Fear of Itchy Things

I am sitting here very itchy. Whenever I think that I see a flea I imagine that I have bites all over me. I itch. I scratch my skin until it is red.

I guess it is psychosomatic. I think I see a flea then I imagine that I have flea bites all over me. It is horrible. I just took an antihistamine.

I have been experience this fear of fleas well actually it is Acrophobia or fear of the insects that cause itching.

Writing that made me scratch at my legs.

It is something that I manage. I cover my bedding and wash in hot water. I keep flea bombs on hand and anti-itch cream in the bath. I have a hard time with sweaters. I keep imagining that the biting insects have taken up residence in them and I keep putting them on and taking them off.

I am sitting in my office cold because I keep thinking that my fleece jacket it is itchy. (Yes, the AC is still on and I am freezing)

There is a reason why I am on alert for insects that make me itch. The weather has been very kind to fleas and mosquitoes. I allowed a week to pass before I picked tomatoes. I will not weed until the weather cools. I have bites all over my legs from the last time I picked tomatoes and weeded. The gardening chores can wait. There have been two news reports about how aggressive the mosquitoes have been this year.

Then there are the damn stray cats…..

My neighbor and I just can’t get a break. Well, it is really her fault. She leaves her garage door open for the strays, leaves food for them and blankets. It is kinda cute on one hand. On the other, I have a mulch bed that smells so bad that I can’t sit on the porch with the windows open.

Scratching my legs again.

Luckily Paul the Gardener Guy dedicated the first half of Saturday’s show to “Keeping the Kitties Out.” I will try a few of his techniques. It does please me to know that Lydia is having the same smelly problem in her mulch.

Mulch smell aside there is another problem – as there always is – with the kitties.

They like to visit. The strays have taken up residence not only in Lydia’s garage but on her porch as well. I guess the porch was too crowded for the cat that just had kittens because she likes to lie out in front of my stoop.

You are probably thinking, what is the harm in that? As you are thinking that, I am viewing a suspicious looking red dot on my arm.

My cats like to hang out on the porch by the screen door. When all three cats are out it is as if they are gossiping through the screen.

It is weird. If you can imagine. Very weird. Imagine the neighborhood gossip is talking to you through the screen door with a coffee cup in her hand. It is like that.

Friday it got weirder. I was sitting on the couch attempting to finish my latest knitting project and I hear cats growling at each other. I thought that the noise was coming from strays in the street or something. I finally had to get up to shoo the stray cat away. I approached the porch and I can clearly see the stray cat still lying on the stoop. She was watching the housecats carry on like common feral animals. Just hissing and growling at each other as if they were strangers or in heat. Both cats are fixed it so was like watching Barbie and Ken fight.

I tried to separate them as the stray cat continued to watch and one tried to attack me for picking her up. The male cat ran away and the female ran after him throughout the house. Fur flying everywhere.

I looked back at the stray and she seemed very pleased with herself. I couldn’t believe it. This stray cat, a cat without a home, came over to my house and raised cat fur all over the place.

Something needs to be done. She is wrecking my home. And I bet she had fleas which have now jumped through the screen and taken up residence in my house.