First of all….
…we are certainly in a bit of a heat wave here…This is the temp on our deck outside our kitchen…Just after I took this photo the degrees jumped up to 106..Suffice to say, the dress code here at the Cave Dwellings is “the less , the better, without getting arrested”….
Did I mention that we have NO A/C?? I believe I have also said that we really don’t mind it…most of the time. Actually, even today, we have a breeze from the South..Unfortunately, today it feels like it’s coming from a blast furnace…
These poor birds are really in need of water, and I have done a “cease and desist” on screaming, stomping and banging on the screens to chase them off. I am becoming a more gentle soul, allowing the birds ..ALL the birds, even the nasty Blackbirds , to use my birthday fountain as a Roman Bath/sometimes toilet.
I ask you..How could I deny them this temptation in 106 degrees and a drought?
We have had a few “confrontations”….and even the Wasps are “hanging out” drinking from the water running down the outside..As they say, “all creatures, great and small”…Yep, I’m feeling a new attitude about “sharing” my birthday gift…
I am NOT getting a very good feeling about our pests that have invaded the roses here…Remember our neighbor’s beautiful rose garden we could enjoy from our deck???
Above, Left is before the infestation….. Right is how it looks now…and here is why..
…Japanese (Asian) Beetles….not sure which is the correct term..ALIEN BEETLES!!
If you really want to be grossed out, click the pics to enlarge..I double darn dare ya!
I kid you not..All of Deb’s rose bushes and every rose was covered with these…The air was thick with them…They were on my 4 spindly rose bushes, and I sprayed them and then cut all the buds (and what remained of the roses) off….Deb did the same, but compared to my 4 measly bushes, she has at least 50….Now… go back up to the 2 photos of her garden from our deck…What a difference…
We are spraying with Seven, and the beetles are a little diminished, ( now that we have taken their main meal away), but they are VERY hard to kill…When I was taking these pictures they were dive bombing me! YUCKO!!…and I felt like my skin was creepy crawling just watching them devour her beautiful roses…As I said…INFESTATION!!!! OK, that’s enough insect photos…I am feeling the urge to hurl…
Den and I are considering taking out a lien on the house to help defray the cost of our water bill…that we have yet to see…One can only imagine….I have to run the hose in the driveway for 5 minutes just to cool it off for watering plants (wasting that precious H2O)..If I began watering the poor flowers right away, I would cook them. We are hoping for a little rain tonight….(key word is HOPE!)
Our oldest daughter, Terrie, is undergoing a purge of her current house décor’(Could it be the fact that she will turn 40 this year?)…She has taken all of her stuff off the walls, tables, counters, and has them ready to sell or give away…She is feeling the need to change up her wall colors and “knick knacks:. It looks like they are moving…I will post some after pics if and when she finishes this MAJOR project..
I’m hoping to tap into her taste for re-purposing and re-modeling when, and IF, I ever get McGyver to realize that our 1970’s kitchen is no longer the newest and neatest room in our house…It is now possibly the oldest and the scariest!!..
Well…Golly darn, it’s clouding up a bit…Maybe..just MAYBE, we could catch a few raindrops here in Sandwich…before we end up as TOAST instead!!
I can't remember what we did to deter Japanese beetles... think we used dish washing detergent on the aphids... but it looks like any method is too late to save your roses. Really sad to lose such a beautiful part of summer. I hope you post an "after" photo of your daughters new "do".... sounds interesting! I'd send you some of the rains we've been getting here, but... after a week of nothing but rain, I think it's moved on. Keep your Cool...
ReplyDeleteThose beetles are really creepy besides being so destructive. Hope you get your rain. We sure could use some around here also. But it's not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteGood grief, those beetles are just awful - poor roses. Hope you find a good way to eradicate them. Would certainly send you some Oregon rain if I could.
ReplyDeleteI clicked on the pictres, you're right. GROSS!! I hope next spring they all come back beautiful.
ReplyDeleteEEEWWWWW YUCK! What nasty looking bugs. Makes my skin crawl. Didn't know they like roses just thought it was leaves on trees.
ReplyDeleteWhat horrible bugs! I hope you can get them under control.
ReplyDeletethose beetles are disgusting!..eww...hope it cools off for you soon!..or the next blog post may be the one about..is it hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk?
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference in that Rose Garden and all from just a few gazzillion beetles!
ReplyDeleteNice to see the birds cooling off in your water fountain - why don't you put a coin pay machine on it and make them .25 cents for each 5 minutes? Think of how much you'd collect to pay for your water bill!
I used to get those nasty beetles when I lived in NY. I had some kind of a hanging bag that they would crawl into and die. It at least kept most of them out of the above ground pool I had. I can't believe you're surviving without AC or a pool to cool off in.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I am....better check my pulse to make sure I'm still on the right side of the grass;-)
DeleteHi you two, Are you enjoying the heat as much as we are here in Arkansas...Going to be too hot for the beach on the 4th....We will go to Heber Springs in Mid July and camp at Greers Ferry Lake. Sorry about the slow response to your e-mail. Really enjoy your blog!!
ReplyDeleteHowdy D&D,
ReplyDeleteIf you had the spider that built that web in the header you wouldn't have to worry about those beautiful little furrin bugs that eat up the roses!!! Bugs just eat Seven dust for snacks!!! WHY DO YOU RUN THE WATER ON THE CONCRETE?? PUT IT ON THE GRASS!! DON'T YOU DARE TAKE OFF ANY MORE CLOTHES, Sandwich is losing population already!!! I think 40 is a purfeckly good age at which to lose ones mind and RIP OUT AND START OVER!!! But NOT 65; thatz when you coooool it, because if'n you don't, the kids look for 'a place to put you'.. Now, just settle down, coool off and get Dennis another cooooold beer from the coooooler.. He'll appreciate it!!
Howdy Donna,
ReplyDeleteI JUST GOT AN EMAIL FROM A LADY IN MISERY(MISSOURI) WHO WAS FIGHTING BUGS
ON HER MELON PLANTS; BLISTER BUGS, JAP B.. SHE HAD USED ALL OF THE ORGANICS SHE KNEW OF AND THEN THOUGHT OF 'CINNAMON'.. SHE PUT IT ALL OVER THE MELON
PLANTS AND WAAAAALLLAAA!!! NO MORE BUGS, EXCEPT A DEAD ONE; MAY BE WORTH A TRY!!!! GO GET'EM, MAXINE!!!!!!!!!!
Thanx, Butterbean...love your comments...Y'all roll much like me!! Cinnamon..?..Do they sell it by the gallons?? Much 'precitated!
DeleteHowdy Donna,
ReplyDeleteTry Sam's Club; they sell everything in large quantities!!!