Ow, it sparkles!

Guess what I did? I went and riled up a bees' (wasps'?) nest and got stung - a lot. I was all innocently watering some of my plants and must have got some on the nest and pissed them off. Here are the three on the backs of my legs shortly after "the incident". I put a baking soda slurry on them because...something in my head told me to.

 

 

I called Jer out to help me because I could hear I had one (or more) in my hair and I didn't want them to sting me, but he came out too late and one got me on my back. I then discovered I had one (or more) up my shorts and I got two stings on my upper right thigh. They really hurt. Feel sorry for me, but feel sorrier for poor Jasper. They were all over his legs and butt and he probably has a dozen stings. We can't really visualize them, though, and there's not much we can do about it, anyway, so he's just miserable. Especially since he had pretty much just gotten better from his gastrointestinal issues that've been plaguing him for the last three weeks or so. Poor pup.

Once Jer came out, he went and retrieved some anti-bee/wasp spray and sprayed the nest (hive?). It was actually a burrow in the mulch under the maple tree in the back yard. The spraying set them off, again, and Jer got a sting on his finger. Jer then put a rock over the entrance hole and, when all the ones that had flown off came back trying to get in, he sprayed them, too.

Here's the nest, the next day with one live guy above the rock. The lower picture shows two dead ones on the mulch. The internet seems to indicate that these are the infamous yellow jackets. They're wasps and known for their aggressive bad temper.

 

Sleeping that night was quite the adventure as every little thing touching the stings hurt. Furthermore, they throbbed, but not a dull ache kind of throb more like a sharp, stabbing, sparkly kind of throb. For want of a better word. I guess the best way to explain it is to say it felt like I was getting stung more. I think Jasper felt the same way as he would periodically jump up and attack his own feet and legs, but of course nothing was happening to him. Poor guy. Jer managed to get to sleep, but Jasper and I commiserated most of the night. We (or at least I) finally dozed off some time after two in the morning. The next day they still hurt, but not as bad. And then they got itchy and hurty. Not fun. They're also really swollen and hot. Edema, yay. One of the ones on my upper thigh is the worst, but it's hard to get a good picture of it. I measured it, though (of course I did), and it's about 8x10cm. It's also probably a few mm raised.

So that's how I spent my evening. Don't be too jealous! I'm definitely ready for it to subside, already. Especially for Jasper.