loppylugs 8,427 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 You should have told him you were coming to haunt him, Lizzie. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 4 hours ago, LizzieM said: Only today I answered the phone and an ‘Asian’ chap called Steven (oh yeah!) asked to speak to me, by my full name.  I told him I was dead ........  he immediately ended the call.  Mmmm, hope I’m not tempting fate. I get the same from Virgin Media trying to flog me a TV package. Ain't got a TV I reply & they've gone ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,427 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 Better today. Â I just finished my antibiotics. Â About two weeks ago I got bitten by a Tick. Â Nasty little illegitimate bloodsuckers. Â Just over a week ago I came down with summat. Â Flu like symptoms. Â Felt like death warmed over and didn't care. Â Anyway the doc prescribed antibiotics just in case it was Lyme disease. Â I think the antibiotics made me feel worse than the problem. Â Anyway finished today. Â Now I can get back to rolling in the grass and howling at the moon. Â Â 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,599 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 Don't go rolling in the grass Loppy - that's probably how you got bitten in the first place!  pleased you're feeling better now.... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,427 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 They hang around in tall grass Margie. Â They wait for a person or animal to brush past and they hitch a ride. Â They will climb up your leg under your clothes and latch onto any convenient part. Â It's amazing you don't feel them 'til they itch. Â I don't know how long the one had been on me. Â He was just above my waist and he had a good grip. Â I've still got the mark. Â You have to be careful getting them off or you can leave a bit of their jaw in your skin. Â More potential problems. Â We can use flea and tick meds on our pets but it's a bit harder on us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,507 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 They don’t like me, I’m lucky!  We were in Zimbabwe years ago and whilst waiting for an evening flight to Jo’burg we went on a mini safari.  Went straight off to the airport, on a plane, arrived at our hotel very hot and sticky.  I took my t shirt off as soon as we got into our room and a tick fell onto the bed, it never bit me.  Horrible things, had to get one off our Jack Russell’s little velvety ear once, I used meths to suffocate it. Seemed to work. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,721 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 Loppy.. A Nor'n Aaahrish friend of mine now living in Scotland was infected with Lyme Disease by a Tick.  She really didn't need that.. as she already has Lupus. Anyway, she seems OK now.  I have some Doxycyline here which the Doc gave me to hold on to for the inevitable return of sinusitis after my next cold. It states. 'For treatment of fevers caused by Lice or Ticks. A single dose of 100mg, or 200mg, depending on severity.' Dunno if that includes Lyme..   1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,721 Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 4 hours ago, LizzieM said:  I used meths to suffocate it. Seemed to work.  Either that or it was dead drunk.... Good work anyway!! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,427 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Minocycline for me, Col.  Probably the same thing.  Pharmacist said, most docs prescribe it.  They say Lyme disease can be real nasty and effect you for the rest of your life.  Arthritic symptoms and all kinds of other stuff.  I can live without that.  Ticks have become a big problem here and,  unlike Lizzie,  they seem to like me.  I've had a few but usually caught them before they gotta bite at me.  They are so deceptive.  They look like a mole when attached and that makes you reluctant to try to pull 'Em off..  Some folks put a hot match head to them others use liquid soap to try to suffocate them.  Not pleasant whatever you try to do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,303 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Sorry to hear you've been ticked, Loppy. Good to know you're feeling better. Â My youngest moggie had one embedded in his head when he arrived at cat rescue as a kitten. He looked so miserable and frightened. A dose of Frontline soon removed it. Horrible as they are, you have to marvel at the efficient design! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 On 7/18/2018 at 12:51 AM, DJ360 said: I have now replaced all the patio slabs wot I lifted to dig the trench. They are not perfectly level. I did this to re-create the way they were before....  Still some work to do in the loo and removing the old soil pipe and boxing from the Dining Room. Should be fun... Will the wife be missed? 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 It's still warm here in Old Basford ,it was a little too warm yesterday  Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonab 1,644 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 I pick ticks from my dogs almost daily in the summer months. I have a tick remover which looks like very fine tip tweezers. Reasonably effective provided you get right down to the head of the creature and pull it all off. A folk remedy here is to cut a juniper berry in half and apply that to the tick and it's supposed to drop off. Don't know whether that works but it is useful to apply a squashed juniper berry as an antiseptic when the tick has been removed. Â Note: I think the reason for using juniper berries for this purpose is that it is known that juniper has antiseptic properties and it is very common growing wild around here. There is a local conserve of juniper made by mixing juniper berries with sugar. Very tasty on buttered toast. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,404 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 It's strange how tic bites affect people in different ways. I just get a small itchy blister. My better half needed hospital treatment recently for a bite on her shin and still has scars from previous bites. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,721 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 3 hours ago, Bubblewrap said: Will the wife be missed? Â Depends who you ask... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,721 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 3 hours ago, Bubblewrap said: It's still warm here in Old Basford ,it was a little too warm yesterday    Don't knock it. Soon be Christmas... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,404 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Idly flicking through TV channels yesterday I found a shopping channel talking about Christmas gifts already... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonab 1,644 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 There's a shop in Amsterdam wholly dedicated to Christmas all year round (ironically closed on Christmas Day). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,115 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 There’s another shop dedicated to Christmas at the top of the Main St. in Inverary, Scotland. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oztalgian 3,269 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 We've got one too and the shop next to it is Teddy Bear Corner. Never seems like Christmas here as it is often stinking hot, similar to the weather you guys are having now. Â Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,721 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Yet when my daughter paid for 'Christmas Dinner on the Beach' in Oz.. it was 12 degrees and overcast... She wasn't impressed!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,427 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 I must say I was surprised by how many of you have had problems with Ticks either on themselves or pets.  Growing up around Nottingham we played in the fields and some wooded areas and never heard of ticks,. Certainly never got one.  I didn't know they existed in the UK.  First I heard of 'em was in Calgary Alberta when we were warned about them in the Rockies.  We were told they could carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever.  So get checked out if you got one.  Now they seem to everywhere.  Lyme disease is a more recent problem like so many other illnesses we never heard of. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonab 1,644 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 I first became aware of ticks when I moved here and they seem to be becoming more and more common. I've heard they are fairly common in the south of England now and gradually moving northwards. Horrible little creatures but they do make a satisfying "pop" when squashed. Problem there is that upon squashing, they splatter blood all over the place. You just have to hope it's not yours. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,404 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Maybe we mean different things. Here I'm talking about insect bites in general but colloquially we just say tics. You never know you've been bitten until after they are long gone, I've certainly never seen one I could 'pop' 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonab 1,644 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Ticks gorge on the victim's blood - so much so that they become almost spherical. It is then they are "poppable" 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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