Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Mosquito repellent

Older Daughter has what virtually amounts to a phobia of mosquitoes. (This is obviously a detriment when you live in the country.) It's not so bad during the day, but at night if a mosquito is in her room, she literally cannot sleep. I've been known to come downstairs in the early mornings to find her sacked out on the sofa.

So we decided - purely for medicinal purposes, since she is NOT a frou-frou kid - to get her one of those dramatic mosquito nettings that drape over a bed. I started to price them on eBay when some neighbors kindly donated one they'd picked up at a thrift store. (Thanks, Enola!)

I needed to mend and draw together the center of the net where it hangs. I used first thread, then dental floss (it's stronger), then sewed a cloth tape to make a loop.



Don attached a hook from the ceiling. Our house started out life as a shop, so portions of the downstairs have eleven foot (!!) ceilings. That's why a ladder was a necessity.


Don hangs the netting.


Let the mosquitoes buzz. Ah, bliss!

7 comments:

  1. This may well be a female malady. My brothers daughter is also fearing the possibility that skeeters will get her or the kids. I guess that I should also say TICKS. Oh how she fears the ticks! We all have our cross to bear. Life goes on.

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  2. You and Don are a very nice Mom and Dad : )

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  3. An Avon product called Skin-so-soft is an excellent mosquito repellent for those times when one's trusty mosquito net is unavailable.

    Another good, natural method of avoiding bites is to take a good B-vitamin supplement and avoid sugary foods. The B's make give you a smell they can detect and don't like. And the sugar draws them like flies. You can eat honey-sweetened foods and they'll leave you alone. Also works for 'no see-ums.' (Yes, I rolled my eyes and snickered too the first time someone warned me about them. I was certain they were pulling my leg. No see-ums?? Yeah. Right. I learned very quickly they weren't kidding, and the only thing funny about those little flying varmints is their name.) These are lessons I learned living in Mexico and Hawaii....serious mosquito country! But NOTHING compares to Alaska.

    A. McSp.

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  4. I HATE mosquitos! Don't pass this on to your daughter, but it is thought that half of human deaths have been cause by Malaria. We all know how someone catches Malaria. So your daughter is correct in being fearful of mosquitoes ... okay, okay so the USA was "declared free of malaria as a significant public health problem" in 1949 ... just a small minor detail. It doesn't change the fact they are disgusting insects that can wake me out of a beautiful slumber when they buzz in my ear ... did I mention I HATE mosquitoes? :)

    Margaret
    California

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  5. This is so neat! I always wanted one of these when I was a kid!

    I will say that, after going back home to "the sticks" for a visit last week, my husband and I are now covered in bruises, scratches, tick bites, and skeeter bites (and one minor bee sting). It's a miracle we avoided the chiggers and poison ivy. I kept asking my parents, "How do y'all live like this?!" There's no place like home! :D

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  6. May I suggest CCR that you do not look so close. Try to live in the moment. You are still relatively healthy, I'm guessing. Thank GOD for your current happy condition in the land of the formerly free. Oh by the way, have a GREAT INDEPENDENCE day weekend!

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