Hedgeapples & Spiders

I thought Halloween would be an appropriate time to post spider pics!  Here's the deal.  I'm not really afraid of spiders.  I mean, I don't want them crawling on me, but I'm not panicky, scaredy-cat, creepy-crawly, afraid of them.  

This one was in our shower when we first moved in. And okay... I was a little creeped out by it.  And I had to take a shower or I was going to be late, so I had to kill it.  I usually let them be, or take them out on a piece of paper.  But this one was BIG.  So I smashed it with a shoe and screamed while I did the deed.  

 

If you've ever watched a spider, they can weave some pretty cool webs.  Such as this Golden Orb Weaver I saw at Patty Beck's last year.

 

And I'm not freaked out wearing this bracelet.... 

(won these hand warmers at Grovy Girl Yarn!)

or having cool spider yard art in my yard made out of door knobs and bolts.

 

But this kinda freaked me out.  Not the mole!  But about two inches above it to the left.   I was cleaning out a cabinet in the garage and something itty-bitty-teeny-weeny-tiny-winy, bit me! And it hurt all the way to the core of my arm.  It hurt worse than any bee sting I've ever had.  And it immediately welted.

  

I killed that little bug too, which we decided was a tiny red spider.  It was about the size of those little no-seeum bugs, but it was red.  And the next day the area got bigger and itched a lot.  My nurse friend told me to draw a circle around it in pen and if it gets bigger to get to the hospital.  Now peeps, I've been stung, and never thought about going to the hospital over something like this.  But she seemed very concerned.  So I drew the circle.  That night I took Benadryl.  

The next day it swelled even more....but it wasn't itching as much.  So, I decided if the swelling didn't start going down the next day, I'd go to the hospital.  

Thankfully, it did start going down.  And when I went to spinning group I was telling them about the bug that bit me, and they suggested I get some hedgeapples and put them in the basement.  But where does one find hedgeapples?   Well, the next day...much to my surprise, one of my spinning friends came over with a whole sack of them!  (She told me the night before she had a friend die of a spider bite a couple of weeks prior)

 So I've decorated with them...

all over the house...

and it's the weirdest thing...

I haven't seen any spiders!

 What about you... Do you have any home remedies on how do you get rid of spiders?

Cindy Bee

PS...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!