The Critters Are Stalking Me!

   It seems as if things are stacked against me this summer.  Oh, how I wish winter would arrive with a bang.  Yep, here it is only the last of July and I am dreaming (and wishing for) cold weather.  I imagine those not used to the heat are doing the same but it is not the heat that is bothering me.  It is what comes with a hot, muggy summer.  Bugs!  We have an overload of insects this year.  My garden has been decimated by the eastern lubber grasshoppers, there are mosquitoes in droves and cicadas are crawling out of the ground and leaving their castoff shells everywhere.  Those are bothersome but can be handled.  It is the wasps that are the thorn in my side.  In the past two months, I have been stung ten different times.  Most of the time, I get too close to their nests and the are letting me know to mind my own business.  Well, I WAS minding my own business and still got stung today.  

  After the last bout of stings, everybody told me "Stay inside!  You will not be stung."  Yeah, right.  Those wasps are stalking me now.  They are out to get me by hook or crook!  This afternoon, I was cleaning our tool/craft room when I found a bunch of things that belonged to Darling Daughter.  I figured those needed to be returned to her so I left the room, went to the dining room and put the items there so I would not forget to give them to her.  Then, I wandered back through the living room.  Aha!  There was my glass of lemonade!  I looked down to grasp it when, suddenly, I felt a stabbing pain in my neck!  Thinking I had somehow inadvertently gotten something sharp caught up in either my hair or shirt, I headed to the bathroom to check my "wound".  Staring in the mirror, I noticed something strange on my collar.  Yep!  There was a WASP!  That critter was fiery mad and was searching for another spot to attack!  I flipped it off into the sink, threw a washcloth over it and rushed to get the bug spray.  Son came to my rescue, though, and killed the beast!  He, also, found the nest and got rid of the entire thing.  It seems that the nest was between the window and screen in the living room.  That wasp evidently did not like me being so busy.  It literally stalked me in my own house!  Oh, winter, where art thou?  How I wish you would come for an extended visit and rid my place of all these bugs!

Flowers and Veggies!

  I have a bad habit of planting flowers in the vegetable gardens and veggies in the flower gardens.  Here on the Bayou, the gardens are one big mishmash of whatever!  Anything goes.  If it grows, then it grows wherever it wants.  I have morning glories and moonflowers in the tomato patch.  I have squash in front of the moonflower fence row.  There are nasturtiums in with the radishes and bell peppers in between the tea olives.  Chives blend right in with the roses and zinnias!  Marigolds are everywhere!  Wherever there is an empty spot, there is a plant of some sort.  That suits me to a capital T!  Perhaps the gardens are fine and it is me that is discombobulated!

  It is this habit that caused one good thing and yet one bad thing.  Bad thing first.  After I put in the new garden fence, a bright idea struck. On one side, tomatoes were planted and on the opposite side, four o'clocks lined the fence.  Wow!  That looked nice! All was well until some moth decided to lay her eggs on the four o'clock leaves.  About a week later, caterpillars were turning the leaves into a lace!  Holes were everywhere!  Not good as these caterpillars simply took the jaunt across the fence to attack the tomatoes.  Oh, no you don't!!!  While I do not mind spraying flowers with insecticides, I am a stickler about keeping the veggies pure.  I do not want to eat a bunch of chemically laden garbage.  It took a while before the answer came.  Wasps! Yep, those same critters that make the nests up under the eaves of the house seem to love caterpillars. Paper wasps were feasting on the tiny leaf-munchers. That was good enough for me!  Wasps are now off the bad list and onto the good guys of the garden list.

  The good thing about my four o'clock/tomato arrangement is the early morning/late afternoon blooms sure make the place smell delightful regardless of the copious amounts of cow poop lying around under the tomato plants.  The sweet-scented blooms fill the air and mask the stench quite nicely.  If you do not know, cow poop stinks when wet.  The nighttime hours on the Bayou are rather humid which gives the manure the idea that it is ok to start reeking.  Thankfully, the four o'clock blooms have that covered.  Four o'clock blooms are stronger than poop!  Their scent completely blocks the otherwise stinky garden smells.  Four o'clocks for the win!

  I am sure Pop looks down from Heaven and cringes when he sees my patchwork gardening style.  His fields were impeccable and his flower gardens were to perfection.  He probably wonders where he went wrong when raising me!  Nah, Pop was easy going and would certainly agree about the four o'clocks.  He may have something to say about the morning glories that have their own tomato crates in the garden but, all in all, he would enjoy seeing the plants regardless.

Welcome Home?.....Nope!

  The greenhouse has been used twice already this year as a nesting site for the wrens.  Both times, the little ones were raised in relative safety and the brood even learned to fly within the walls of the building. Snakes, cats, coons or any other predator stayed far away from the little birds and the only monster that occasionally neared the nest was me.   Mama Wren soon learned that I meant no harm so her worries dwindled.  I loved having the birds as company and hope they continue to nest in the greenhouse for years to come.

  Now, however, there is a new species trying to use the building as housing.  Paper Wasps try incessantly to build their umbrella shaped nests on the rafters of the greenhouse.  These, I do not like.  While I usually leave the wasps to do their thing if elsewhere, when they are in such close proximity to my working area, I call a halt to their nest building efforts.  I was a few days late on the most recent attempt.  By the time I noticed the homesite, it was quite large and had a number of wasps clinging to it.  These worker wasps were already tending to the larvae that were growing inside some of the cells of the nest.  Some cells were actually already sealed over waiting for the larvae to change to wasps.

  The wasps were promptly exterminated and the nest removed.  I cannot have these aggressive critters hanging about my work space. The greenhouse can house birds but not wasps or any other critter that might harm someone.  Paper Wasp stings can cause severe problems in those allergic to their venom.  To others, like myself, the stings are painful but at least not life-threatening.  Goodbye, Wasps!  Do not make your nest in my greenhouse!  

More Random Thoughts!

Every now and again, my brain cannot seem to hold all of the thoughts that are bouncing around in there! It seems that no sooner does one idea pop in than another is pushing it out! There just does not seem to be enough space! I thought today's post would be of some of these random thoughts..maybe you can ponder on them for me.

First..why oh, why can an artist never paint a rainbow? The vividness of the colors..the beauty of the spectrum would be a dream come true for anyone that could truly capture it on canvas. Try as I might, any attempt to paint such idyllic wonder would never compare to the real deal. I guess only the Master Artist can paint with light in the sky..it just makes the rest of us dream..imagine..keep trying.

Another ponderable, wasp's nests! These papery thin constructions are almost indestructible by weather! There has been a vacant nest in the palmetto bush for almost a year now and it is still in perfect condition. You would think by this time something so thin and fragile would have completely disintegrated! Another thought..how do the wasps create something so perfectly symmetrical? They do not go to engineering school to learn this. Ponder the thought..what if someone studied the methods of the paper wasp and could create a home or building that withstood the elements as well as these hives. Amazing!

Thought..how can the most fickle creature ever to live steal your heart? Take Ms. Put, for example, she is the most standoffish animal to ever walk the face of the Earth (or at least, the Hill on the Bayou) but can lower the blood pressure just by doing something adorable! She is demanding, contrary, intimidating and at times totally frustrating..I sure would not change a thing about her!

Does one little bright spot in a cold, grey winter day really make you feel warmer? Do the colors of red and yellow make the brain send warmth signals to the rest of the body? These two little leaves..one red, one yellow.. brightened up my day today. I spied them on a six inch tall sapling near the mulch pile as I was gathering kindling for the fire. The colors reminded me of flames.

Stare at this picture for a minute..or a few seconds..have you ever seen so many swirls in one piece of driftwood? Wouldn't you have loved to see the tree? I have been staring at this thing trying to figure out just what direction the limbs must have grown. What is the top..bottom?? What caused this tree to be so twisted? Perhaps a hurricane? Where does driftwood actually originate? How far does it travel?

Is it my imagination at work again or is there a perfectly formed "8" in the eye of this old oyster shell? Is this some strange omen? Or mere coincidence? If I was the superstitious sort, I am quite sure that I could read some sort of eerie meaning into the finding of said shell. Should I?? Or should I just let it go that this oyster was at one time a budding mathematician? Hmmm????

Speaking of eerie..the letter "e" jumped out at me today! Literally..jumped out at me! I was out gathering the kindling that I spoke of earlier and a vine flipped off the arbor for no apparent reason other than to make me ponder! The letter "e"! Now was this some divine sign? Hehe..the vine..divine..ok, ok....anyway..I suppose I could read something in the letter "e" dropping in on me like that but I think I am pondering way to much!!!

Last but not least..what is it??? I love this picture! Again, if too much emphasis is placed on the unearthlyness of the photograph, all sorts of things come to mind! Was there some ethereal meaning behind this or is merely a fluke? Is this something alien or some computer-generated image? To be honest..it is the moon. I was out taking shots of the moon the other night and Ezzy, the dog, bumped my leg at the perfect time to totally either mess up or create the best photograph! I have to admit..I do sort of like it! Perhaps I should be pondering why sometimes mistakes in photography are great shots!