Tuesday...

[cairistiona]

Today is Bug Man Day, where I hope he will banish whatever is chewing up the house/deck. I also hope he doesn't look at the pile of sawdust and tell me that it's a sign that our house is hanging on by a splinter. o.O (I'm more and more positive it's carpenter ants, not bees. There's absolutely no telltale holes that you get with the bee, but there are actual ants crawling around. I've no idea if that will change how he proposes to treat the problem--it may well do that, because I know with those tiny ants you get in your kitchen, ant bait that they carry back to their nest is far more effective than spraying.) I also hope this guy wears a mask. We'll be outdoors, but I'll have my mask on and I'll stay 6 feet away and I guess throw the check at him. :/

No photo today--I'd hoped the tiger lily had actually opened, but it hasn't yet, and nothing else new is blooming, though the annuals are finally doing well in their various pots. They're the only things that really bloom between the end of the daylily blossom period and the start of the fall wildflowers--July and August are drab months for our hill when it comes to flowers because it's mostly flowers that need full sun that bloom during that stretch, and well... that's a problem when you live in the forest! We'll get the tiger lilies and then surprise lilies at some point in late July, and then nothing really until the asters and goldenrod in late Auguest/early September. Hopefully I can keep the annuals going nicely until then.

Wish I had more exciting tales to tell, but it's... just a Tuesday. Hope yours is a peaceful one.

Comments

[shirebound]

Good luck today! I hope the Bug Man can pinpoint the critters and get them gone.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

I have my fingers crossed.

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

I'm not quite sure whether that is more or less exciting than the six smoll strawberries I harvested from my balcony LOL

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

You win! Strawberries, even smol ones, always win.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

I hope the bug guy was able to find a good solution for you! Any kind of wood-chewing bugs are not great, but there must be some decent way to get rid of carpenter ants because the cabin we rent had them for yeeeeeears, but apparently had them treated a few years back and it seems to have thoroughly done the trick. No more lying in bed at night listening to ants chewing the walls and ceiling. XD

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Eeek, listening to ants chew must be creepy!

Welp, there isn't an answer just yet. The bug man still says it's probably carpenter bees, but he could only find one hole--he suspects that the rest of the damage may be concealed by a metal ceiling we have in place (tomorrow's post will include photos and more details). So hubby will have to take that off and look to see if there's current damage along the joists or if, perhaps, the sawdust is left from older damage and is being blown out in that particular spot by the wind. So, hubby has a fun job to do, taking down those panels. :P

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh - that sounds fun... not :(

But then if it is old damage I guess it is good news.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

That's what I'm thinking--hopefully we'll discover it's old damage and that will be the end of any worry about the deck suddenly collapsing! (The man reassured me that it wasn't about to, actually.)

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

Yipes. I think the most destructive bugs we have over here is woodworm and deathwatch beetle. I haven't seen either in any of my homes over the years, but I understand that woodworm can be more of a problem here, on the coast, for some reason.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Deathwatch beetle is such a creepy name!

We seem to have no end of destructive pests here. *sigh*