you didn't do something years ago?
I have spent every summer since I moved into The Cottage thinking about having fly screens put on the ranch sliders and windows. In fact two or three years ago I did put a fly screen on the second bedroom so that guests sleeping there could have the door closed and the sliding window wide open at nigh: not all guests want to leave their bedroom door open to take the benefit of the airconditioning on hot nights.
This year has been hot and, very unusually for Hawkes Bay, we have had some relatively humid evenings and I've fallen prey to mozzies or other bitey beasties when the evening has turned to night. Living right in the country we also tend to attract lots of flying insects at night lured in either by the light or the carbon dioxide that we humans exhale. So come time to put the lights on the doors and windows all get closed.
Recently I wondered why I had never thought of making proper fly screens with frames which could be fitted into the ranch sliders and open windows. Some years ago I did try a screen fitted with Velcro but it was very short lived. Yesterday I made a proper fitted screen for the ranch slider in the bedroom and today I've made screens for the living room ranch sliders and some windows.
Tonight I am sitting typing this after 10pm with a very strong wind and a temperature of 22℃ outside - and considerably more inside - but a lovely breeze blowing right through The Cottage and no insects! Why, oh why, didn't I do this 5 years ago?
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It will have been a Round Tuit. Glad the job is sorted.
ReplyDeleteI had a Round Tuit once Adrian buy=t it got lost and I never got round to replacing it.
DeleteDon't look back... Enjoy the fact that you finally did get it done! :) I'm sure I've asked similar "why" questions over the years... Usually there is some kind of explanation hiding in the fog of the past. Valid then even if it does not seem so now!
ReplyDeleteI never look back in a negative way, Monica, but I do find myself wondering how on earth I didn't do something which was so straightforward and simple.
DeleteSo after the procrastination comes the enjoyment of an insect-free home. Good for you GB!
ReplyDeleteNow I see you have a To Do list in your head like me. One less item to take care of on the list. We have the entire year to go....so upward and onward.
I made some insect screens for our windows as well, a couple of years ago. There were two sparrows that thought the house was their abode and kept on invading the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter and pooping everywhere. Between those two and the other bugs that loved to come inside, I had to Just Do it. Now my friends come by to get tips and check out my screens and make their own.
YouTube is a handy woman's best friend.
Good on you Virginia. You really are a practical, hands-on sort of a gal aren't you.
DeleteThankfully, there aren't that many mozzies in my place, and I can usually sleep with the windows open for at least half of the year. My main reason for shutting my bedroom window is noise from the neighbours, when they sit out on their patio until the small hours, having long conversations (and not being noisy enough for me to openly complain to them, but still enough to prevent me from sleeping). Of course, there are my earplugs, and occasionally, I've had to use them. But they don't help against mozzies, I suppose...!
ReplyDeleteYou've started the new year well, Graham - doing a job that has long been on your list AND gives such a good, instant result mist be very satisfying.
Yes, Meike, it's good to be able to do that. I might make some screens for my bedroom on Lewis. The midges there would make life hell if you left the window open on a quiet summer's night because it's never dark and they have a ball (they follow the carbon dioxide trail from hundreds of metres away).
DeleteA perfect accomplishment, right there!! And, yes, I have a'many of those lightbulb moment ideas pop into my mind - thinking, WHY ON EARTH did this thought take so long to form?! Some of the most simple solutions, too. Like your framed screens. Here, we have to have the screens....well, I say 'have to'....I've never known life without screens in our windows. They also sell some that you can use while your window is open, little ones that slide side-to-side so that they would fit most any window.
ReplyDeleteI imagine that you enjoyed making the framed screens, I hope you did, it's quite an accomplishment :)
I did enjoy it thanks Heather. The second and third more than the first because I had sussed out the snags by then.
DeleteLove an open window at night! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteSo do I but I've rarely had one here or on Lewis for one reason or another.
DeleteWell done! You sure do have a lot of night insects down your way, those screens will make such a difference for you on hot nights.
ReplyDeleteThey sure will Pauline. I find it odd that I have more bugs than you do - mind you I have much lower ceilings so seem more hemmed in with them when they do come in....and they love eating me!
DeleteHow did you make them Geeb? Timber? Metal with that little groove and the push-in rubber beading? Sliding or hinged? I need some too...
ReplyDeleteVery simple Katherine. Wooden frames. I'll email details.
DeleteHonestly I am wondering why I never moved my office before. I've had the desk, chair and everything else for about 3 years. Crazy, crazy!
ReplyDeleteJenny it's the 'I'll do that tomorrow, there are more interesting things to do today' syndrome.
Deletesounds perfect to me... and i have asked myself why i did not move to Florida when i was younger... here our houses all come with screens because we have bugs year round... lots of them.. i love the round tuit.... will try to remember that. i am married to the king of round tuit
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