is if astragalus is enough to keep me safe from Bart and Babs and the other tick-borne infections as well.

That's exactly how I got reinfected. I was in town grocery shopping and picked up a tick. It attached under my bra (in the front!!!!) and I couldn't get to it fast enough because of a line for the women's bathroom!! To say I was a little upset when I realized that I was reinfected is a bit of an understatement! I was in town, dang it!!

And, I've talked with people that have never left a 'big city', like LA or NYC, didn't own pets nor were they around other people's pets and they were infected. So avoidance of areas and certain situations just isn't enough. It might have been previously, but these infections are too wide spread and a person can be infected by many more insects than ticks. Mosquitoes and other insects now carry these infections.

Summersun - It's one I make myself.

1 Tbsp witch hazel
40 drops essential oil
1/3 cup distilled water (I just boiled water and let it cool)

The witch hazel is because the oil doesn't mix with water.

I wanted to use Rose Geranium...but could only find geranium, so I added lavender and eucalyptus in case the regular geranium doesn't work.

You can use citronella, tea tree, cinnamon, as well...(there are more..just ones I remember)

I don't know yet if it works on mosquitoes. I started using it last spring...and haven't had a mosquito bite...but I haven't been out in the back yard when the mosquitoes are bad.
But, I did go for a walk on a trail in the woods and didn't get any bites of any kind on me.

Thanks Girlie!