Mrs. Spider

  Yesterday was a work day.  More raised garden beds were made, seeds planted and a lot of weed trimming took up the entire morning.  During one break, I headed to the Little Bayou House to fetch a cooling glass of water.  When I reached for the screen door handle, I was startled by what greeted me.  There, not inches away, was a huge spider!  Well, now!  I had been in and out that door probably ten times already, had sat leaning against the screen door just below the spider while I drank my morning coffee and had swept those steps but did not notice my friend.  

  I called to Son, "Hey, do you recognize this spider?"  He peered at the creature, shrugged his shoulders and muttered "Not personally."  My "man of few words" had done it again.  Ugh!  Well, Mrs. Spider, you really cannot spend the day on the door handle!  She was going to have to vacate her post and be relocated.  Not sure of what type she is, I picked up a small piece of driftwood and slowly moved it toward her.   Mrs. Spider inched over a bit.  The driftwood was moved closer in hopes that she would climb aboard.  Nope.  She sidled to one side. "Oh, come on!  Get on the stick!" I mumbled to the spider.  With that, she did!  Mrs. Spider stepped on the stick and settled down.  Whew!  Now, what was I going to do with her?

  I am happy to say that Mrs. Spider now resides (temporarily, at least) in the hanging fern.  She is only a few feet from her original spot so should not be too upset.  I admit to being a bit squeamish when spiders are crawling on me but have no qualms of sharing my porch with them. They do their part of keeping the place bug-free! Just so you will get the idea of how big she is, that is 1/2 inch square mesh hardware cloth behind the screening. Happy hunting, Mrs. Spider!  Glad we came to an understanding here!