I think you can blame it on mosquito swarm induced insanity.
I really like bug-repellent lotion for coverage of my hands – I feel like it’s easier to distribute it that way vs regular bug spray.
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We like the Murphy’s mosquito repellent candles than any other I’ve tried (but full disclosure that I don’t live somewhere with as many mosquitos as most people). That combined with some bug spray on your body may be enough to ward them off?
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When it gets this bad, I go on and break out the Deet even though it’s evil. Most of the year I do just fine with Avon Skin-so-soft lotion (yes, it works). But for about two weeks? Deet.
(By the way, my mosquito nibs seem to have done their thing. Numbers down about 95%).
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I was wondering if Skin So Soft actually works. I mean, everyone says it does. But does it? I guess so. Where does one buy it if one does not know an Avon rep?
@Star they are biting me through my long pants! I have this in my cart right now, about to press BUY…
@Sunflower I have not heard of that brand, so thank you for the rec!
I do use the Picaradin, but only when I am committed to being outside for a long time and then washing/showering right after, because it is toxic to cats and one of mine likes to lick me (the weirdo). I guess I have to be more liberal with my use. UNLESS THE BUG NET CLOTHES WORK!!!
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I have been using Lemon Eucalyptus bug spray, but I’m not dealing with near the mosquito population explosion that you are. It works well enough that I’m usually the only one in the group getting bitten before I put it on. After, other people start asking for bug spray because they are getting bitten instead of me. But if you are the only thing to bite out there, I don’t know if it will work as well.
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I also find lemon eucalyptus works great for me but picaridin does nothing. Not sure if that’s a skin chemistry thing or a species of mosquito thing
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skin so soft works against bugs, but if you use the oil it also is an incredibly effective way to get a massive sun burn.
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!
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Yeah for me I found the 10% deet “family” level works way better than even the full strength picaridin does. Agree not sure if there’s skin chemistry or something at play because it’s a pronounced difference. We’ve had a bad mosquito year here, too.
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Interesting! I had no idea it even worked for mosquitoes at all until this convo prompted me to look at the bottle, because I bought it for ticks and it is definitely effective against ticks for me. But I’ve never tried to use it specifically against mosquitoes. 
Mosquitoes are normally a minor inconvenience here. 
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I’ve found Skin-so-soft does work in most cases. It’s not enough when the mosquitoes are clogging your nose and biting through jeans.
The lotion works, doesn’t have to be oil. I find it every now and again at thrift stores, so I pick it up when I see it and have never had to find an Avon rep.
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I’ve hardly seen any but both of my arms were completely covered in welts (and now scabs, because I cannot control my scratching) and Marmalade says I look diseased.
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A couple of ideas that jump to my mind, as a book jockey who does little to no readers advisory:
If you’re trying to get back some of the childhood reading feels, maybe pick up something you remember enjoying and do a low stakes re-read? Or, if there is an author you used to read and love, see if there is anything more recent by them, or something nonfiction about them that might be a gateway into a re read of some fiction?
For combatting the internal dialog around fiction: everyone needs rest, fiction can be a sort of rest and ease. For myself, I have books on my phone to reclaim moments of waiting, so that I can do something I see as productive while I am also waiting in line or whatever.
& attention span-related: something like a collection of short stories, or flash fiction, might be good, so you can pick it up and ‘finish’ something quickly.
A stand out starred read for me from last year was Maureen McHugh’s “After the apocalypse” which was a collection of unrelated short stories of near-future disasters published in 2011.
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I looked up the different plants in my lawn and I have crab grass. Now I have many questions.
Is this actually bad or just bad if I want my lawn to look like a lush and well taken care of lawn (I don’t particularly although the bits of my lawn that are still “nicer” grass look nice and I’m willing to weed to keep them like that)
If it is bad how do I control it in the way that best encourages native plants/insects?
Should I rip it out by hand and replace with clover seeds?
Dealbreakers: I will not use herbicides and I will not water my lawn. I will probably (but not definitely) rule out getting the top soil ripped out and sod put in. I am willing to reseed if it just means sprinkling seeds around the yard.
I’m in the Boston area since climate probably matters a lot.
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Not watering and reseeding or sod are in opposition, alas. You need to water consistently at least a year after either and not let it go dormant. And new grass seed takes extremely consistent watering.
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Where do individuals list cars for sale now? I’ve found some on Facebook Marketplace, but my usual go-to has always been AutoTrader, and it’s apparently only dealers now. I checked newspapers while I was at the library today. It ain’t classified ads anymore; not a single one in four different papers from the region.
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If you aren’t going to water or use chemicals, you’re going to have weeds. I say - lean into it! Throw some grass seed and clover out there, and let it do its thing. And look into replacing the grass with other stuff.
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I think it’s not that bad. The main downside to crabgrass as opposed to nicer grass is that it’s an annual and it spreads sometimes killing other grass. So in the winter it will die and that part of the yard will be muddy. If you don’t want it you can pull it by hand and seed with clover or other grass seeds and you don’t have to use herbicides.
If you don’t want to water during this process then you need to do it in the Spring or Fall when it will stay damp on it’s own. And it might not work. We are also in New England and when we seed a new patch of lawn we water it for a couple weeks until it germinates and grows a bit, but we don’t water it for the whole summer since it rains pretty regularly.
I mostly take the approach that if it’s green and not spikey then it’s lawn and it can stay. If you want a gorgeous monoculture of turf grass then you will need to use herbicides, fertilizer and water.
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My parents lawn is just a much more diverse collection of “weeds” and everyone acts like crab grass is terrible so I wasn’t sure if it was ecologically bad or just aesthetically.
There’s definitely a boarder area I might try to keep clear with hand weeding. I’m also into the idea of someday making the front yard look like this house in my neighborhood but that’s a long term project.
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Is there another website to sell stuff on besides Facebook Marketplace? I’m going to try that but in case it doesn’t work I’ll need another option. I’m in a smallish town so I’m not sure what will work.
If I order something incorrectly at work I have to pay for it above the small allowance my boss gives us for mistakes. I now (unfortunately!) own a very nice kitchen sink and an extremely nice bathroom vanity that I need to recoup some money on. Both were quite expensive and are now sitting in my garage which they need to be out of.
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