Stop Buggin' Me!

Love Bugs!  Some say they were engineered at one of the Florida Universities to battle the mosquito population.  Ironically, the only living species that seem not to mind their appearance  are mosquitoes. 

Love bugs are seasonal, suddenly popping up around May and September.  They survive for only a few days, living only to mate and hatch loads of eggs.  After they mate, the male dies but stays attached to the female and gets dragged around.  

An attached  female / male love bug pair

Attracted to the heat of moving vehicles, swarms of love bugs are found on busy roads and highways.  As you drive down the road, the bugs go into a suicidal death formation and torpedo themselves into the front of your car, splattering an acidic, sticky fluid onto your hood, windshield and front bumper.  You must clean your car at least once every day as this fluid will remove the paint off your car before you can say WTF??  I am waiting for someone to invent a cleaner that is strong enough to clean the love bugs while leaving the paint on your car. 

Splatter on front of car

Dead bug getting free ride on car

Acidic, sticky fluid on windshield that won't come off after 2 days of cleaning

At their worst destructiveness, smarms of love bugs can clog your car's radiator, causing engine overheating.

Sometimes, love bugs just hang out where they want to which happened to be where I work.  Below is just a fraction of what I had to walk through to get to work yesterday.  And if I didn't mention it, love bugs are also attracted to people walking, minding their own business so it's crucial to walk down the street waving your hands and arms in front of you, shaking your head and in general doing the Love Bug Stroll!

Sidewalk by store

Sidewalk in front of store

In front of store

Cluster in front of store

Is there a sidewalk by the store?

Hanging out on wall

Hail to the Grass

I know it's been a while since I posted last.  I'll try to get back with the program. 

For the past 2 days, Central Florida has had some extreme weather.  Thunder, lightning, tornado warnings, hail , OH MY!  



Field of Hail!


It's always worthy of mention when the Sunshine State gets pelted as it did on 3/30/11.  (Happy Birthday to Me!).  I've learned we're in trouble when it starts raining sideways.




I think this is a picture of the empty lot accross the street



Just goes to show, we do have some days to break up the boredom of sunshine and hurricanes.

Ants Marching!

A huge problem in Florida are fire ants.  Fire ants are a variety of stinging ants, and oh do they sting!  If you're unlucky enough to step onto an ant hill, the ants can swarm up your leg in seconds and do some serious damage.  They can also critically injure or even kill a small animal. 

Very cute small animal owned by author

So you can imagine, that having fire ant hills makes me quite nervous. 

Ants are some of the most industrious insects in existence.  Almost overnight, a huge ant hill can pop up. 

One of many huge ant hills that popped up overnight.

Luckily, from much experience, I always have some very powerful ant hill killer on hand that will take care of this. 

Very powerful ant hill killer

The theory is that you sprinkle the very powerful ant hill killer on the hill and the ants will eat the powerful ant hill killer and bring it back to the queen who will then drop dead.  The ant hill will then just be washed away by the next rain or by the wind.

Ant hill sprinkled with very powerful ant hill killer.

In my world of course, the ants just become annoyed and move a few feet down and start a new ant hill the next day.  It becomes a battle that can never be won. 

Many people have told me home remedies for ant hills.  I was told to pour boiling water on an active hill.  I boiled the water, carefully carried it outside, poured it on the hill and absolutely nothing happened.  I also was told to pour vinegar on a hill.  This was really scary.  When I poured the vinegar the ants went crazy and left the hill and starting chasing me. 

We also have enough frogs and geckos around that should be feasting on all the ants and mosquitos.  But the frogs that hang around my house seem to have other things to do.

Sleeping frog couldn't care less about ants.

So in conclusion, just like the weeds, the ants seem to have won the battles so far.  But the war is still on!

Palm Balls...What Are They Good For?

Absolutely nothing! 

For those of you who might not know what palm balls are, they grow in grapelike clusters on palm trees.

You can see a cluster of palm balls under the leaves on the
left side of the tree.

A better view

The palm balls themselves are hard, hazlenut type of "balls" that fall off the tree and dent the hood of my car, cause me to trip down the driveway, and cause palm fronds to grow in places that palm fronds shouldn't grow.

Palm Balls growing on small palm tree.

Palm fronds growing from ground around palm tree.

These fronds are as useful as weeds and just add to the vast variety I already have to clear away. 

I am sure though, that sometime at about 3 in the morning, on my roof, I can hear the squirrels having what seems to be a tennis match using the palm balls.  The U.S Open has nothing on us!

A Garbage Can and Missile Silos

My house, although not in the "boondocks", is in a part of town where there is no city water or sewer service.  Thus, we have well water and a septic tank.  This is quite typical of the city where I live.  It sounded quite easy when a friend explained what I have to do to maintain my well water.  I just have to use a softener and add salt to it about every 2 to 3 months, depending on usage. 

The softener is in the garage and at first sight, it looks like a garbage can and 3 missile silos.

I really don't understand how it all works, except that I have to add three 40 pound bags of salt to the "garbage can" and I have water. 

Needless to say, lugging three 40 pound bags and then lifting them up to the "garbage can" is as back breaking as any weeding I have to do.  And try as I may to conserve water, the salt dissolves at the same rate either way. 

I won't drink the water.  I'm horrified to even shower in it everyday.  I have a filter system under the kitchen sink that provides "reverse osmosis" water (I haven't a clue) that is supposed to be drinkable water.  Still, I buy gallon jugs of water that I have to lug and lift into a water cooler.

Life used to be a lot easier back in New York when all I had to do was turn on the tap and drink!  Now a great deal of my time is spent schlepping, lugging, lifting and carrying. 

So far, I haven't had to deal with any issues with the septic tank and from what I understand, it is the most unpleasant of all unpleasant experiences.  So, I keep my fingers crossed.

Look What Popped in For A Visit!

It's just amazing how fast unwanted things grow.  I know that this morning when I was out on my porch, doing the New York Times Puzzle, which was fairly easy with an uninspired theme today, I didn't see it.  But this afternoon it was plain as day.  At first from afar, I thought it was a golf ball.

Is someone mistaking my well manicured lawn for a golf course?

As I got nearer to it I realized it didn't come from above, but popped up from below.

Portobello or Chanterelle?

An ant umbrella?

I know that sometimes mushrooms will grow in shaded, damp places.  But this little beauty has shown itself in the middle of a lawn, high 90 degree temps for weeks, no shade and hardly any rain.  It's times like these that I can't help but feel lucky, sort of like I'm the chosen one.  There are also times when it seems like I'm on a 70's shroom trip and I will wake up and only grass will be growing on my lawn.  Nah, that will never happen!

When Does a Weed Have Multiple Personalities?

When does a weed have multiple personalities?  When it thinks it's a flower, of course!  You have to be careful because some weeds are tricky.  They try to disguise themselves as flowers to fool you and thus, let them live. 

Notice this foliage with pretty purple flowers trying to hide behind the palm tree.  Fooled you too, huh!  This weed, or small tree depending how you look at it, will meet its end the next time we meet.  You can grow, but you cannot hide.