repelling mosquitos

if canada day taught me anything
it's again, that i am food for mosquitos
i put repellent on c, and steve put some on himself
i slathered myself
and still ended up with connect-the-dots bites from watching the fireworks on parliament hill
in a field at lebreton flats
(great spot to watch, lots of people but not crowded and you can see most of the light show)

camping has always been a challenge that way
being feasted on
and i get the mosquito welt look
in indonesia, years ago, when the bus broke down a few hours out of semerang...and no one could speak english
and my only indonesian phrases were - just looking, thank you, hello and tourist price
well even the best gesticulating couldn't retrieve my back pack
with the repellent in it
from the belly of the bus
as the windows opened
i knew

and after arriving in denpasar the next day i had nearly 100 bites that i could see and count

so i am serious about these pint sized terrors

have been using essential oils - a little bit of success but still bitten

and now am looking into carbolic soap - which i've heard can work
so i've picked up several bars

the evidence...
natural mosquito repellent (currently using something similar...
http://aromatherapy.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_mosquito_repellent_as_good_as_bug_spray
"

Many plants can be used to repel insects naturally; in fact, most essential oils act as insect repellent for one bug or another. The oils tested by NBC were a mixture that is suggested specifically to repel mosquitos and other biting insects found in Michigan. It included:

• Purification, a blend of citronella, lemongrass, lavandin, rosemary, melaleuca, myrtle
• Thieves, a blend of cinnamon, clove, lemon, rosemary, eucalyptus
• lemon
• peppermint
• lavender"

...and of carbolic soap (from soap works, i bought a bunch of carbolic soap bars from them and am ready to try it out)...

"They had found washing with carbolic soap kept mosquitoes from biting them.
A bit skeptical, our retailer decided to try it for himself. Freshly showered with carbolic soap, he attended his kid’s evening baseball game. He noticed everyone in the stands was swatting continuously throughout the game. He watched mosquitoes land on him then literally leap off without biting.
We figure there must be something to it. Anyone willing to haul twenty-six pounds of soap up the Amazon must be doing it because it is worthwhile.
One of our customers in northern Ontario stocks up on carbolic soap every spring. “It’s one of the first things the tree planters buy.” They are out in the deep woods from dawn to dusk. They swear that it helps keep the bugs from biting.
Worm picking is done at night, which is peak mosquito time. For many years, one of our distributors has been shipping cases of carbolic soap to a worm picking company in the prairies."

so ready to test out the carbolic soap, even if it means a slightly leathery, antiseptic smell (yum!)
i suppose this is a post that will be continued...