Rant of the day
Todays rant of the day is mosquitoes. I mean, seriously, what purpose do they serve?! I hate spiders. No, let me be honest, I'm terrified of spiders! But at least they eat insects. But what do mosquitoes eat? Us! If they ate us, as in all of us, it wouldn't be so bad, but they seem to be drawn to certain people, of which I'm one of them. My husband says he used to get bitten all the time, but now I'm his mosquito repellent. That really is not funny. That's just his attempt at humour, with an added dose of glee at not being itchy from head to toe! I, however, am right now!
Because we live in the country, the dreaded mozzies are rife here. But I've got that covered. I've tried every plug in known to man, as well as all the various so called natural deterrents. None of those natural ones help even in the slightest. I've only found one plugin that works. Unfortunately it's an insecticide one, but its apparently safe to use around pets. We leave it plugged in for the least amount of time possible, just to be sure. We also have bug screens fitted on our windows, but the little blighters still get in. But our plug in seems to kill them....not before they've had a little snack on me though. I've also tried all the various herbal mozzie repellents for myself. None of those work either. Neither do those silly after bite pens. They soothe the itchiness for a few minutes, but that's about it. Well, after a short walk in the forest a few days ago, and wearing jeans and a thin but long sleeved t-shirt, i came back covered in bites. All sorts of unimaginable places too. I even felt little sting on my shoulder, and sure enough when I looked, there was a mozzie there and it had got me through my clothes. There was also a dozen or so others on me too, that I hadn't felt. Fear not, I felt them all within a short time of getting home! I had to pop an antihistamine tablet that night as it was so bad I couldn't sleep. Oh boy, I wish we could buy calamine lotion in the Netherlands! If anyone knows of something similar, please let me know!
Apparently mosquitoes prefer people with blood group O - I'm not sure that's correct, as if it were, the majority of people would be their main targets. I'm blood group A. I don't wear strong perfumes, and I don't think I smell either, so that's those theories debunked too! Admittedly I grew up in the South of England, and for a time I also lived in both Somerset and Devon. I never saw mosquitoes there at all, not even if I walked along a river bank. The only time I encountered them in England was on a boating holiday on the Norfolk Broads. I'd read they were a huge problem there. Maybe I was lucky, but they certainly weren't a huge problem. The odd one did manage to get inside the boat, and as soon as I turned the light out and attempted to go to sleep, that high pitched buzzing would start, and no matter how hard I tried, and how many times I got up and put the light on, I could never find the culprit. So I'd wake up the following morning with a bite or two, usually in a strange place that had been well and truly tucked in to my sleeping bag, like the sole of my foot! Twice during that holiday, I encountered a small swarm of them when walking alongside the water. But they were not the huge nuisance I'd read about....and I hate bugs! But in this country, they are something else. They don't even wait until you turn the lights out before trying to get you. Nope, bold as brass, they are. Through your clothes. Not once either. One mozzie will get you multiple times. And for what? Unlike spiders (nasty little critters!), they don't eat other pests. They're purely put on this earth to torture us, I swear. At least, some of us anyway. Grrrr!
