16 Jun 2007

Mosquitoes The Size Of An Albatross

It is officially summer here in South Florida. The temperatures crawled into the nineties twice this week and we are having lots and lots of summer storms. One minute it is really lovely and the sky is bright blue and within 10 minutes it is as black as night and we are having a huge thunderstorm. These are not ordinary storms and are definitely not for weaklings. The thunder is so loud it can blow out your eardrums, the windows rattle and it lasts for about 10 seconds. Before you have caught your breathe the lightening is flitting across the sky and then the booming starts again. The other day the thunder was so loud that it made Lily shake. She froze on the spot and screamed, MUMMY. I said for her to come here and she whimpered, no you come here. Her whole body shook with every boom. I ended up clutching her on the couch and reading a book in a very loud voice until it was gone.
An other joy of summertime are the mosquitoes. These are the size of your average Albatross and really do go for blood. They will suck you dry if you let them. Lily is very allergic to them, which seems to be a common thread amongst Chinese people. She gets welts the size of quarters and they last for days. Someone told me that rubbing her skin with Bounce dryer sheets would keep them at bay so I tried it and it works really well. Some of these mossys are so bloodthirsty that they stop at nothing but for the most part Bounce works and it beats slathering her in Deet every time we leave the house ( plus she doesn't wrinkle and is static free and smells like Summer Linen, just kidding). I also have to wipe the front door with it to stop them from hovering around it attempting to break in.
Here is a look at what one quick afternoon storm looks like here:

One second it is fine and then this happens.

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Looky, a little puddle!

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Our property value increases at this time of year as we are right on the waterfront .

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13 comments:

Dannye said...

Yes I too heard about the Bounce dryer sheets (and also that works to get dead lovebugs off the cars, a damp dryer sheet)....

And I love the waterfront...we get that too, but usually it's a lake in our backyard....

Holly said...

Poor Lily. That is horrible that she is allergic to mosquitoes. They are so hard to avoid too. I just hate them.

Kim said...

I've heard about dryer sheets before, I had a friend that would pin a couple ot her little girl before she played in the yard. Weird looking but it worked :)

Polar Bear said...

I've heard of putting Bounce in your pocket, but I am going to try rubbing it on. Thanks for the tip.

That is some storm! You really have a nice view of the water from your front door. How lucky!!!

Special K said...

Dryer sheets,huh...I'll have to try that. I hate skeeters. That's what we call them up in these parts. LOL!

Ann said...

I know what you mean about the storms. The hospital here lost power the other day. Pretty scary stuff.

I'm the same as Lily, I get huge welts that stick around forever. And they search me out. If Jon and I are together the sketters leave him alone and dive bomb me. I'm going to have to try the bounce sheet thingy.

Steffie B. said...

I had never heard about the bounce before! Very interesting! Thanks for the tip! ;)

insanemommy said...

I keep following a certain someone into other homes.... a funny girl...

love the smell of the rain in south florida and the beach, and the sand, and the cocktails.... ooohhh g-d do I miss it..

PIPO said...

Holy moly on the quick rains....got a boat?

Strangely enough, I started doing the Bounce thing last year and it DID work really well. I got smart enough to stuff some in my shoes rather than always having a Bounce sheet in my underwaer ;0)

Anonymous said...

Long time reader first time poster, but I had to comment here. I am in Miami too and the Bounce dryer sheets work really well for me. I'm not fond of rubbing deet all over me either, so the dryer sheets are a good option! The mosquitos love me like crazy. Ugh.

- Emily

P.S. I'm getting sick of this flooding!

Nikki said...

I cannot stand those stinkin' mosquitos -- my Lily has several WELTS on her body because of them too.

(did not know about the Bounce cure...thanks!)

3D said...

Yowsa! Hello Mother Nature.

Thx for that Bounce trick. Will def. have to see it in action for myself.

Keep smilin!

M and M said...

Love the waterfront view!

Never tried the Bounce for mozzies, but I will try.

I usually carry one in my purse in the winter in case I get static while I am out.

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