Am going on vacation, aka "'lo! Mosquitos! Dinner's served!"

[la_rainette]

Er. Yeah. Leaving Sunday, back the following Saturday. Hear me as I yoddle with joy, yoohoodelayhooo, only not.

I'm going camping, in a deer reservation, close to lake Ontario. With two small kids, one big tent, one over-enthusiastic Husband, and an impending headache just from the idea.

I am SO not ready. I have to go shopping big time. I have to do the laundry. I have to pack, and pack, and pack. I have to make sure the plants are watered and the cat fed and the mail picked, and all that would be so much easier if Froglet hadn't accidentally watered the neighbour instead of the plants this afternoon. Yes, that neighbour. Who is supposed to take care of the plants/cat/mail, not necessarily in that order. Am mortified.

I don't think I'll be able to send any postcards from there, sorry guys, but if anyone wants dry deer droppings as a souvenir, I think that can be easily arranged - scraping off whatever ends up on our shoes should do the trick.

If I can, I'll drop by some time tomorrow, otherwise... Mosquitos, here I come!

Comments

[scribbulus-ink.livejournal.com]

You have my sympathies -- camping is so not my thing, and the thought of being out in the wild for a week would make me less than joyous, too. Good luck! I hope the mosquitos don't carry any of you away. ;)

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

Thanks, McKay! Luckily I am taking Husband, who is usually much more of a mosquito magnet than we - the girls and I - are, so hopefully he'll willingly give his blood for us again (poor guy).

Courage

[sir-gareth.livejournal.com]

The quest you speak of demands knightly courage. Courage that not even a knight of my calibre could muster. You are braver than I, fair maiden. Fare thee well!

*imagines the misadventures that will surely occur with tadpole going 'back to nature' and froglet 'falling' over into patches of poison ivy* Good luck Rainette *hugs*

Re: Courage

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

POISON IVY! POISON IVY! OMG I don't remember how to recognize the bloody thing from any other harmless plant! *sobs*

Thank you, much luck will be needed *hugs*

*waves good bye with white handkerchief*

Re: Courage

[sir-gareth.livejournal.com]

Its strange but I seem to be completely immune to poison oak and poison ivy. To the point of finding them both quite tasty when ingested. Also to the point of not knowing what either looks like. My ex's eldest son had the most extreme reaction to posion ivy. He would bubble up all over his body (I mean all over: eyelids, inside nostrils, and other places reportedly) from merely being out on our back deck breathing during summer months. Its the spores evidently. Well, evidently, that was enough to get him out of ever having to mow the rocky weed infested 50% gradient that is my back yard.

Seriously, I can walk right through the stuff and it doesn't affect me. I wonder if its's a British/foreign immunity, or just my own special thing.

As far as identification goes... look for the most harmless and dull looking plant in the woods... and that's bound to be poison oak or poison ivy. The plants tend disguises themselves as the most innocuous foliage in order to lull campers/walkers/hikers into a false sense of security. Then when they have their prey right where they want it, the evil vegetation pounces on its unsuspecting quarry... by growing several inches a year... and dying off in the winter months.

Re: Courage

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*stares* Flowers. Poison ivy has flowers. My girls are so going to pick them up. I am so doomed.

I can only hope that we may be granted foreign immunity too. (will wave little white flag, hang on, where did I put that handkerchief? and hope for the best.)

Is the hypnotic icon meant to put me in a state of trance for the whole next week? Cos, I'm not sure I want to witness the disaster...

Re: Courage

[sir-gareth.livejournal.com]

Oh good gracious! I soooo thought you 'got' me. You unleashed the dragon of nonsense, but yet you do not understand his querky humor. The pictures I embedded were supposed to be amusing because they were so wrong in their nature.

The first picture, captioned 'poison ivy', is actually a picture of some daisies. The second picture, captioned 'poison oak', is a picture of a normal 300 year old oak tree. Both are SO not like what they were captioned, that I thought it was funny.

It's a British humor thing (though I do have one US friend who utilizes the same comedy technique)... making deliberately wrong statements and quoting horribly incorrect facts... in essence trying to make someone correct you... then they look silly because you knew you were wrong, and they actually believed you had faith in what you were saying. Deadpan delivery works a treat. Your trust in my falsehoods is a completely new twist to the comedy. I actually feel guilty for leading you astray with misinformation now.

Actually, I thought it was so funny that I have spent the last 20 minutes re-reading it and chuckling to myself. And you didn't even get it. *woe* Of course there is the possibility that you did 'get' the joke, but were just playing along to see if anyone else chimed in to correct me. There's an out for you anyway *grins*

*dragon lands, puts long scaly tail between legs and sulkily shuffles back to the inner recesses of the knight's guardianship*

Re: Courage

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*catches dragon by big scaly tails and drags back out into the light*

No, no, don't go into hiding, please *laughs and laughs and laughs* Don't feel guilty, I am just, well, not handling the camping thing well. I mean, I nearly set fire to myself tonight, trying to light the BBQ with the kid-proof thingy we have. Which is so bloody kid-proof I couldn't use it at first, and then, whoooosh. Your dragon breath came a bit too close to my hide, I'll say.

Re: Courage

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

Although, come to think about it, maybe you should have let me believe... This of all the daisies that wouldn't have been plucked/peed on because OH MY GOD POISON IVY! GET OUT OF THERE NOW, GIRLS! *giggles*

Re: Courage

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

(I meant think, of course. Oh, bugger, I am tired. And so unsuited to a trip in the jungle with poison daisies!) *yawns and waves good-night to scaly dragon*

Re: Courage

[terrylj.livejournal.com]

Huh...is Canadian poison ivy different from U.S.? 'Cause I don't remember ours having flowers. Of course, I never got poison ivy no matter how many plants I trampled through, so I never felt an especial need to notice.

I did learn that the leaves of poison ivy grow in clusters of three, though: "Leaves of three, let it be!"

Re: Courage

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*notes frantically, swears never to approach anything that has three leaves*

Thanks!

Re: Courage

[sir-gareth.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* This is getting out of hand. Please see my above reply to rainette.

Re: Courage

[terrylj.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I did wonder about the "poison oak"...but since I know nothing about plants, and nothing about you, I certainly wasn't going to correct you! :)

Re: Courage

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*laughs even more* God this is so funny

[terrylj.livejournal.com]

Erg. I can't think of anything that I would enjoy less. My idea of a vacation involves room service and somebody else cleaning the toilets. I hope you manage to have fun in spite of it all!

I've been meaning to say thanks for the Canadian postcard! I plan on returning the favor, but it's amazing how rarely you see postcards when you actually live in a place. There's like a filter in your brain that just blocks them out, wherever you go.

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

There is no one to clean the toilet because I am not sure we will have friggin' toilets *sobs*

I hope Tadpole will let me use her potty, although I am not sure it will support the weight of a grown-up...

I'm glad you liked the postcard :D