On Tuesday walking home with
Dusty on a hot humid morning I felt an itch and knew that a mozzie had got me.
I react badly to mosquito
bites – the affected part swells up like a balloon so you can’t even tell where
the bite is.
So when I went to pick up the
kidlets from school I asked, “Guess where I got bitten by a mosquito.” I should
have known eldest granddaughter would quip, “On your bum?” Smallest grandson
said, “Your ear.” “How did you know?” I asked and he smiled knowingly. By then it was as plain as the nose on my face - and probably three times as big.
I have generous earlobes but
an insect turned one of them into a hideous rubbery thing that dangled down
under my hair and stuck out from my head. It was the biggest earlobe I’ve ever
seen. I had to keep throwing it over my shoulder to stop it smacking me in the
eye every time I leaned forward.
Then my neck decided to join
the party and I looked as if I’d got mumps.
I tried all the usual;
antihistamine tablets, creams, painkillers and tea tree oil. Then I held a bag
of ice on my neck and ear and tried a dab of hydrocortisone cream. It helped
knowing the bite was somewhere on my massive earlobe so I knew where to put the cream. The next day the swelling
had gone down considerably. Thank goodness. I didn’t want my granddaughters
waking up and finding Grandma had turned into a barrage balloon overnight.
Otherwise it was a great
week. The beaches and parks were empty, we didn’t have to queue for ice creams
and I think they had fun.
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| Finding a jellyfish |
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| Weighing things up |
Dusty has had a great summer too. He's loved having the kids here and he goes crazy when they come home from school - I mean really crazy, as if he hasn't seen them for months. Poppy is a black dot in the distance in the photo!
Homeopathic Staphysagria 6, take before 1 hour before going
ReplyDeleteout of doors will prevent bites and if taken after having been bitten will cure.
Thank you. I hadn't heard of that remedy. I'll see if I can get hold of some and give it a try.
DeleteSounds nasty, Teresa. I've had bad bites before and was relieved I hadn't had any for a long time... until today. I was walking downstairs and put my hand on the banister not realising a half-dead wasp was lurking there. And wouldn't you know my hand found it and it obviously gave me a nip before it fell into a shoe. I still didn't kill it but carried the shoe outside and dumped the wasp. I put a slice of fresh lemon on the sting and it seems to have done the trick - so far!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds painful, Rosemary and you were very kind to take the wasp outside. We've had a couple come into the house, but have managed to waft them out of the windows. They always seem to be looking for someone to sting at this time of year. Good tip about the lemon!
DeleteThat sounds painful Teresa. I'm lucky as I rarely get bitten. I'm terrified of wasps and I'm afraid I have to kill them on sight. I've only ever been stung once as a child, but the experience was so traumatic that I have been scared ever since. Give me a spider or a crane fly any day. Enjoy the last of the summer with the grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteI was woken up this morning by a wasp dive bombing my head - it's still in my bedroom somewhere. We can't find it! I can understand you being scared, a wasp sting is an intensely painful thing especially on a child's delicate skin. We have a big cellar spider in the corner of the bedroom - I'm hoping he'll sort out the wasp before I go to bed!
DeleteI wonder, is a house spider very different from a cellar spider. Bigger perhaps?
DeleteMuch bigger - there is no way I could live with one of those. The cellar spiders tend to stay put and they look so fragile. I caught a medium sized spider today with the bug catcher Bernadette told me about - it worked extremely well. No humans or spiders were harmed!
Deletepoor you. Totally sympathise because the little blighters once got me really badly and I've hated them ever since.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Colette. My dad used to be terrified of them as he almost died of malaria when he was in the navy. They are a menace - I can't think of anything they do that benefits this planet (a bit like humans really!).
DeleteGosh poor you. That sounds horrible. Glad it's going down now and you had such a lovely time. You've had a great summer with your kidlets haven't you, so many wonderful memories to look back on. I think you've earned a rest now but only a short one cos you've got to keep those wonderful stories coming! ;-) xx
ReplyDeleteAw thank you, Sue - I'll get back to writing eventually :-) xx
DeleteGlad it returned to normal, Teresa. I'm also allergic to mosquito bites - well, their spittle I was told. So pleased you've enjoyed a wonderful summer with your granddaughters. You'll miss them, now they're back at school. Have a lovely September!
ReplyDeleteSounds like the same as me, Nicola - horrible isn't it. Have a lovely September too!
DeleteThose bites sound really nasty, Teresa. My youngest daughter has just been bitten all over on holiday. A particularly aggressive mosquito must have lived in her room in the hotel because no one else was as badly affected. Every morning she woke up with a few more bites. One of her fingers is twice its normal size and on eyelid has swollen up like a hood over her eye. I'm sure bites these days take longer to subside than they used to.
ReplyDeleteI hope yours disappear very soon and I love your happy summer pictures. What a gorgeous time for Dusty with all the children to play with. xxx
Oh Joanna that sounds awful - on her eye as well poor girl. Apparently they can sniff out who to feast on and are twice as likely to choose someone with blood type O which may explain why some of us are bitten more often than others.
DeleteI hope your daughter's bites go down soon xx
Oh my goodness, so glad you retained your sense of humour throughout! This hot weather seems to be never ending and the stingy/bitey/crawly things are multiplying I think. Dare I say, roll on a nice bit of September cold air to send them packing! :-) X
ReplyDeleteI must admit I got very grumpy when I started to swell up! I'm not a fan of autumn, but I am really looking forward to some cooler weather - and fewer bugs :-)
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