ANSWER: What is this? Guessing game.

UPDATE: Believe it or not, this is HONEY. We buy honey by the 5 gallon bucket and sometimes it crystallizes a bit before we use it all. I scoop it into quart-size jars and keep those handy for every day use. Yes, we use it nearly every day. It's the "sugar" for our family. On cereal, in tea, and in baking. Take just about any recipe that calls for sugar, use 1/2 that amount of honey instead. Yum! Do I use it crystallized? Not usually. It doesn't matter in tea or baking, but it's a little crunchy on cereal or just on a spoon. So, once I scoop it into the jar, I bring a pan of water to simmer and place the jar (without the lid) in the water and warm it until it's runny. Don't ever let honey boil! It kills all the good stuff in it! Did you know that honey can be used as an antiseptic, anti-fungal, and as a throat soother?

Dave, at homeschooldad, has Things This Thursday going on every Thursday. I rarely have much to say on my blog that can be scheduled, but I will try this time.

Do you have any idea what this is? I guess one could call it a thing, so maybe I can bend the rules a bit and make it fit Things This Thursday. Go ahead, take a guess. Let others know about this guessing game and let's see how interesting the answers are. I know it's not a popular blog and I'm not really doing anything to make it so, but maybe, little by little, I'll get more comfortable with growing it. So, this is my first step.

WHAT IS THIS???

Answer: Allergic Rash, Much like Poison Ivy

Sigh.

(Oh, before I {sigh} too much, let me thank my commenters to my last post! It DOES look like poison ivy, doesn't it? And the link posted is just enough to make one cringe! We have had so many lessons on identifying poison ivy, too! Let's just say, if there are any things I'm paranoid about, they are poison ivy, lice, and people who do bad things to children!)

B was feeding the Snoopy, our new bunny, Monday night. After I got poked enough by the hay, I asked if anyone else wanted to fill the box with hay. (I'm allergic to hay. It makes me sneeze, my eyes get itchy and runny, and I break out in a rash. Just a MILD rash, though. Not the one in the pictures.) So B took over.

I noticed before she went to bed that she had red splotches all over her hand and a few scratches that penetrated her skin. She had no idea how it happened. Could have been when her hand slipped between the mats at gymnastics earlier in the evening, brushing against the velcro. It didn't seem to bother her at all and it isn't surprising she didn't know where it happened.

Tuesday morning she had what you see in the pictures in my last post. The only places we were on Monday were swimming lessons at a brand-spankin' new water park that opened up in a local community park district (where we normally take swimming lessons, but this year they have a brand new facility!), home for lunch, then to Vacation Bible School, home for dinner, and out to gymnastics (indoors).

So, Wednesday the doctor said it is an allergic reaction very much like poison ivy. Because we cannot think where she may have touched poison ivy, it must be the hay. (There were other reasons we were at the doctor for B, but this was the reason to go TODAY instead of Saturday.) We've been keeping it covered just so we don't freak people out at swimming lessons or anywhere else. I just feel so bad that it's B who has it. She has the toughest breaks and already doesn't "feel" things quite the way we do. Plus, she is so self-conscious and sensitive. Not that I'd wish it on any child, but B certainly has it rough!

Now that I'm thinking back, I'm wondering if there may have been poison ivy at the park where we picnicked Sunday evening. Or if there may have been any in the flower beds at church when they did some of the activities at VBS...

I guess I'll go look up the time from exposure to rash for poison ivy... just for my peace of mind.

Stay tuned for the GIANT NEEDLE at the doctor's office.

3 guesses

Whose finger is this & what happened? (This is not the only one; there are a bunch on the other hand and arm.)

More to come after we've been to the doctor...

Here are more pictures... every one of the red spots and scratches is full of blisters.