Come to the country they say.
It is healthy, they say.
Healthy my eye. I’ve just arrived back from a visit to the country covered in bites from angry swarming flying insects. And I found it hard to sleep because the silence was too noisy.
The insect bites are particularly galling as I was covered in copious amounts of noxious potion to prevent them.
Have treated bites with antihistamine cream which seemed to make no difference. I then moved on to a pantomime conversation in the Pharmacy which began thus:
Me: I’d like an antihistamine tablet that doesn’t make me drowsy.
Madam Pharmacist: Well, I’d recommend that you take this one, though it will make you drowsy.
Eventually persuaded her to sell me a non-drowse making box of tablets.
Did they make a difference? No, they did not.
I wash off the remains of earlier cream treatment and apply Hc45 cream which also claims to calm insect bites.
It calms not mine. Grrr.
A good brand of after-shave with high alcohol content work wonders on bites – although a bit smelly – or distilled witch hazel which is cheap and available from pharmacists.
The only other option is avoid country!
There is an idea
Oh, I had not thought of trying the Jo Malone. Excellent suggestion.
Come to the Country, they say
Midges and other nasties seem to have a particular liking for men of the cloth. An old friend stayed with us on the way up North, and on his return he was so badly bitten he had to go to hospital to be treated for anaphylactic shock (is that the right word?)
Avon Skin-so-Soft is said to be really effective against bites, tho’ I haven’t tried it myself. Country pubs in midgy areas sell it.
My best protection (speaking personally) is to have a companion who attracts insects more than I do. My wife fulfils this function admirably …
Andrew
Avon Skin So Soft body oil does work but I guess its a bit late for that piece of helpful info. Calendula cream is good for the after effects. But Jo Malone smells much nicer. But wouldnt it be awful if it was a fruity Jo Malone and ended up attracting bees?
Avon Skin So Soft
Just to confirm that Skin So Soft was the noxious substance that I was coated in when bitten. It seems that the Argyll Midge has mutated into a creature which loves Avon products more than life itself.
The Argyll Midge
Apparently the Argyll midge stays further away from Malibou After Sun. Must be a class thing.
More suggestions
I have it on good authority (OK one of my fellow editors told me) that lavender oil is very effective. Alternatively you could take up pipe smoking.
By the way, the stuff that Avon claim is midge repellent is their Skin So Soft Dry Oil Body Spray. Looking at the list of ingredients on the bottle, I suspect the citronella is responsible.
Yet another possibility is Jungle Formula (as used by the Forestry Commission!).