R.C. Anderson
Unwanted guests in the bedroom
January 5th 2007 00:46
Last night I shared my bedroom with an uninvited guest.
With the sheets pulled over my head I gritted my teeth as I listened to their whining drone and hoped my bare skin wasn't showing.
No, my unwanted guest wasn't my husband, or any other man for that matter.
(Where's Mr hot and sexy from Stargate SG1 when I need him? – Unwanted? Oh no …)
My unwanted, uninvited and thoroughly despised guest was a mosquito.
I did try a bit of catch and kill at one point but the little (oh dear, I can't say that) the little [delete] was way too slippery for this poor pregnant woman. Sniggering and giggling at my attempts to trap it, it insisted on constantly buzzing annoyingly around my head, getting as close to my ear as possible.
The little [delete] knew exactly what to do to thoroughly [delete] me off!
In the end I gave up, hoping beyond all hope that no-one was peering through the hole in the blinds, watching as I bounced around on the bed, waving dirty socks around my head and screaming incoherently (under my breath, of course; don't want to wake my children up). It was like a rather bizarre version of a rain dance … unfortunately, no rain ended up falling and no mosquito met it's untimely death, suffocating in my husband's sock or squashed unceremoniously against the ceiling.
I missed it … every time.
Anyway, that got me thinking.
For those of you that don't know, I'm English. I have sensitive and delicate English skin … perfect for tiny little suckers to come along and take my blood. When bitten I come up in horrifying itchy welts, two centimetres in diameter, unless I'm bitten close to my eye (which has happened before) in which case I end up looking like a battered wife or crash test dummy, with swollen and blackened skin around my poor abused eye.
You can imagine the embarrassment I feel when people gasp over my appearance, all imagining the worse and giving my poor husband the evil eye, thinking he's the culprit, and I quietly inform them that I was attacked by a mosquito.
Okay, back to my thoughts.
I'm interested in natural ways to dissuade pests like mosquitos, flies, ants and the like from taking over our lives. I've done a bit of research and this is what I came up with.
Garlic Oil has been known to repel insects, particularly mozzies. Make garlic oil by peeling and chopping a dozen garlic cloves and adding to half a litre of olive oil. Leave for a couple of weeks to mingle before using. Rub over exposed areas of skin.
A bit messy and stinky but better than catching Ross River Fever or other mozzie born diseases.
Alternatively, you can just eat garlic. Apparently the garlicky smell/taste ends up close to the surface of your skin, coming through your pores in your sweat. Flies, mozzies and other air-borne insects hate it.
Garlic is also an excellent insecticide. Poke some in the ground near your plants to dissuade aphids and other bugs. Especially great with tomatoes. The garlic oil above can also be mixed with water and a little washing-up liquid to make an insect spray for plants.
Okay, so what if you have already been bitten or stung?
Apple cider vinegar can soothe itching when applied to bites and stings, as can baking soda. Make a paste of three parts baking soda with one part water and apply to the bite or sting.
Wasp or bee stings can be eased with cucumber. Apply thin slices of fresh cucumber directly to the site of the sting (remove the stinger first if necessary) and the pain will be drawn out and any swelling will decrease.
Lemon and lime juice are excellent ways to ease the pain and itching associated with insect bites and stings. Just squeeze a little onto the offending site or rub a slice of the fruit on top of the bite. Lemon juice can also be used as an ant repellent for your home. So if you're one of the many sufferers of ants in the house this summer, try squeezing a little lemon juice along the window and door sills and any other entry point into your house.
Onions, tulips and sesame seeds are also known to have healing properties when it comes to insect bites and stings.
Okay, so that's just a few of the one's I found. I could go on and on about this as there are many more natural remedies around. Maybe some of you have other tips that you'd like to share to ease the pain and itching of bites and stings or keep unwanted bugs out of the house.
Above all else, have a safe and insect free summer and, don't forget, garlic will not just repel insects, it'll keep the vampires away as well. It doesn't get better than that.
Blood suckers beware; the garlic is here!
With the sheets pulled over my head I gritted my teeth as I listened to their whining drone and hoped my bare skin wasn't showing.
No, my unwanted guest wasn't my husband, or any other man for that matter.
(Where's Mr hot and sexy from Stargate SG1 when I need him? – Unwanted? Oh no …)
My unwanted, uninvited and thoroughly despised guest was a mosquito.
I did try a bit of catch and kill at one point but the little (oh dear, I can't say that) the little [delete] was way too slippery for this poor pregnant woman. Sniggering and giggling at my attempts to trap it, it insisted on constantly buzzing annoyingly around my head, getting as close to my ear as possible.
The little [delete] knew exactly what to do to thoroughly [delete] me off!
In the end I gave up, hoping beyond all hope that no-one was peering through the hole in the blinds, watching as I bounced around on the bed, waving dirty socks around my head and screaming incoherently (under my breath, of course; don't want to wake my children up). It was like a rather bizarre version of a rain dance … unfortunately, no rain ended up falling and no mosquito met it's untimely death, suffocating in my husband's sock or squashed unceremoniously against the ceiling.
I missed it … every time.
Anyway, that got me thinking.
For those of you that don't know, I'm English. I have sensitive and delicate English skin … perfect for tiny little suckers to come along and take my blood. When bitten I come up in horrifying itchy welts, two centimetres in diameter, unless I'm bitten close to my eye (which has happened before) in which case I end up looking like a battered wife or crash test dummy, with swollen and blackened skin around my poor abused eye.
You can imagine the embarrassment I feel when people gasp over my appearance, all imagining the worse and giving my poor husband the evil eye, thinking he's the culprit, and I quietly inform them that I was attacked by a mosquito.
Okay, back to my thoughts.
I'm interested in natural ways to dissuade pests like mosquitos, flies, ants and the like from taking over our lives. I've done a bit of research and this is what I came up with.
Garlic Oil has been known to repel insects, particularly mozzies. Make garlic oil by peeling and chopping a dozen garlic cloves and adding to half a litre of olive oil. Leave for a couple of weeks to mingle before using. Rub over exposed areas of skin.
A bit messy and stinky but better than catching Ross River Fever or other mozzie born diseases.
Alternatively, you can just eat garlic. Apparently the garlicky smell/taste ends up close to the surface of your skin, coming through your pores in your sweat. Flies, mozzies and other air-borne insects hate it.
Garlic is also an excellent insecticide. Poke some in the ground near your plants to dissuade aphids and other bugs. Especially great with tomatoes. The garlic oil above can also be mixed with water and a little washing-up liquid to make an insect spray for plants.
Okay, so what if you have already been bitten or stung?
Apple cider vinegar can soothe itching when applied to bites and stings, as can baking soda. Make a paste of three parts baking soda with one part water and apply to the bite or sting.
Wasp or bee stings can be eased with cucumber. Apply thin slices of fresh cucumber directly to the site of the sting (remove the stinger first if necessary) and the pain will be drawn out and any swelling will decrease.
Lemon and lime juice are excellent ways to ease the pain and itching associated with insect bites and stings. Just squeeze a little onto the offending site or rub a slice of the fruit on top of the bite. Lemon juice can also be used as an ant repellent for your home. So if you're one of the many sufferers of ants in the house this summer, try squeezing a little lemon juice along the window and door sills and any other entry point into your house.
Onions, tulips and sesame seeds are also known to have healing properties when it comes to insect bites and stings.
Okay, so that's just a few of the one's I found. I could go on and on about this as there are many more natural remedies around. Maybe some of you have other tips that you'd like to share to ease the pain and itching of bites and stings or keep unwanted bugs out of the house.
Above all else, have a safe and insect free summer and, don't forget, garlic will not just repel insects, it'll keep the vampires away as well. It doesn't get better than that.
Blood suckers beware; the garlic is here!
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Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
I'll be back Cara...need oxygen...couldn't read past "I missed it...every time."
This happens every time...
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
xx
Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
Nope.
Gone.
No. I'm good. Sort of...hee hee hee hee...
slap
Better now.
Cara...I have this problem as well, although I'm no English Rose...just English bred...
Excellent post. As always.
How do you know all this stuff?
Why are mosquitoes so persistant?
It's in their name and nature!!
Ha ha ha geddit?
quit?...mosQUITo?...
Yeah. Twas lame
Next post, please post a warning...
Dusk
ps. ah ha! V.i.T.s beware.
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
I knew you'd pick up on the V.i.T link. Now you know why I feed them so much garlic ... keeps their pointed fangs under control.
Always lovely to listen to your giggles, chuckles, chortles and snorts. Diet and Health just wouldn't be the same without you.
Never quit my friend.
Cara. xxxx
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Mosquitos also love me!
I have heard that mosquitos prefer women because we have a higher CO2 content in our blood which makes it sweeter.
Also, don't eat banana's when outdoors as mosquitos especially love your blood after eating banana's
KylieW
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Mosquitos love us women because we are just so suckably biteable. YUM.
They also find it difficult to get past the hairs on bloke's legs!!!
Banana flavoured blood, huh? I'll have to remember that one. Do bananas also attract the vampires as well, I wonder. Hmmmm ... something to ponder as I fall asleep tonight (hopefully without unwanted visitors in my bedroom).
Thanks for stopping by, Kylie.
A.H.
Comment by Jessicca
Health 2 Know
Learning Something Everyday
Daily History
Malaysia Found
Excellent resources about galic! And I didn't know tulips can be a remedy for easing swells. This I will try out if I ever get my hands on them or anything happens if I am wandering in a tulip field. ^_^
(Probably I'd be melting on those beautiful bulbs of nature first...)
I do know that garlic can repel insects, but you've shared a great tip on how to make garlic oil. Those garlic sprays are not only natural but safe from using pesticides. All cheers to you!
Cheerio
Jessicca
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Garlic is one of the most amazing plants available to us ... and it tastes great too.
The Garlic oil is useful for so many different things and I have even been known to dose my children with garlic and honey when they have colds.
Personally, I haven't tried the tulip remedy but if you crush a fresh tulip bulb and apply it to the bite or sting it can ease the pain and swelling.
Let me know if you try it.
Thanks for your lovely comment.
A.H.
Comment by Hope
Gifted Parenting
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
Great post!
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
I also dislike the commercial insect repellant ... horrible stuff...
... almost as horrible as mosquitos themselves.
Thanks for the kind words.
A.H.
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Damn those little buggers. Sometimes I think they are the most intelligent creatures on the planet, the way they can hide as if invisible. And the way they can bite without being detected.
And they make that really annoying noise ... I'm sure they do that just to irritate us humans.
Thanks for dropping in.
A.H.
Comment by George
thanks for the kind words on my blog
George
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
It's my pleasure. Enjoying your work.
Thanks for visiting.
A.H.
Comment by K.L. Almeroth
Motherhood
My Darling CC,
You're pregnant, you know (I like to bring that up, don't I?? Don't worry, I was doing it with my sister when she was here...'Don't pick up your suitcase! You're pregnant, you know!!' 'Move out of her way! She's pregnant, you know!'...
Annoying, I know. But I can't help myself. It's done out of love though - like everything annoying about myself)...
Anyway, long story...long....mosquitos do love the dear pregnant ones.
So don't lie in bed, eating bananas. Suddenly you'll be swamped by those little [delete]ers...
(More so)
God, I hate bugs!! Of any description!!!!!!!!!!
(Don't get me started on bugs. Those [delete]ers...)
K.L.
xoxooxo
(The extra kisses are for Little Blogette)
(Oh, and your other two Real Life Adorable Bugs...who are most definately not that deleted word)
(Oh, better add a couple of kisses for your husband now...don't want him to feel left out)
xoxoxoxxoox
Comment by K.L. Almeroth
Motherhood
Stargate SG1????
(WT??)
I'm doing some of DD's famous giggles and snorts now....
Hee,hee...hee,hee,hee...
xoxoox
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
... and here was me forgetting that I'm pregnant. Thanks, my friend, what would I do without you?
Hang on ... you've never seen SG1? Oh boy, Cherry, you've really been missing out, girl.
Glad to see you're back again.
Cara. xxxx
Comment by MelissaA
Fun Facts
Some extra mosquito facts, from the funfacts nut of course!
The dirtier you are, the more you will keep the little blighters off you. In other words, shower often and suffer - they just love having clean flesh to bite through, plus it enables them to smell the blood better.
Mozzies just love O- blood! Can't get enough of the stuff!
( I of course have O- Blood.)
They also love it more when your skin is very soft and your blood is very warm and close to the surface of your skin - makes it much easier to track them down.
And speaking from personal experience, and yes I speak the truth, I have done this successfully on a number of occassions..... when sleeping in such a situation as yourself with said mozzie hovering around your ear, simply wait until he sounds really close to your head and then swiftly belt yourself in the ear!
Disclaimer: Although humans were hurt in the making of this no longer interrupted sleep, the blows are self inflicted and deciding which is the better of the 2 evils should be judged at the users discretion!
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
So, Melissa, you're saying that my fetish for showering everyday, coupled with being unfortunate enough to have been born with O- blood and having beautifully soft, English skin, has been my downfall all these years?
Bugger!
No wonder my son never gets bitten ... he's always covered with dirt!
Thanks for the info, my funfacts buddy.
A.H.