The invasion of the mosquitoes and crickets

About this time of year the mosquitoes get pretty bad out here, I think they actually breed in alfalfa fields and they will swarm a person. They are desperate to feed on blood and lay eggs that will become next year’s first hatch of adult blood suckers. So bug deterrent is essential when doing anything outside, but inside is usually mostly free of the little buggers. 

Until last week, when I had a “really great idea.” Last week when it was so hot, the house was getting into the mid 80º range most every afternoon. As soon as the temp outside the bedroom window dropped lower than the temp in the kitchen I would turn on the fan and open the north and west windows to start the cooling process. Thinking if one fan is good then two should be twice as good I put a fan in the living room window, also. 

Then I hit a snag, a snag that comes with an old cabin, windows that were replaced with old ones salvaged from a building we demolished. The problem…no screens. I found a couple that I could push together and overlap and thought I had them tight enough to keep the hoards at bay. It was great, until it wasn’t. 

One of the screens shifted slightly. Just a tiny amount, but that tiny shift let some mosquitoes in, then they sent a call out to all of the relatives in the neighborhood and before we knew it our house was almost as bad as being outside in the hay field. I am sitting in the living room in shorts and a t-shirt and slapping 3-4 of the little biting things with one hand, and doing it on both lower legs every 20 seconds or so. In the time it took me to figure out there was something more going on, more than just a few that sneaked in the door with the dog. The ceiling above the lights was black with them. 

I finally decided to check the window and found the sill absolutely black with ones that had died trying to get past the fan. The fan was shut off, the window closed and we just suffered with a warmer house than normal that night. We also suffered from lots of bites. After the window was shut, I could tell the population wasn’t getting any worse, so we left the living room lights on to keep them attracted to that area and went to bed. 

The next day I used nearly half a roll of duct tape to tighten up the makeshift screen and we have had minimal mosquito problems since. There is always a few that sneak in when we come in the door. But we can handle those. 

And the crickets. They are coming in to the house pretty steadily. I know it means fall and winter are coming, but the chirping drives me crazy. And worse was when I stepped on one barefoot on the living room floor a couple of days ago. I don’t know if it was the chirper, but we got another big one the next morning and haven’t heard any since. 

So make sure the screens are tight, and be cautious walking barefoot at night, one never knows what will crunch underfoot. 

Combination salad

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Onion

Green pepper

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Salt

Pepper

Mayonnaise

I haven’t listed amounts because that can be adjusted to availability or taste. You can use all of the vegetables or just what you have or like. Chop all vegetables small, mix with enough mayonnaise to cover and add salt and pepper to taste, salad is better after sitting for a few hours.