When you don't have screens in your windows or doorways, you have no barriers to that indoor/outdoor living that we are constantly seeing touted on shows like "Outdoor Room" on HGTV. This all seems so sophisticated...so decadent...the quintessential California lifestyle. However, when you can move in and out of doors unencumbered, so can members of the animal and insect world. Geckos, flies, bees, wasps, and most recently a bat, often drop by for a visit. Sometimes, the insects decide they would like to try indoor/outdoor living as well, and they set up house inside yours. Such was the case with these wasp nests. When I was cleaning out the coat closet this week, I discovered these nests. They were uninhabited, thank goodness. Otherwise, I would also be posting pictures of my wasp stings! It's moments like these, when you discover these uninvited guests, that you are reminded necessity truly is the mother of invention. Screens! What a concept!
 |
| Ancient Chinese screens like this one were lined with rice paper |
According to ehow.com, "Window screens
were used as soon as there were window frames. Examples survive from ancient
China and Egypt. In older societies, screens were made of wood, ceramic and
stone to provide protection from animal or human intruders but still allow
minimal light and ventilation into a building. Wicker or basketry domestic
window screens provided visual privacy. Cloth screens provided protection from
dust and insects. In the 19th century, as mining and manufacturing advanced,
metal became widely available and wire drawing techniques were less expensive.
Affordable wire mesh window screens were introduced in 1861." Read
more: The
History of Window Screens | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5408159_history-window-screens.html#ixzz1ZWHKgSe2
Thankfully, Europe is not as "buggy" as the US and these kinds of events are occasional rather than frequent, but still...sometimes I do miss having screens here...Hasta luego...
Greetings, Ashleigh! Thanks for "finding" and stopping by on The Villages Daily Photo! Glad you like it. The blog is over 2 years old and we've posted hundreds of photos. But we live in Ocala (30 miles north) and I'm going to hibernate The Villages blog in the near future...and post only occasionally.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like a fun person and I'll give you credit for traipsing about the world. Traveling is a kick, though. Well, except for wasps' nests in your closet! :-)
Hello Ashleigh,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your interest in my blog and would be delighted to write in your Spain Wiki page. Let me know the details of what you want me to write.
Regards,
Jose
P.S.: This is my real name. I think it's better that we treat each other by our names.
@Jacob: Did you used to live in the Villages? Thanks for coming by and posting a comment! Do you plan to start a new photo blog for Ocala?
ReplyDelete@Jose:I will go post on your blog too, but do you have an email address where I can send you some more detail info about the Spain wiki page?
Ashleigh. Thanks for your interest about the city where I live, my city and province: Murcia.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to contact to me and to send me any information about your project, I gladly receive it, to help you.
My email: mdp-at-usuahiawebs-dot-es (in my blogger profile, you can also get it)
Ashleigh, I will be very pleased to write about Madrid for the Spain wikio, just tell me how long should it be and when should it be ready, Ok? Hugs and kisses!
ReplyDeleteWhat a discovery in your clothes closet! We had screens in our house when we lived in the US in a semi rural area, but . . . for nights on end I kept hearing these scrabbling noises in the bedroom and couldn't figure out where they came from or what they were. Then I opened a drawer we hadn't used much with winter sweaters in it and found a nest with baby field mice in it!
ReplyDeleteMama escaped. We picked up the nest and put it in the woods behind our house and told the kids the mama mouse would find her babies. Probably not.
The sweaters were ruined having been used for nest material.
Now I live in Moldova,without screens. It's not so bad, just some flies now and then, and they sneak in even if you have screens. Not that I like them, but there it is.
Oh yes Europe is buggy!!!! And we have screens in both Spain and Gib. Adrian found a moth trying to get in one the other day - and then realised it was a flying cockroach. Hence the screens!
ReplyDelete