Saturday 6 September 2014

Just Call Me Popeye!


When I was little, I used to think Popeye was based on my dad. Not because he smoked a pipe or talked in a funny voice or was in love with Olive Oyl because my dad was nothing like that. But Popeye was a sailor and he had a tattoo of an anchor – just like my dad – in fact my dad had dozens. He was a walking work of art.

He was also incredibly strong and didn’t need to eat spinach to make it so.

So yesterday I was out with Dusty when I saw a mozzie on my upper arm. I brushed it away quickly and almost immediately started to itch. It wasn’t just in that spot either. By the time I got to the beach (about three minutes later) the itching in my arm was driving me crazy.

The bite on the front of my arm was about as big as a penny.  I got my husband to check the back of my arm and the two there were bigger – see, crafty little devils were hiding out of sight. Another on my elbow wasn’t quite as bad.

By lunchtime I had biceps and triceps any self-respecting body builder would be proud of, even if they are red hot and glowing. In fact, if you turned Popeye’s arms round so the bulgy bit was at the top… that’s me that is. Then there is my extra large elbow…

Once, when I was small, I saw lots of little fish swimming round in the water butt. So I scooped a load up in a jam jar and took them in to show my dad. It was the only time in my life I ever saw him scared. He told me to get them outside and NEVER bring them in again.

So off I went, muttering about them only being little fishies and there was no need for him to be so GRUMPY about it.

They weren’t little fish of course. They were mosquito larvae. And my dad had almost died of malaria when he was in the RN. Not only that, he had the kind of malaria that can – and did – recur.

I’m not as scared of them as my dad was, but I am scared of the bites.

On a lighter note, here’s Dusty having a bit of a swim this morning. Very hard to throw a ball, hold on to leads etc and take photos. Didn’t get the ball out as far as normal, but you can see he no longer goes in for the Jacques Cousteau thing. If he can’t see the ball, he waits for it to appear on the surface of the water – I am very glad to say.





And while I’m here – just a quick mention of The People’s Friend who are looking for young romances. More details from Shirley, their lovely Fiction Ed, here


14 comments:

  1. Teresa, it sounds horrible. But do make sure those bites aren't infected. Mosquitoes can have very dirty little feet!

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    1. I will keep an eye on them, Frances. I always react badly like this - apparently in America they call it Skeeter Syndrome and is caused by an allergy to the stuff the mosquito injects to thin the blood. Putting ice on takes out a lot of the heat, but the ice melts very fast! x

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  2. Love the video of Dusty, you're clever with the photography Teresa. Hope your arm gets better soon. Thanks for the p.f. tip as well. xx

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    1. Thank you, Susan. I would love to film him swimming properly, but can't do that until I have someone along to hold all my dog-walking gubbins :-) x

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  3. Oh Teresa not again. I do hope your arm goes down soon and yes do make sure they don't get infected. What a lovely video of Dusty and yes thank you for the link to TPF xx

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    1. Thank you, Sue :-) You should have seen me down there this morning, walking along rubbing my arms constantly in case any of the foul creatures had landed out of my sight. I'm almost looking forward to it being cold enough for long sleeves ;-) x

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  4. Oh poor you Teresa, hope you've got plenty of antihistomine in the cupboard. Many thanks for the info on The People's Friend - I'm going to try and right something longer and keep my fingers crossed.

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    1. Good luck with PF. I'm currently working on a romantic story for them too.

      I've looked it up and it seems a different antihistamine works better, so I'll be getting myself some of that. Gah, everyone will be fed up of hearing about me and my bites :-) x

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  5. Take care of those bites. Some horse-flies got me once and the bite marks kept flaring up for five long years. Have you got any Aloe Vera to put on the bites?

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    1. Horse flies are the worst I think, Lynne. Horrible things. And they actually bite don't they rather than just poke their probe thing in! Terrible yours went on for so long. I've been putting aloe vera on - amongst other things. Really the only thing that seems to help at all is plenty of ice! x

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  6. Oh how I hate mossie bites. Like you, they make my skin swell - worse if they're on my ankles. If I go on holiday abroad, I walk around in a haze of mosquito repellent.

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    1. Horrible isn't it - I am wandering round smelling of citronella just now x

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  7. I used to race home from choir practice to watch Popeye.
    Thanks for the Shirley Blair link. Just checked my latest submissions to PF. Not one romance among them.

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    1. Don't worry, Keith - they won't just be looking for romance, they'll still want other subjects too :-) x

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