Unwanted attraction....

I can say quite categorically I am not really a very attractive person - I am not pretty, I am too big and I can be as abrasive as hell personality wise...(ok, I've just been told that I am being too harsh on myself.. but hey, it's my blog and it's staying)...  however, I am apparently the most attractive thing in the entire known universe... if you happen to be a small flying blood sucking insect that is!

Anything from huge great mosquitoes, via pesky midges and down to paper mites, they just have to locate me and that's it, I am, well, lunch apparently!  Ok, mosquitoes doesn't pose too much of a problem in the UK, but midges are the bane of my life from about March to October ... but currently the issue is the paper mites!

Part of my job involves sifting through boxes of papers, some of which are rather old and have been in storage for a few years.. shifting them around wakes up said mites and alas in the last week I have been rather badly bitten by the little critters... so, not a problem rally, a few little bumpy bite marks for a couple of hours then they go away, yes?

Or in my case no.... I have a totally over reactive immune system to things like this - basically my body's ability to produce histamine goes into complete over drive treats the bites as though I have the plague or something... this stems from when I was about six and out for the day with the family.  Sensibly (not) dressed in just a bikini (hey I said I was six) I was walking along the top of a dry stone wall (as you do) and I fell, sideways, off the wall, into a patch of stinging nettles...... by the time my father had fished me out of the stinging nettles, save for where I had a stupidly small amount of clothing I was covered in nettle rash... from the soles of my feet (nettle rash between your toes was possibly one of the worst places) to my face (even in my mouth - I screamed.. wouldn't you?)

Anyway, the upshot of this is, now, anything from a teeny tiny midge bite upwards and my body goes mad... where I've been bitten itches like hell, swells up and basically drives me insane... for some reason as well the little buggers always bite the bottom of my legs... which look like i've been in some sort of industrial accident at present... I have even had to resort to wearing gloves in bed!

However, it does make me smile when I can say.... it's hard being so damn attractive!!