Meet the Turtles

Fred - top left

Pedal - top right

Engine - lower left

Sammy - lower right 

Aren't they just the cutiest little things you've ever seen!? 

These little guys don't sit still long for anything.

My attempt of capturing their under side shells was an absolute challenge. 

As you can see the one on the lower right, Sammy, in the top picture is ready to flip at any moment. They are like babies learning to flip from back to front. They can and will flip over in a blink of an eye. 

They are listed in order from who was found first to last! 

I am amazed at their spots on the under shells how some of the spots are exactly the same on one side as the other. Especially, look at Sammy, on the lower right. His are a perfect match. Almost like it was a sheet of paper with paint on one side then folded in half to duplicate the spots.  

They love swimming in the aquarium here at the Murphy Lodge. 

Can you tell who's who once flipped over?

DIY mosquito spray

diy essential oil mosquito / bug spray

Becoming the essential oil junkie I have over the pass year making bug spray has been wonderful. I mainly use this as mosiquto spray but guess it could knock out other bugs too. We usually have mosquitos camp out on our back porch to the point you can hardly open the back door to let the dog out with out one flying inside, not anymore! 

What you will need:

spray bottle (a dollar at local grocery)

water 

and three drops each of

citronella

cedarwood

eucalyptus 

peppermint 

lavender

basil

rosemary

lemon

essential oils

Drop your three drops into the bottom of an empty spray bottle and fill the rest up with water. Simple as that… Then spray a mist all along your front and back porch, bricks, doors, patio furniture and all. I even sprayed the base of my flower pots at the front door. It's very long lasting. I spray every 2-4 weeks or in the time range I feel its needed. Also, if I know we are going to sit out side I'll try to mist a few shots in the areas I know we will be sitting. Using this finally got the hubby on board with essential oils… #mypotions #eoils #youcandoit

I've also made this bug spray with only using lemon, eucalyptus, rosemary, lavender.

Others essential oils you could add or replace would be thyme, geranium, lemon grass, clove, cinnamon, juniper, and sage. I've used some of these before especially before I had my citronella.    

Do you use essential oils?

If so, what's your favorite one to have on hand?