I am sick of being bitten alive by mosquitos that seem to be flourishing in my very small patch of garden that by English standards, I’d be devastated by.  (What I mean is because land is so much cheaper in the UK, the postage-stamp-sized piece of lawn I consider to be my lovely garden here, would be thought of as a doormat back home).

We have tried everything: no lurking water, weekly grass cutting, fogging, those chemical soaked green mosquito coils you set fire to and a $60 HomeFix beeper thing that apparently emits a high-pitched hum, undetectable to us but horribly deafening to mosquitos.  Apparently. Any change? No. Not a jot of difference.

Salvation has come in the unlikely form of good, old-fashioned citronella.  Not called an essential oil for nothing I now know, (I can’t live without it) my oil burner has had a new lease of life, filled daily with lots of this delicious smelling anti-mozzi oil.

With children around, a naked flame is obviously less than ideal so I’ve shamelessly ripped off an idea I spotted the other day when passing by the Body Shop in Paragon: my oil burner is sheathed inside a beautiful, tall glass vase.

(I’m not sure if this discovery qualifies me for the title of housewife extraordinaire or smug b**ch. Either way, my dalliance with domestic success is but a mere fleeting moment.  It will pass.)

Tea light image courtesy of Ikea