It's been a puffy weekend.
We had big plans for an exciting Friday evening. It was the first night in awhile that it wasn't raining or threatening to rain, so we decided to dig our potatoes.
I think we got about 9 potatoes before we had to stop. The first plant was in a separate bed, and it grew without us planting it. We dug that and then I moved the crate over next to the rest of the plants. The Bup turned the soil in an empty part of the bed and I planted beet and turnip seeds while he got ready to dig.
We noticed a few yellow jackets, but didn't think much of it until I leaned down to put on my glove and felt a sting on the back of my hand. It didn't hurt too badly, so I put on my gloves and we started digging. He was using the potato fork and I was kneeling down picking up the potatoes when they popped out. Maybe this makes me crazy, but it was fun watching them pop up out of the dirt. There's something so satisfying about harvesting veggies, knowing they came from the tiniest seed and are now ready for eating!
After the first plant, I noticed that the yellow jackets were really swarming. Just as I was about to say something, one latched onto my upper lip and hung on for dear life. I did what anyone would, and started screaming like a banshee. I had to pluck it off, all the while screaming and running inside. When I got to the bathroom mirror, I could see the stinger still in my lip, so I pulled it out. Still screaming. The Bup came running in with me and tried to help, but I was in so much pain and there wasn't anything he could do. I put an ice cube on it, and it immediately felt better. We killed the 2 yellow jackets that followed us inside (those things are relentless!!!) and went back out, only to have the Bup get stung on his ankle. We hurriedly picked up the potato crate to bring inside and decided to stop.
Of course, we didn't have any afterbite or Benedryl, and we still had to go feed my cat, Pixi, at Mom & Dad's, so we walked up there to get it, hobbling (him) and holding ice on my face. When we got home, we watched a movie with more ice. When the movie was over, I still felt awful, and when I looked in the mirror, my whole face was 3 times it's size and even my ears were fat. I hope to never look like that again.
We went to the doctor the next morning because even though I wasn't having trouble breathing or any problems that indicated I was allergic, the swelling still hadn't gone down. Dad recommended ibuprofen in addition to the Benedryl to help, but it was still really bad. The doc said everything was moving along normally and that it could take 24-48 hours for my face to come back to normal. She told me to keep taking the meds and using ice and to let her know if anything got worse.
I think I scared a girl at the farm market, because she turned and ran to her mom when we walked by... sorry.
And now today, I'm still a little puffy. It's weird feeling this way, like I should be able to deflate my cheeks but I just can't. I'd show you a pic, but it's really too scary. And embarrassing.
We found the hole and we're not going easy on those buggers. Tonight, we're spraying the hive so that we don't get stung again.
Let's hope next weekend isn't quite so puffy!
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