#44: In Pursuit of Perfect Cross Ventilation

Right - I'm back on track. Weekly dispatches sent on a Wednesday!

Lucca has been doing an excellent imitation of Melbourne for the last few days, with wildly changeable weather. In the past week we have had huge storms, bucketing rain and cold, interspersed with blue skies and sunshine, and temperatures up to 34 degrees. Sometimes all in the same 24 hours. Feels like home.

Luckily the wild weather waited until Mum was out of the country before it really kicked in. Very considerate, really. And right now as I look out the window, it is perfect. Warm, sunny, a slight breeze, and only a few wispy white clouds in an otherwise endless blue sky. I can't really complain about that!

The warming temperatures mixed with some wet weather has had one unwelcome result, however. My project for the past few days has been to research and implement a solution to the increasing number of mosquitoes we seem to be finding inside. Poor Raffy was mauled by a particularly vicious one the other night, which has really spurred me into action. 

Unfortunately the Italian solution to this problem is a non-starter for us. Being that they just keep the windows closed at all times. It's such an Australian (and possibly even more so a Queensland) thing, but I feel completely claustrophobic without fresh air. I dream of achieving perfect cross-ventilation. I think I've mentioned this in the past, but our neighbours think we are insane for keeping our windows open all the time. And we feel the same about them having theirs permanently shut, with blinds down. 

Because of the Italian fear of the breeze, fly screens on windows aren't really very common. So for the past few days I've been experimenting with various repellants - citronella candles, eucalyptus oil patches, etc, that can be bought at the supermarket. All without any discernible results. 

Time to get serious. 

So I took myself over to Brico (aka Italian Bunnings) and hunted down the zanzariere (mosquito nets) section. After spending far too long inspecting all the offerings, I returned home with some dubious-looking DIY velcro flyscreens. To my great delight, they are perfect! And at 3.50 euro a window, an absolute bargain. So much better than the whole house smelling like chemical lemons for the entire summer.

All my love and hugs!