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janestarzAs NoKey is allergic to mosquitobites, and he doesn't like to have fist-sized bumps on his arms and legs from every sting, we're great fans of two things: a klamboe (mosquito net) and Azaron. The former hangs over our bed. The latter is a small stick of light-weight medicine that numbs the skin so the itch disappears and makes sure NoKey doesn't look like a motor cross terrain.
The mosquito net is essential for 8 to 10 months of the year. We love to sleep with our window open and that means that mosquitoes will come into the house. Last year we had a 2-person mosquito net, which hung suspended from a metal circle above the bed. The net had to be fixed between the bed and the wall with bits of cardboard and foam to make sure it wouldn't come loose (which it did anyway) and we'd often sleep with limbs pressed to the net because the net was hanging too close over our bodies.
This year we bought a new mosquito net. It was huge, and could be suspended from five rings: one in the middle and one on each corner. It was tall, square and had two exits. One of them would be, as usual, near the foot of the bed. We have so much junk in our bedroom (mainly arrows and quivers) that I can't get out on my side of the bed anyway. The other opening at the head board would be closed.
NoKey rigged a wood frame to hang the new mosquito net from, and he spent some time getting it right. When it went up, it looked lovely, like a perfect draped bed without the square bedposts. The thing was suspended from a hook at the lamp above our bed. A precarious balance kept the frame horizontally. Small weights at several points made sure the flaps would hang down right.
The dream didn't last very long. For the past two months we've been chasing mosquitoes from inside the net. Every night there's one or more in the net, even if we've closed it perfectly. At first we thought it was the wind. During the hot weeks in May and June we opened the windows and balcony doors, inviting a breeze into our home. We thought the breeze made the net flap in the wind, allowing for mosquitoes to come inside the net. But I knew mosquitoes don't like wind, so I was a little sceptical. From that point we kept the bedroom door closed. It didn't help.
We thought it was because I went to the bathroom at night, but the attacks didn't stop even when I took extra care to slap the opening to chase mosquitoes away before opening the net and taking extra care to make sure I closed the net each time I went in or out.
We started hunting before going to bed. Lying on our backs, fighting the sleep, with an electronic bug zapper on the covers in case we saw one fly. This worked for several nights, until the damned mosquitoes started to wake me in the middle of the night. I wake up when they're buzzing around my ears, and NoKey sometimes wakes up when I turn on the light or climb over him to get to the bug zapper. So the bastards come into the net while we're sleeping.
I'm thinking it might be because the frame is too perfect. The net hardly has any folds, so I think maybe the mosquitoes crawl through the mazes when we're not watching. I wonder if it'll help when I drape the old net over the new one. The net reaches unto to ground, so it's not like they can come up below us. The openings are both closed, and I can only try and sew them shut to make them close better.
We can also make a net for the window. It would mean we'd have to change the window bolt, construct a net, and keep the bedroom door closed at all times.
I'm getting very tired indeed from being woken up by mosquitoes.
The mosquito net is essential for 8 to 10 months of the year. We love to sleep with our window open and that means that mosquitoes will come into the house. Last year we had a 2-person mosquito net, which hung suspended from a metal circle above the bed. The net had to be fixed between the bed and the wall with bits of cardboard and foam to make sure it wouldn't come loose (which it did anyway) and we'd often sleep with limbs pressed to the net because the net was hanging too close over our bodies.
This year we bought a new mosquito net. It was huge, and could be suspended from five rings: one in the middle and one on each corner. It was tall, square and had two exits. One of them would be, as usual, near the foot of the bed. We have so much junk in our bedroom (mainly arrows and quivers) that I can't get out on my side of the bed anyway. The other opening at the head board would be closed.
NoKey rigged a wood frame to hang the new mosquito net from, and he spent some time getting it right. When it went up, it looked lovely, like a perfect draped bed without the square bedposts. The thing was suspended from a hook at the lamp above our bed. A precarious balance kept the frame horizontally. Small weights at several points made sure the flaps would hang down right.
The dream didn't last very long. For the past two months we've been chasing mosquitoes from inside the net. Every night there's one or more in the net, even if we've closed it perfectly. At first we thought it was the wind. During the hot weeks in May and June we opened the windows and balcony doors, inviting a breeze into our home. We thought the breeze made the net flap in the wind, allowing for mosquitoes to come inside the net. But I knew mosquitoes don't like wind, so I was a little sceptical. From that point we kept the bedroom door closed. It didn't help.
We thought it was because I went to the bathroom at night, but the attacks didn't stop even when I took extra care to slap the opening to chase mosquitoes away before opening the net and taking extra care to make sure I closed the net each time I went in or out.
We started hunting before going to bed. Lying on our backs, fighting the sleep, with an electronic bug zapper on the covers in case we saw one fly. This worked for several nights, until the damned mosquitoes started to wake me in the middle of the night. I wake up when they're buzzing around my ears, and NoKey sometimes wakes up when I turn on the light or climb over him to get to the bug zapper. So the bastards come into the net while we're sleeping.
I'm thinking it might be because the frame is too perfect. The net hardly has any folds, so I think maybe the mosquitoes crawl through the mazes when we're not watching. I wonder if it'll help when I drape the old net over the new one. The net reaches unto to ground, so it's not like they can come up below us. The openings are both closed, and I can only try and sew them shut to make them close better.
We can also make a net for the window. It would mean we'd have to change the window bolt, construct a net, and keep the bedroom door closed at all times.
I'm getting very tired indeed from being woken up by mosquitoes.
