Mosquitos

On a tour of the Mille Lacs Anishanabi Museum, I asked how the Native Americans dealt with Mosquitos. Apparently they would grease up their skin with bear grease and then rub ash into the grease. I probably would not sacrifice a bear just for this purpose, but I'm game for other DEET alternatives.

Facebook has yielded some home remedies made from various essential oils. I thought, "Great! I'll go that route!" A trip to the Cloquet Health Food store revealed this to be incredibly expensive, as the essential oils are about $10 a bottle. However, they did have a ready made insect repellant for the bargain price of $8 for a 4 ounce bottle! 

Today it also became my fabric softener in my laundry and final rinse in my bath water!  There is Oil of Cedar in the repellant. That, together with my Finnish Birch (Koivu) shampoo and the lovely home made Pine soap from Janet and Sara, I feel like I have real forest cred! Now I am going out to work on my fence.