I didn't mean it to be, but this week turned out to be a creepy, crawly, animal and insect filled week! If you're squeamish about bugs and stuff, maybe you'd better wait until the next week is posted ;-)
Day 184 - July 3
This has become the popular spot to "chill" during the day around our place. I usually water this landscaping bed quite well in the morning so the soil remains cool most of the day. And in the sweltering heat we've been having, whomever gets it first usually stays there most of the day! Today, it was Mi-Wah...
Day 185 - July 4
Most families go out to watch fireworks on the 4th of July. No. Not us. We work at trapping these monstrous wasps called "Cicada Wasps". They are a large wasp that are common where you find cicadas as they sting the cicada which paralyzes it, then they drag it into the nest they've burrowed into the ground where their young can feed off it in the coming months as they grow. Lovely, isn't it? The males can't sting and they usually leave humans alone but we had become inundated with these wasps! You couldn't walk out the back door without having to duck and swerve to avoid these large flying beasts! We had some special family members coming for a visit soon and knew these would not make for a good welcoming party! So, we did some research online about how to kill these guys but Ava came up with the best and most successful way. She watched for the wasp to crawl into it's hole, then placed a baby food jar over the top of the hole and waited for it to come back out. When it flew into the top of the jar, she slipped the lid under the bottom then turned it over and screwed it on. It is a slow, excruciating death but these are devils, I tell ya! We had no alternative and Jason and I were happy to let Ava take over this job, which she did happily!
Day 186 - July 5
I told you Ava happily took over this job, didn't I? Each of those jars holds a dead cicada wasp. And this was just the beginning. I think when she was done, she had trapped over 20 of these things...and that's not counting those we swatted out of the air and killed with a tennis racket!!
Day 187 - July 6
This guy came crawling up to our back door in the late afternoon hours. I think he was a harmless snake but we could not take the chance and he met his demise with my shovel. Thankfully, he wasn't too large that I couldn't handle him on my own.
Day 188 - July 7
The view I have 4 days a week...
Day 189 - July 8
I told you this was the popular spot...Rosie was the early bird today...
Day 190 - July 9
Rosie has started this terrible habit of cruising our property (and the neighbor's property) and bringing back pieces of dead animals she finds. Sadly, some poor deer lost it's life and Rosie saw fit to bring back it's leg for a chew toy. Gross, I know. But oh how she enjoyed this!! And you can be assured it wasn't her that killed this deer. I was skeptical for awhile because as the summer wears on, you will see that she really starts to bring back a lot of items!! However, after talking with other Great Pyrenees owners, her rescue organization, and just knowing her temperament and inability of one dog to take down a deer, we are confident she is just playing the role of the neighborhood garbage man. And apparently, my yard is the dump!
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