it was nice enough - but muggy and warm....perfect conditions for black flies. we had some trout and smushy home-hade-kick-you-into-tomorrow salsa. actually we didn't need the salsa 'cuz that trout was some good. jambloney will have a fishing post up soon and he will explain the difference between sea run brook trout and regular brook trout.
we get sick at least once every summer - and it's because of those nasty little black flies. different people have different tolerance level to their venom but i have zero-tolerance and cannot afford to get bit! our first year here we can't even remember the summer. our second year we bit the bullet and somedays slathered ourselves with deet (which we hate) and tried every natural thing known to man - yep - we slathered ourselves down with onions, garlic, lemon, comfrey tea - all the while smelling so putrid that we would have to spray each other down several times a day in order to get away from the smell of ourselves!!! sometimes we wore our bug suits that jambaloney's mom and step-dad got for us - but we hated them - me especially! i can't see anything with that net over my head and i hate nylon mesh on my body. but after last year's bout of the "black fly crazies" (you actually lose your mind when you get bitten too many times) - we decided this year, come heck or high water, we would not step outside without wearing our suits.
here's jam stylin' in his suit - looks like Pioneer Preppy when PP is in his bee suit!
and here's the funky camo-net hat that jambaloney got me for under my hood.
but folks - these stupid ^%%$$&**(!! black flies just won't give up. they WILL find your weak area and they will bite you!!!! below is the inside of my thigh....that's an old bite up top.
and that beautiful bruise is what happens to me when a black fly bites me too many times - she must have bitten me 4 or 5 times in the same spot to have a bruise like that come up!
jambaloney will often have his hood off and just run out to get something from the freezer from the basement. and every time he does - they get him on his eyes.
i had my bug suit on and was only out putting down mulch on one the beds and the bending over caused my waistband area of the bug net to tighten enough to let the little buggers land on me and bite me through my bugsuit!
that's about 60 bites all concentrated in one area in less than 30 mins! and this pic was taken this morning - it was much worse yesterday! after i realized that i had been bitten so many times i almost fainted - it was all really swollen and red. i took a benadryl, it's an anti-histimine and i hate anything anti - like biotics - but i knew i had enough poison in my system that i was going to get the "black fly crazies". jam also rubbed my home-made confrey, heal-all and coconut oil salve and the swelling went down within the hour. but i was done for. and within that same hour all my knuckles, joints, muscles locked up. it hurt. all evening long.
jam went to bed at midnight and then finally i sent myself to bed at 2am. and laid awake ALL NIGHT LONG! with the black fly crazies. when jam got up, i got up, we checked my bites and bruises, put more salve on, now he's working on his contract due to it being another muggy day, i've still got the crazies but am planning to crash for the afternoon.
i've got the crazies but was still excited to discover this tulip - woohoo!
yesterday, even with crazies i made home-made roasted red pepper soup with our fresh oregano and a lobster salad sandwich for dinner .
the plate above is my plate - i have to cut the crusts off because i can't bite through them. jambaloney's sandwich was a proper sandwich.
and not letting the black fly crazies get the best of me, i went and picked dandelion heads, before jam started to weedwhack - i will dry these for tea over the winter. we get 3 or 4 runs of dandelions a year. and dandelion tea is sooo good for you!
dandelions drying on the deck between screens in order to let the little bugs have a chance to skedaddle before i rinse them.
and here is the culprit of my black fly craziness - jambaloney weeded our perennial herb bed.
then he moved all the big rocks and put down gardening mat to help prevent weeds coming up between the rocks. once he had everything in place, i mulched the bed and that is when i got bitten. this bed contains, sage, thyme, mint, rosemary, lemon balm and bee balm. it also contains an anise plant that doesn't seem to be coming back. no worries i have already planted spare anise in the greenhouse.
we also transplanted 7 pepper plants to bigger pots and transplanted 6 cabbages out to the appropriate bed. supper was - you guessed it - lobster....but how many times can you take a pic of a beautiful, delicious, fresh-caught lobster just sitting on a plate and not bore the crap out of people?
well, i am not planning for much today - too sick! i got the black fly crazies. please forgive any potential strange comments that may show up on your blogs today - bahahahaahh!
I've always heard there are only two seasons in the north - snow and bugs.
ReplyDeleteGorges - you haven't been led astray. snow and bugs. we have the black flies from may to aug, mosquitoes are july till end september, then there's the deer flies from early june to late august. we live in paradise....but we live in it with a bunch of awful bugs! all of whom bite the crap out of you! xoxox
DeleteSorry to hear about the flies, especially for someone who loves the outdoors! I will no longer complain about our mosquito problem.
ReplyDeletePerry - it sucks. it sucks bad. and read my response to Gorges above - our whole summer is filled with a variety of flies! xoxo. but it's still paradise (or at least that's what i keep telling myself - bahahah!)
DeleteBlack fly crazies sound terrible. I must admit I have never heard much about black flies. Good luck to you finding something that will work on keeping these bugs from biting you.
ReplyDeletetana - the black fly crazies are awful - i have been walking around for the past 3 days like i am in a fog, don't know my name and can't remember what i am doing - awful, awful, awful. but even when going through the black fly crazies and wearing those awful bug suits i am able to look out at beauty and paradise and know that soon, when we're swimming at the river and at the ocean it will all be worth it. xoxox
DeleteEucalyptus oil repels them if you can get it where you live.Pour some on some rags and leave them laying around. If that isn't available vinegar helps. You will smell like a salad but they won't bite! good luck......
ReplyDeleteMr. Rat - we have tried every oil known to man!!! even when we spray ourselves down with deet (which we hate) it only lasts about 20 mins before they are biting us again. same for the vinegar. i think the cape breton black flies are a whole new kind of black flies - i hate them. but thanks for stopping by! xoxox
DeleteI wish I had read this before my neighbor at a previous house accosted me for not killing the daisies growing in my yard and whose seed he just knew were flying across the street to his yard. I would have told him I am trying to raise them for tea. He probably would have gone mad!
ReplyDeleteOMG Ed - you CAN make daisy flower tea, too! but what's better is to put the dried daisy flowers in your bath...they don't do anything while in the bath except make you feel fancy and such. so tell that neighbour to go jump off a cliff - because YOU monsieur and your wife MUST have fancy baths! xoxox
DeleteOuch - not nice. Hope you heal up soon. I get the same reaction when I get bitten by a small flying insect here - so I try and stay inside when they're in full "bloom". Another reason I prefer the winter months...
ReplyDeleteDani - this is optimal planting season for us and we have to be out there...and those nasty little b*ggers can smell you from 300 miles away! you can even hear them coming - they are like "zmmmmmmmmm" and you try to run but they know where you are. and you like your winter season because you aren't buried in 6ft of snow for 5 months of the year - bahahahah! sending love! xoxox
DeleteWow those flies are bad, guess you'll have to postpone you nekid time outside for a while! :-)
ReplyDeletescrew that Mike! i can still tan with the bugsuit on i just need to be aware when i am stretching the bug suit on my body that allows the bugs to land and bite through the suit! xoxox
DeleteYuk! I thought the mosquitoes were bad! I love the rocks around the garden.
ReplyDeleteoh Michelle - we have overlap time with the black fly and mosquitoe season here...as well as deer fly season. our whole spring/summer and fall we are being eaten alive. we live in paradise...with a bunch of things that eat us! i like the rocks too...they are all from our land which makes it more special to me. xoxoox
DeleteOh, I hate black flies! Unfortunately, they love me. I know what you mean about not liking to wear the netting - I can't garden without my head gear but it is always getting in the way. Hope the crazies are gone soon - as well as the black flies!
ReplyDeleteoh Susan - you and me both. they seem to swarm jambaloney...but all i need is a few of them to notice me and then they just chow down. back in the city - we naked gardened all of the time. we had no black flies, no mosquitoes, no deer flies - nothing???? but here in "paradise" we get near eaten alive during the best months of the year! i'm hoping the crazies will be gone after another good night's sleep. then it's back out there to get eaten alive again...even though i will be covered in chemicals (arghghg - i hate that!) and in my bug suit. xoxox
DeleteWow, I don't think I could deal with that on a regular basis, Kymber. I like to sit outside on the porch too much. We do have mosquitoes here and they seem to be worse than usual, maybe because of the extra rain.
ReplyDeleteHarry - everytime you step out the door from mid-may to mid-september you can expect that at least one bug, and often times 3 different bugs, are out for your blood. i feel like i am living in chicago dodging gang bangers bullets! but we so love it here....we simply put up with it. during the best months of the year.
Deletesometimes we think we should move to the actual arctic - bahahahahah! our mosquitoes will be out shortly - arghghgh! sending much love as always! xoxoxo
How long do you deal with the black flies? Nasty stuff.
ReplyDelete