Bite Me (Or Not)

 Gotta love insects! I was minding my own business,finishing up riding my horse and went to get Neko some hay as a reward for being a good horsey and not killing. (as usual). Also as usual, I clutched the flake of hay to my stomach so as to have a free hand to shut the barn door. ZAP!!!! (*1)

I got stung by something... something really nasty and pain inducing. (*2) I managed to simaltaneously pull up my shirt to see the damage and walk over to deliver the hay to Neko. Then I adjourned to the house where I applied baking soda.

I'm telling you:whatever malevolent little bastard was hiding in the hay was evil. I'm thinking a wasp was the culprit as there's been a small band of wasps attempting to make a nest right outside the hay barn door. I've knocked it down several times, so maybe it was pay back. Whatever.

Approximate size and location of bite. It's big and impressive. It swelled up so there was a big reddish pink blob on my left hand side... and it itched and stung. 

Despite this, I did sleep well and woke up this morning so it didn't totally poison me but it still looked awful, along with being swollen in a weird horizontal ridge. Trust me: even Bob thought it looked odd. But I felt fine except fot the itching.

I had to run an errand today so I stopped at the store to buy an antihistimine. But about an hour later when I went outside, thinking to ride my horse, I wondered why I felt so... funny. Like all tired and dopey. (*3) I should have read the possible side effects! No riding for me as I deem the horse "large machinery" and now know I shouldn't operate it! (*4)

(*5) AND a fucking update that when I went to feed Neko her dinner ANOTHER wasp dropped out of the sky like a SKUD missile and bit me in the arm!!!! I was just strolling by, not bthering anyone! 

(*1) It got red and swelled up pretty fast. And boy was it brilliant last night. But I also suggest it's very hard to photograph your own abdomen- tough angle!

(*2) Wasn't it enough I got bit in the arm by a bee while picking flowers last week?! I got mad because I grow these flowers and the bees (and yellow jacket and hornets and wasps and who ever) are more than welcome to sip nectar and benefit from my gardening. So why bite me?!?!!?

(*3) Okay, dopier than usual!!

(*4) Hahhahahaha! Typing this was really hard! I kept making spelling errors and losing my train of thought. I guess computers are heavy equipment, too!

(*5) This is a commission I did for a friend. Not sure if this was the sort of biting he had in mind...

House Work vs Yard Work

Right off the bat, I'm going to admit that the pictures here are for aesthetic purposes only. I could not bring myself to photograph dust bunnies (or in our case, dust puppies as 85% of what we vacuum up is dog hair) and tiny piles of grass clippings and hay. Our filth is to remain private. I have also determined that if you fill your house with lovely arrangements of flowers in thoughtfully chosen vases, most people will overlook the dirt. 

The central arguement of this blog posting will not be lost on friends and family. It is no surprise when I tell you that in a decision to do house work or yard work, the great outdoors wins every time. Vacuum or mow? Mow. Scrub the bathroom sink or water the flowers? Water... you get the idea.

I think I enjoy a clean house, once the work is done, but it never seems to be done all at once. If I clean the downstairs bathroom, the upstairs one reminds me that it, too, needs cleaning. If I vacuum the stairs, ten minutes later Bob and I and Robin the Good have once again applied a brand new layer of mud or worse. I'd rather be in my studio where the general mayhem is so overpowwered by my creative genius that no one would ever dare to suggest cleaning. I do sweep the floor on occasion...

So acquaintences marvel at our lovely gardens... and rightly so. But they look good because I do spend my time outside, not inside. Who wants to be "dusting" (*1) when it's so pleasant and sunny outside? And not to belabor the point, but it's a hopelessly boring routine doomed to be repeated over and over and over again. So as a friend once remarked: Embrace the Dust! (*2)

(*1) Not even sure what "dusting" is. 

(*2) Our good friend Louise once exclaimed this while living in Santa Fe where dust is just a part of life.