Flee Flea!

It was a most unpleasant experience! Son came downstairs with the news that he had found a flea in his room. Well, this could happen..after all, we were working in the yard all morning. I asked him if he had gotten rid of the critter and he responded that it wasn't there anymore. Again.."Did you get rid of it?" The answer was quite unsatisfactory...it was not there anymore meant that the flea jumped and he could not find it. Drats! Fleas! Not fun! A bit later, I found one on my laptop screen of all things! I suppose it was drawn toward the light but I do not like fleas! I started scratching! Things like fleas make me itch just thinking about them! Still, something had to be done! If we had a couple of fleas..we would have a million in a few days!

He and I spent the better part of today stripping anything washable from the rooms and running it through the washer and dryer. Then we set about dusting all the rugs and stuffed furniture down with baking soda. Not that this would kill fleas but it might just run them from their hiding places. The vacuum cleaner got a real good workout trying to suck up all that baking soda! After getting everything cleaned, I set about making a "flea spray". I cannot bring myself to over spray with the chemical pesticides that are recommended for such things as this. If we were highly infested with fleas, that might be a different story but for a couple of bugs, herbs might work.

Into the pot went a number of herbs and one squished grapefruit. This grapefruit had fallen from the tree and was quite icky. I needed some citrus to add to the pot so the squished fruit was perfect. A good helping of camphor leaves and some marigold leaves were the next things to be tossed in with the steaming citrus. To this, I added rosemary, juniper, lavender, oregano and sage. While the pot set to boiling, I slipped outside to snip a few fresh fennel leaves. With the exception of the camphor leaves, I could have very well have been making some potent drink! After all this cooked a while, I strained some and put it in a spritz bottle. Let the spraying begin! We spritzed everything! Oh, my! The house smells wonderful! I should have thought of this sooner...a bug deterrent air freshener! Again, this most likely did not kill the fleas (or flea..we have not determined if there was more than one!) but if it just makes them leave my house, I will be happy! Regardless..the house is cleaner than it has been in months..it smells delightful..AND...I have not seen that pesky flea again!