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...

Enjoy It While Ye May!

I'm milking this dying bouquet because soon enough, the only flowers available will be the ones in my fertile imagination. Fall is here and it's blustery and we lost all our tender annuals- with the freaky exception of a particularly intrepid corner of zinnias! Actually, I've got quite an assortment of potted plants temporarily residing in my studio so we won't be entirely without greenery this winter. Now, where to put all those plants in the living room...
I'm also posting a picture here of an interesting visitor that Bob and I had late last week:

Look at that thing! He was BIG- way bigger than the photo suggests. This large insect was scaling one of Bob's sculptures and we couldn't help but notice him. He was carefully feeling his way up the steel... Here's his other side:

(I'm saying "he" but maybe it's a girl. I'm not sure how we tell.) Anyway, he/she was was oblivious to my efforts to document him/her.  We're guessing it's a type of cricket. Impressive and eerie.
But speaking of insects/bugs/pests/varmints/vermin and official lice...
Holy cow! Impeachment! Talk about draining swamps and all things pestilence! I can't look the news away and maybe the changing seasons becomes an advanced metaphor for changing directions in a seriously misguided administration. I could go on for days (and believe me, I'd rather discuss insects!) but did anyone really think that Rudy Giuliani (who DOES look like Nosferatu...) was a good guy? Please: the best thing that could have happened in this amazingly action packed week was that "two associates" of Giuliani's were arrested. More arrests to come. I'm on the edge of my seat and looking forward to designer handcuffs!

New (Garden) Rules!!

Echoing the phrase "My House (or Barn or Studio or What Have You) My Rules", I am hereby asserting "My Garden, My Rules". There are only a few- and they are simple- but from here on in, these are the Rules:

1.) Please do not visit my garden and point to my Tithonia, (or Brugmansia or Cimicifuga et al) and say, "Gee I have that but it's three times bigger!" It's like penis size; make no comparisons. Maybe my insects are bigger than yours.

2.) If you spot a weed, please don't tell me. Chances are I know it's there and simply haven't removed it yet. Or, feel free to pull it up and compost it yourself. I appreciate the help.

3.) If some poor plant looks parched and in need of water, again, please don't moan to me about it. I  am probably tired of tripping over and dragging that hose (it weighs more than I do!) around the yard. Or I have become thirsty myself and put my needs before the plants. There are plenty of watering cans available and a deep well. Water that thing yourself.

4.) If there are holes in the leaves of my plants, please (again ad nauseum) keep it to yourself. Yes, I probably have some bugs and slugs but I refuse to spray and I hand pick as much as I care to- which may not be as often as you and your higher standards demand. Holes can be a decorative addition (or subtraction) from a leaf and just think of it as filigree.

5.) And finally, ENJOY my garden as just that- MY garden. I think it's super and while I may not do things the way you do, you needn't worry about it. You can admire mine for what it is (or isn't) and then go home to your garden and admire that, too. It's great that we all do things differently and have different standards; it's what make me me and you you.

Over Heated/ Stay-cation/Expanded Birthday Version

Not sure what kind of insect this is- other than very large!- but it was adhered to our picnic table. This is how big it was: at first I thought it was a baby bat! I think the extreme weather has encouraged some strange Southern bugs to infiltrate.
Well, the hot weather has caused my brain to go on a stay-cation. It's so muggy and the air is so vile that thinking is nie-on impossible. Lots of vague empty spaces...
What was I saying? Oh yes, something banal about the weather. And it does seem that it's always like this for my birthday, whether it's celebrated on the right day or delayed for a month due to unforeseen medical episodes involving family member's faces...

But my birthday celebration was delightful! Good food and a splendid concord grape wine, lovely gifts including several choice hostas (Empress Wu! and Curly Fries), nuts, flip flops adorned with jewels, clothing, more wine; the list could go on and on and my family was most generous. Thanks to them all! Lil' Robin the Good was on her best behavior and soon took a real shine to my family, rolling around and exposing her underbelly like a trollop. But even she is crashed out on the floor now, trying to escape the heat as best as she can.

Bob's sculpture looks ready to be beamed up to another planet- hopefully one with nicer weather. We couldn't even see the (supposedly) spectacular meteor show last night as it was decidedly overcast last night and rained every so often. I actually woke up at 5:00 am and went outside my studio to see if there were meteor shower remnants to catch but no such luck!

And what else? I should have gotten this blasted, wasted attempt of a blog post up two day ago but the office (ie; the room in which the computer lives) is so hot that I haven't been up to a long enough stint to actually finish the post... you get the picture.

 So it feels like 104 degrees (according to the Weather Channel) and my studio is an oven and I'm retreating back to that air-conditioned bedroom. Sayonora!