Time to say goodbye for a while!

Oh poor you! I am so glad I don't like sunshine, limpid turquoise water, cocktails on the beach or having fun.

I have no idea what sunshine is, I have not seen sea water of any description for many years, I drink very little alcohol so I doubt if I would enjoy it wherever you are. I will stay in dull old London.

Greatnan, if you get bored, feel free to join me.

Well I can't swim and don't like sand or seawater. And I've no idea what I'd do on a lump of coral.

Give me an English sunlit garden any time. And if it happens to be on the outskirts of a cathedral city, walkable distance, so much the better. #noenvy.

But glad you ars enjoying your holiday Greatnan.

Greatnan, sounds wonderful!

Sorry the sun not shining in London. Is it only here in Exeter that it is warm and sunny?!

Ten years of rainy summers according to the Met Office. That'll just about see me out, damp and miserable to the end

Perhaps we have already had some of them Lilygran or are they supposed to be from now on? Here's some to chear you up.

Thank you!

Constant sunshine is great for two weeks, but I don't think I could live here permanently. I would miss the rain, the snow, and the greenery.
When my daughter lived in Malaysia, you could set your clock by the time of the downpour every evening, which kept up the humidity. At least here you don't break out into sweat as soon as you step outside.
I think I prefer the unpredictability of European (or New Zealand) weather. (Says she, who escapes the Alpine winter for seven weeks every year!)

The weather has been normal here. Changeable as always. Colder in winter, less cold in summer, occasionally warm. Sometimes absolutely lovely. Odd blips every now and then.

I wonder if I can cope with another midge onslaught today while I mow the rest of the steep bank? I only managed about a third of it on Tuesday before the midges drove me inside.

I don't think the Met Office has a clue.

Isn't there anything you can put on to deter them, Bags? I think I read that lemon keeps them away. (Or am I thinking of vampires - no, that's garlic!)

We've tried everything available. We even have the midge repellant that the MOD uses, which does stop them biting, but it is truly vile stuff and only to be used in extremis, such as when you have to live on the open moors on military manoeuvres.

If you haven't experienced Scottish midges at their worst, you can really have no idea of how awesome they are. It's similar in the Arctic where wee beasties drive caribou mad with their biting and rhe itchiness of bites.

The bites I get itch for nearly a week too, with pauses when I take anti-histamines and/or rub Tiger Balm on them. Most people don't react quite so badly.

There are new electric machines that eat midges by the thousand. Some people have them for sitting outdoors in the evening. One of those might work, at a cost, but it would be tricky to place it just where I needed it while I'm using a scythe or a strimmer. What I need is a battery-charged one that sits on my head! Inventors, get inventing please!

Having experienced tropical mosquito bites as well, I reckon midges are worse. They are so tiny and they operate in crowds. Mosquito bites are bigger but you don't get so many.

Might trywith a head net today, but it will be awful hot. Then again, I might just leave the mowing and do something else.

Yes, leave the mowing! I have been very lucky because I have never been bitten very much, in all my tropical wanderings. Here, they spray the rooms and gardens every evening so I haven't seen so much as a fly. I wonder if that would work in your garden? Mind you, I suppose it might kill the good insects you need.
I once had a camping holiday at Plockton in August and the midges were bad but I must have something in my blood that repels insects. My ex got bitten a lot - good!

I don't know if it would work on Scottish midges but have you tried Avon Skin so Soft original dry oil spray?
I've always suffered with midge bites, but this keeps the Southern ones away.
Just checked the ingredients, it contains jojoba and citronella oil as well as all the usual other things.
Mine came from Amazon
www.amazon.co.uk/Avon-Skin-Original-Jojoba-Citronellol/dp/B00BJ0RVIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371725757&sr=8-1&keywords=avon+skin+so+soft+mosquito

Yes, notso, I have tried that. I'm allergic to perfumes and it doesn't work (not on me anyhow). But thanks for the suggestion.

A friend of mine swears by eating lots and lots of garlic. Raw being best. I'm not sure I could cope with that, I would have to be really desperate.

Bags - do they get through your clothing? I was thinking of long sleeved tops, trousers, and something like a bee-keeper's hat!

Clothing that covers is the best answer, greatnan, and I do use a mozzy head net over a Tilley sun hat but it does impede visibility so spoils the pleasure of the work, and there is the disadvantage of not getting and vitamin D, which is hard enough up here without the bloody midges!

If I could manage garlic, I'd try that, janer, but garlic makes my throat hurt (more allergy? who knows?).

Sometimes it's just best to do a frantic twenty minutes work in the sunshine, get bitten to bits and then recover

You need an invisible force field Bags. Maybe some of your technically minded cubs could take it up as a project.
The badge for achieving it would need to be sewn on with invisible thread

notso

The Scottish midgie is a truly formidable being! We`ve never even seen any when in Kintyre, but at Loch Lomond they made our lives an absolute misery, I was bitten in places I didn`t know I had! One night there were some in the caravan, despite us being very careful, it was a horrible night, and in the morning, the light cover, which is fitted flat to the ceiling, and is white, was black with loads of the little monsters, dead, thank goodness! I tried everything I could find to stop them biting, including Avon Oh So Soft, nothing worked.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9WMIPzd6w