Some weeks ago, I put up a mosquito net / fly screen on our front window. It wasn't so much for the purpose of keeping mosquitoes out (we don't really have many here in town), but more for the purpose of keeping the cats in, while still allowing a breeze to flow through the room during the hot afternoons. Ours is a one way street, and cars sometimes fly by pretty fast, so we prefer only to let the cats out the back of the house and not out front. The new screen seemed to work well for a few weeks, but then Tobi was the first to work out that you could squeeze past it if you gave a good push. Over the past week, we've discovered both Tobi and Tamba sitting out in the street; they'd worked out how to get out, but couldn't find a way to get back into the house again.
Yesterday I decided to take down the fly screen and put up a piece of plastic mesh instead. Many of our neighbours (who have dogs that are smaller than our Teddi!) have this on their gates or windows to keep their little dogs in. The new system seems to work even better than the old one: this morning I found Teddi, Tamba and Tobi all sitting on the window sill, looking out at my car and watching the birds in the street. And our lounge continues to have a pleasant flow of cooler air in the hot afternoons and evenings.
