Well, what a few weeks this has been! We've been through torrential rains and flood watches that seemed to never end. Memorial Day weekend was a total washout!! Yep. No barbequeing, no outdoor activities.
3 days now of 90 degree temps and high humidity. BH and I just returned Thursday from a trip to a State park where we camped for 3 days. Had a good, somewhat relaxing time....except for:
Tent catepillars. Do they exist anywhere else besides Minnesota? I never heard of them when we lived in New York. But they've been a menace here for about 5 years. Horrible little things. We've never had our house covered with them as some people have. Actually only saw a few around here over the years. Ahhh, but then we went to the state park.
Oh yeah. They were dropping like rain. Everywhere. You had to look before you sat down in the camp chair; check the coffee pot before pouring a cup; flick them off the cooler before opening it; flick them off your legs, arms, chest, back, shoulders. You get the picture. And all sizes....from 1" to 3". Disgusting! I never ate meals so fast in my life!!
The second day there, we were bombarded with flying ants. Huge, black ones with large wings. Everywhere. Then there was the occasional bee and wasp. And it was hot! Not conducive to hiking, or sightseeing. Thank goodness it cooled down at night so we could sleep comfortably.
Relaxing??? Nope. Check, please! We're outta here! Ahhh, home sweet home!
The daily rains finally abated last week. Wow....the rivers and lakes are very high! More rain to come this evening into tomorrow, I hear. And, of course, the heat has settled in. Friday we spent hours hooking up the A/Cs.
But the rain, humidity and heat has been a bonus to all the seeds planted in the planters. They are thriving beautifully and should be budding any day now.
There's housework to be done, grass to cut, weedwhacking, set up the pool and a few other assorted jobs around here.
Got a call from our 21 yr old granddaughter last weekend. She and the boyfriend are planning a visit here at the end of June. Wow! Haven't seen her in 16 years; haven't talked to her in over 2 years. Long story....not worth getting into. But she sounded great and excited about coming to see us. We are equally excited to have her visit.
Other than that, not much else going on. BH and I did agree no more camping trips in the summer.....we're going to hold off until September. We love the Fall. So we'll just take day trips for the next 2 months. Afterall, that's why we moved to the country....we are "camping" every day.....in the privacy of our own home!!
crafting on: bunty mitts and wee hats
6 years ago
3 comments:
What lovely news about seeing your granddaughter!
What awful news about the tent caterpillars and the flying ants. Remind me to only visit Minnesota in the winter!
As I live just a couple miles from the New York state border, I can attest to the fact that tent caterpillers do exist there, as well as here in PA. Some years they are a plague on the trees, but they seem to move about. This year I am having no problem with them. But the last 2 or 3 years, I was fighting them every Spring.
Several years back, our area was hit hard with Gypsy Moth caterpillars. They were so thick, you could actually hear them munching the leaves on all the trees overhead. They devastated huge areas of forests, and it took several years for the trees to come back again. At least you didn't have to deal with those. :) See, there are always things to be thankful for.... LOL
We've been getting rain pretty steady here, since the beginning of April. Every now and then we get 1 or 2 days reprieve, then another 5 or 6 days of rain. It's been a nightmare trying to keep up with the lawn. One thing good though, the garden is loving it, the veggies look great, and everywhere you look it's lush and very green! :)
We have friends that own several acres bordered by a river. Their home and barn sit up on a mountain away from the river. Years ago they set up a pavilion area in a wooded section by the river with a raised stone fireplace to cook on. All of their camping gear is stored there and every Friday afternoon during the summer they carry food down for the weekend, pull out their tent and put it up. The whole weekend, no tv or phones. They bring books and magazines and go swimming/fishing as the mood strikes. We have gone over occasionally and it is heavenly. I need a place like that. We have tried going without the tv or answering the phone but I can't ignore the pile of laundry, sink with dishes, weeds growing in the garden etc so it never is as relaxing as their place.
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