Do you know what a midge is?

Didn't think so, neither did I, until this morning. Take a guess... it's not a cool new name for a midget, it's not a newly discovered character from the Wizard of Oz, it's not a new Widget for your Iphone, it's not a Harry Potter character...give up?

Well, let me enlighten you as to how I found out what this new piece of vocabulary means and how, really, I could probably have gone my whole life without knowing but I don't have the choice.

See, I was doing research on temps in Scotland this time of year. If we're lucky, it will reach 70 and we can expect rain. I think this is probably the most difficult vacation I've ever had to pack for. In my stubborn mind, summer is shorts and cute sundresses, not pants and rain boots. After much contemplating, I did take out the cute summer clothes for the girls, which will have to quietly wait our return, and traded them out for jeans and short sleeve shirts- fashion will not be the theme of this trip. Anyway, as I was looking up the weather, I came across several sights telling me to check out the 'midge' forecast for this summer. I'm thinking, 'Oh, it must be like the mistral in the S. of France, it's probably some weather phenomenon I hadn't ever heard about that's particular to Scotland' I wish. It's so much more than that. 

Just click on this link to check out the midge forecast. A midge, my friends, is a mosquito like flying chiggar that bites and flies in swarms. From what I understand, every summer Scotland is invaded by them and we will be staying in an area rated as moderate (number 3) for the midge forecast and up by Loch ness it's a 4! You can get up to 3000 bites in one hour!!! 

Maybe I'm regretting this trip after all... We'll just have to get some bug spray and be careful, especially for Alice. I guess the risk isn't that high if it's not on national headlines and there isn't a vaccine for some sort of scary disease. 

I'm just hoping for decent weather at this point. For me, summer is cooking out, enjoying bare arms and legs outside in the sun, sundresses and skirts. It seems like we just started enjoying summer activities- ice cream, picnics, the pool, cookouts- and now we're going someplace where we might have to revert back to coats and galoshes. Oh well, I've always wanted to go to Scotland, I'm sure the landscape will be worth it.  

Comments

[Tara]

The landscape is totally worth it! I was there in late July/early Aug I think and the weather was nice. short sleeves, jacket, and jeans. (Of course anything beats the 100 degree temps here, I would kill for 70s). I never heard of midge and never got bit, but that was like 10 yrs ago.

[Patricia]

Andi, we just returned from Scotland last Friday - when England was sweltering in the heat, we had rain and gloom. It's very hit and miss. I grew up in Scotland and well remember the midges (we say 'midgees'). They are SO annoying!! And we're not talking one or two at a time - oh, no, they come in clouds!! However, Tara is right - the landscape WILL be worth it! Have a great time!!

[Erin H]

I recently bought a little (bug) net that is specifically for covering car seats and strollers. It has some elastic gathering around the edges so it will stay put. I wonder if you could find somthing like that for Alice? I bet it would be convenient and you might be able to avoid putting bug spray on her. Just a thought. You might even be able to make your own with some fine netting?

[Madeline]

Scots swear by Avon Skin So Soft to repel midges. Seriously, you can buy it in some of the the pubs in the highlands. Maybe you can track some down.

[Apple]

Hi,

Well being a Scot - I can tell you how annoying midgies are! They can totally ruin your day - but fear not! Avon skin so soft is one of the sworn by repellants so buy some NOW! Also, Midgies don't like smoke, so you may be best sourcing some smoke sticks (like a bigger version of an insense stick) - I'm sure I've seen something of this sort. Also, I've not tried the Avon skin so soft (yet) and if we head up North (midgies are more prominent in the country and near water) then I dab neat tea tree oil on pulse points.

But to be safe pack some anti-histemine and camomile lotion to soothe the after effects. The bits are like really itchy heat spots!

Hope it's not put you off as Scotland is a beautiful country x x

[Apple]

.... oh and whilst I mind - the deep fried Mars Bar, it is not a delicacy of Scotland, I imagine only a handful of Scots have actually tasted it :)

love,
Apple x

[anne]

You will surely have to pack for colder weather , sorry to spoil it for you.. :-( Why are you going to Scotland, is it too the sights..? Hope the weather improves for you, are all of you going?

Have fun :-)

[andie]

Deep friend Mars bar sounds like something from Texas! Actually, during our stay in Houston last summer, we saw deep fried oreos, twinkies, mars, snickers, you name it, and it was nauseating!

The owner of our cottage has also said that Skin So Soft should do the trick and there are some bottles available at the cottage. We plan on making some fires outside, so that should also help in warding them off. I'm mostly worried about Alice, but I took a makeshift diaper net bag (for cloth diapers) and am going to try and fit it over her car seat as protection. The owner has a 3 year old and a 2 month old and they just spent the past week there, so I'm pretty sure it's liveable!

We are going to Scotland because I've always wanted to go but the pound has always been way out of our reach to be affordable. Finally, the pound and euro are almost equal and we saw that a summer rental would be the same price as renting something in France. We were also looking for something very remote so that the kids could run around, where we could go on hikes, enjoy the sea (not to swim, but to walk and build sandcastles), and not be in the city. Well, we get an added bonus because our cottage doesn't have electricity (but running water and a gas cooker, so shouldn't be too bad)- which will be excellent for us because we could really use a break from electronics.

I have repacked and basically put together a lot of layering stuff that we can peel off if it gets too warm. This should be an adventure! I'm looking at it as luxurious camping!