GOOD DAY (29)

I got bitten by a tick while in the Highland of scotland, wrongly removed it and it regergitated contaminated blood in to me, they are carried by deer,  I have been diagnosed with Lymes and I know how awful it makes one feel, I have had a lot of related illnesses, at the moment all my joints are painful and the symptoms are of Fibromyalgia, I have pills for the symptoms but as there is no cure it is a worry as to what happens next.  I do know that steroids are a definate no no as they make the metabalism faster and cause the disease to track round faster...in time it can bring on heart attacks, heart disease and the same symptons as dementia ( although I don't think there would be a lot of change). 

If you have a tick on you, don't smother it with any creams to suffocate it, as I did, (old wives tale) it causes the tick to dig in harder and pump blood back into your system, or when it dies it's head is so far in it can cause an infection.

Either go to a chemist, ot tweezer it out by getting as close to the head as possible even if you pinch the skin, and twist and pull gently....eeeyuk they are vile creatures!.......I have to be very careful now, when I care for the orphan Hedgehogs over Winter I take them to the vets to get any ticks removed, I hate the things, what is the purpose of them?  

On the lighter side....It is sunny and warm and i'm in the garden with a cuppa and a good book....my new job is going great and life is good at the moment 

Hi Karen. I have only just finished writing about the 'Tick' for something that I am working on. Having spent more than 21 years in the Pest Control Industry I want you to understand that this is serious, as is Lymes Disease. Please seek advice re the tick if you haven't already done so. Here is what I wrote:

Ticks can be seen throughout the woodlands of the United Kingdom from about April through to October time. They are quite literally ‘hang around’ the woodland shrubs and grassland waiting for an unsuspecting host to walk by. Regardless of whether it’s human, or animal they will attach themselves to a host in order to survive. A tick starts life as an egg but with mortality rate high the female of the species will lay many thousands of eggs in the woodland floor as a means of survival. The egg hatches into a larva but stays hidden in leaf on the woodland floor until the following spring, when it then climbs up vegetation and hopes to latch onto an unsuspecting host. With a full stomach the larva will fall to the ground again and moults into a nymph, where soon after it will climb onto another host. Once again, after it is fully fed, it falls to the ground where it moults into an adult tick. Hereafter the tick will climb onto its final host. Mating will often take place on the host, but as soon as the female has been fertilised she also will fall to the ground to lay her eggs. The male of the species will die soon after mating.Ticks are external parasites that can drink many times their own body weight with ease. There are more than twenty species of tick in the United Kingdom but the most common is the sheep tick. Often in the case of us humans it’s in the warmest area of the body that they go for such as the armpit or crotch, where they will consume your blood like it’s going out of fashion. Ticks carry diseases including ‘Lyme Disease’ which can put you into the hospital intensive care unit, from which you may not fully recover. So next time you go for that woodland walk take a few extra precautions. Wear a long sleeved shirt, long trousers that you can tuck into your socks, use repellents and check each other at the end of your walk for these hungry little creatures. To remove a tick, a pair of tweezers might help. Hold the tick where its mouth enters the skin and carefully pull whilst twisting anti-clockwise and upwards, until it releases its grip. Be patient because it will not release its grip immediately, but when you have removed the tick you will need to treat the area with an antiseptic as soon as you can, and then book an appointment with your doctor.

This happened 4 years ago Ron, didn't have any symptoms until 14 days after the first bite, went to the doctor with a bullseye rash on the back of my knee, where the tick had bitten, he immediatly put me on a long course of antibiotics, I then developed an all over burning rash and had flu like symptoms, not knowing that it may be related and my husband thinking it may be meningitis took me to A&E where they immediatly gave me steroids, as I said before these should never have been given, but they gave them before they checked what was wrong with me, they couldn'd give me penicillin as I am allergic to it and would immediatly go into shock, (I am a doctors worst nightmare),so steroids were the next option...it turned out I was allergic to the antibiotics and was then given a different sort. The blood test the doctor gave me came back positive for Lymes, I had never heard of it before this, but I do wear long sleeves and tuck my jeans into my socks if going into any long grass in the countryside, maybe shutting the stable door, but I don't want to tempt fate.. although I am usually wearing my bike gear, and I challenge anything to try and get into that! 

Please tell me what purpose do they serve, they don't feed on carrion,they don't pollinate flowers, they don't kill other pests, so what Do they do! 

Oh dear!  Karen & Sue it seems like you both need to take very good care of yourselves right now.  I am so sorry to hear of your indispositions and wish you full normal health soon.  

Young and healthy again would be good Sue, especially now when I am having to pack the home and my studio (which is like another home) and move.  An awful lot of stuff to be sorted out and got rid of too, finding the motivation is proving very difficult right now!! 

all is well in this wet cold place -its been a nice day to-day all ive done is give the car a good clean -had mi tay and copied some music.

how about you ??

I was teaching all day James, so not much chance to do anything else!  Busy taking down curtains and washing them all ready for new windows.  Bit of a bind - we have occupation of the new little house from 1 Oct but the new owners of this house are only taking occupation on 1 Nov, so we will have to protect and pay for 2 houses for the month - but it means that there is no rush about the moving! lol.  I can do a lot little by little and only get the removers for the big stuff!!

That sounds like a lovely day Marjorie, glad you enjoyed it!