The Random Thread

[Kaz]

I should flipping well think so too, Saundra!

[JanB]

How kind of them

[JanB]

There really some nasty bitey things over here.

Although we both put on anti-moz and also essential oil, we found one tick on Grumpy's t-shirt and we both got bitten by various things.

I had blood pouring out of one arm and there's now a blister which is really sore and my hand has just about returned to normal.

Grumpy has a couple of bites on his chest (through his t-shirt ) and a swollen arm

We never used to have these things and reckon it's because of idiot next doors and his animals.

[Kaz]

You be careful of tick bites, Jan! Any "bullseye" type skin reactions, you need antibiotics asap against Lyme disease

[JanB]

He wasn't bitten by the tick Kaz, but we are very aware of them over here.

We think the main culprits were the flies from next doors donkeys, sheep and goats. Sxxt flies, as himself calls them.

[Workingman]

Horseflies are also very nasty b******s, see next door's donkey.

They can carry all sorts of sorts of diseases and after being bitten blood and painful blisters, sometime with pus, are often common. And they are persistent ... once they have zoomed in they will not stop until they are well fed. T shirts are no barrier and as with mosquitoes it's the females that do the biting.

On sunny days about this time of year and through summer we used to suffer them at the stables. A reasonable DIY repellent is a mix of vinegar and emollient or baby oil at 20:1, plus a few drops of eucalyptus or tea tree oil and 1 tsp of wash-up liquid in a spray. It doesn't smell as bad as it sounds as the euc or tea tree oils cover the vinegar.

[JanB]

Next time we strim WM, we'll be putting the essential oils on our clothes as well. I did that yesterday and was fine.

[TheOstrich]

The excitement never stops. We are now missing a chicken.

Apparently it has a blue ring on its right foot, and was last seen somewhere near the Aldi on the other side of town.

It's probably in somebody's freezer ….

[cromwell]

Os!
Horseflies can be nasty. Once MrsC's Uncle Jim was caught short when out for a walk in the countryside. He nipped behind a bush and - I'm sorry, there's no polite way to say this - he was bitten by a horsefly on his willy.
Obviously everyone was very sympathetic once they had managed to stop laughing, but he was left in quite a bit of pain

[JanB]

Not laughing Ossie