Isolated insect thread

No worries, Fata, I promise to not post pictures of crawlies in this post.

At my last home, I spent an entire spring and a lot of blood, sweat and tears to create a front yard landscape worthy of a magazine!

My neighbors in the cul-de-sac had been watching me out there every day, in the blazing heat....tilling, planting, weeding, re-sodding areas, etc.

I never liked the slant of our yard from the front of the home down the yard....so I decided I would have some "dillo dirt" trucked in to assist in laying down some soil. I was trying to create a cool looking horseshoe shaped berm...Well, I greatly overestimated how much dillo dirt it would take....

I was home the day they arrived....watched excitedly from my front porch as the huge ass truck backed up over the front curb....careful not to hit or damage my prized 15 ft. Pindo Palm.

They moved the truck to the designated dump site, beautifully! Then, I watched as the container part started to rise...the back flap opened up...then the dillo dirt started to spill...and spill....and spill....

At the point I knew there was a mistake, I ran out down the driveway screaming to STOP STOP STOP, but the driver didn't hear me.

Ok...two hours later, one of my neighbors, Jen, pulled into the cul-de-sac and saw me standing on a 15 foot high mound of dillo dirt holding a shovel and looking overwhelmed...from her perspective, I looked like I was standing on my roof.

She stopped the car, rolled down the window and was laughing her ass off...."T____", what the hell???


Why on earth did I launch into this 20 year ago fuck-up, I've no idea.

What I meant to tell Fata was that when I eventually created the HUGE assed berm and got plants in there, I was over-run by snails....ew...fucking EW. Those things can carry diseases and they totally gross me out.

I spent about 3 weeks out front, with tongs, picking those uglies off of my plants and throwing them into a coffee can, snapping the lid on after.

I cannot tell you how bad these suckers started smelling after about 3 days, even.


....brb....puke break.....

Thank goodness I had several old coffee cans. I filled them up and the legions of the snail invasion continued.

It was cosmic, man.


We've since moved....thank God.


...another saga, brought to you by Fala....
 
BTW, I am so pleased that the man who bought our old place has taken such good care of that gorgeous Pindo Palm.

I do believe it is one of the largest and most beautiful specimens at this time in Austin, Tx.

:heart:proud mama:heart:

I'll do a drive-by soon and snap a pic to show you! :)
 
Last edited:
Here, I was about to praise the fireflies (lightning bugs)

I was thwarted, my desire for a dump truck full of topsoil was not fulfilled.

The new house needed many pricey items. My dream of having real, healthy soil was fated to wait. It is just as well. I filled wooden window boxes full of lovely shade loving flowers. The summer produced gentle rainy days, nearly every day, for a month. The slugs were free to crawl on everything. They ate everything that they were able to eat. The snails showed up to join them. The rain rotted away my window box amusements. If I had my wish met, I would have seen all my work destroyed by the rain, slugs, and snails.

(The fireflies were plentiful. The rain was good for them.)

Fall arrived, and the rains became torrential. The boulders holding the soil rolled free from the mud. What little good soil that I had, washed down. On a leaf peeper trip, I watched boulders the size of gardening sheds roll down the street of the small mountain town. Back at home, foolish developers building on hillsides put big orange nets in place to keep the soil from washing away.

I had watched the banks of Germany and Italy, flood, on TV.
We had nothing that extreme, but we were having our turn to be drenched.
 
Here, I was about to praise the fireflies (lightning bugs)

I was thwarted, my desire for a dump truck full of topsoil was not fulfilled.

The new house needed many pricey items. My dream of having real, healthy soil was fated to wait. It is just as well. I filled wooden window boxes full of lovely shade loving flowers. The summer produced gentle rainy days, nearly every day, for a month. The slugs were free to crawl on everything. They ate everything that they were able to eat. The snails showed up to join them. The rain rotted away my window box amusements. If I had my wish met, I would have seen all my work destroyed by the rain, slugs, and snails.

(The fireflies were plentiful. The rain was good for them.)

Fall arrived, and the rains became torrential. The boulders holding the soil rolled free from the mud. What little good soil that I had, washed down. On a leaf peeper trip, I watched boulders the size of gardening sheds roll down the street of the small mountain town. Back at home, foolish developers building on hillsides put big orange nets in place to keep the soil from washing away.

I had watched the banks of Germany and Italy, flood, on TV.
We had nothing that extreme, but we were having our turn to be drenched.

Awwww, darlin' gotsnowgotslush,

So sorry to hear. The hardest thing to work with is Mother Nature....she is so unforgiving!

I do know tho, if you ever again have problems with slugs and snails...bury a few "throwaway" cups in the dirt where you see them most. Fill them half-way full of beer...and leave them overnight.

The yeast smell draws the critters and they crawl down into the cups...drink a bit...then fall in and drown from their own drunkenness.

You may have to do this a few nights in a row before you get enough of them to make a difference.

This trick never worked well for me tho....I always ended up drinking the beer before I could get it out to the cups. :eek:

Better luck and don't give up!
 
Here, I was about to praise the fireflies (lightning bugs)

I was thwarted, my desire for a dump truck full of topsoil was not fulfilled.

The new house needed many pricey items. My dream of having real, healthy soil was fated to wait. It is just as well. I filled wooden window boxes full of lovely shade loving flowers. The summer produced gentle rainy days, nearly every day, for a month. The slugs were free to crawl on everything. They ate everything that they were able to eat. The snails showed up to join them. The rain rotted away my window box amusements. If I had my wish met, I would have seen all my work destroyed by the rain, slugs, and snails.

(The fireflies were plentiful. The rain was good for them.)

Fall arrived, and the rains became torrential. The boulders holding the soil rolled free from the mud. What little good soil that I had, washed down. On a leaf peeper trip, I watched boulders the size of gardening sheds roll down the street of the small mountain town. Back at home, foolish developers building on hillsides put big orange nets in place to keep the soil from washing away.

I had watched the banks of Germany and Italy, flood, on TV.
We had nothing that extreme, but we were having our turn to be drenched.

I'm sorry to hear that.

That's weird, fireflies usually eat slugs. Copper works. Vinegar but you don't want that on you plants. And just a few grains of salt and they melt.
 
Ah, what sweethearts! :heart:

*drinks in green tea and sympathy*

I put rose essential oil on the patch of skin above my bosom, and bumble bees insist on landing on my shirt, in that exact spot.

*grimacing and grinning, while reading gems, in this article*

"Though my testicles looked satisfyingly large I was in a great deal of pain."


http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ng-me-in-the-testicles-but-i-love-them-anyway

Insects and testicles!
 
"The Bombardier Beetle. It can create a chemical reaction within its body so violent, that boiling caustic liquid explodes out of its abdomen. By pulsing the jet five hundred times a second it keeps its rear end just cool enough to prevent it being caught."

And by caught I think Sir David Attenborough means on fire. :D



https://youtu.be/_U-1kPbvj8Q
 
"The Bombardier Beetle. It can create a chemical reaction within its body so violent, that boiling caustic liquid explodes out of its abdomen. By pulsing the jet five hundred times a second it keeps its rear end just cool enough to prevent it being caught."

And by caught I think Sir David Attenborough means on fire. :D



https://youtu.be/_U-1kPbvj8Q

I'd love to be able to do that right into Phil's face.
 
This insect thread is filthy.

I remember being able to watch Attenborough docos without thinking filthy thoughts. That's now ruined forever.
 
Ah, what sweethearts! :heart:

*drinks in green tea and sympathy*

I put rose essential oil on the patch of skin above my bosom, and bumble bees insist on landing on my shirt, in that exact spot.

*grimacing and grinning, while reading gems, in this article*

"Though my testicles looked satisfyingly large I was in a great deal of pain."


http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ng-me-in-the-testicles-but-i-love-them-anyway

Insects and testicles!

I think bugs are perverts and like to land on boobs.
 
Back
Top