I am feeling very thrifty today. I have been pricing out mosquito nets for months now and I am horrified (HORRIFIED) at how much they cost. On line they are about $50 or so, and then of course shipping as well, and in town they have none, but will order them in at the insane price of $60-$75. I was aghast! The reason they are so pricey is because they need to be treated with permethrine, which is like a repellent, but more so. An untreated net is next to useless, the mosquitoes simply hang around until you emerge from the net. Normally that wouldn't be a huge problem, we have all had mosquito bites, but these Tanzanian ones carry not only malaria, but dengue fever as well.

So. What to do, what to do? It really bothered me to have to spend that amount of money on something that not only would I probably never use again, but after approximately 6 months, they need to be re-treated. Well, I did some research and discovered that you can purchase this permethrin and treat your own nets (untreated ones available at your local Wal-mart for $15) However, permethrin in not available in Canada., at least not to the likes of regular folks like us. You need to have special lisense and be some sort of industrialist. Which is silly because the main ingredient is made from chrysanthemum petals.

I found lots of it on the internet, but each time I tried to order it, la-di-da, "we cannot ship to Canada" Geez. I can go downtown and buy cough medicine and antifreeze and whip up some crystal meth, but I can't order chrysanthemums? But as it turned out, I have a friend in the states who was coming for a visit, and I ordered a can through Amazon, for $3.99 and had it sent to him, and he brought it here. Wal-mart had their nets on sale for $10. Yesterday, so I picked one up and I now have my treated net for the grand sum of $13.99, plus taxes. So I felt really quite smug about the whole thing.

Treating the Net:

This was an adventure on it's own. I very carefully read the instructions, they were mildly nerve-wracking, things like "Hazardous to humans and animals.Causes moderate eye irritation. Harmful if absorbed through the skin. Avoid contact with face, eyes and skin. Wash thoroughly after using and before eating, drinking, using tobacco and using the toilet." Well. Then they tell you to spray your clothes with it!

However, it's only dangerous in it's liquid form, once dry, it is simply a repellent. So I came downstairs, opened the basement door and windows (use in well ventilated area, away from wind), locked away the dog, wrapped a towel around my mouth, put on my winter gloves and opened the mosquito net which proceeded to explode from the package like some sort of living bridal veil, there were yards and yards of this fine netting swirling around me, blowing in the well ventilated area, (apparently not away from the wind) I thought perhaps I had purchased a multitude of nets by mistake, there seemed to be enough material there for a whole hotel. I managed to slap it down and get it under control; sprayed as instructed, then hung it to dry for 4 hours and ran out of the house.

When I returned, it was dry, there were no peculiar smells in the house, so I squished it all together, jammed it in a large zip-loc bag and brushed my hands off, heady with success.