More bug woes

Unfortunatly, I have discovered that ants are not the only bugs around here in Tennessee. In fact, my discovery of this other bug has made the ants seem tame in conparison. The only good thing I can say for this bug is that it eats plants. I know, I know, you are wondering how that can be good. It is good in this sense - they don't want to come inside. By now you are probably dying with curiosity as to what bug could possibly make those nasting sweet-eating ants look tame. Lets try . . .

THE JAPANESE BEETLE

We have an apple tree in the backyard that they especially like. In fact the tree is simply swarming with them. In order to combat this problem I opted not to use large amounts of pesticide. Instead I purchased a relatively inexpensive Japanese Beetle trap from Wal-Mart. This trap came with a bag that the directions claimed should last about 4-5 days. I put the trap up midmorning yesterday. By two o'clock, the bag was completely full and there were more beetles flying around it. I tried to go out and change the bag, but there were just too many beetles flying around and I was afraid they would get caught in my hair (I can't imagine anything worse, except perhaps a bee or other stinging insect in my hair). I did manage in this expedition out to the trap to put a large garbage bag halfway over it before I fled in terror.

I waited about two more hours and decided that I needed to get a grip on myself. I was a big girl and could deal with a few (or not so few) bugs. They don't even bite, for crying out loud! So I set my jaw and went back out to the trap. The bag was still full and there were even beetles inside the garbage bag. I carefully removed the full bag and put an empty one on in it's place. I then tied a knot in the garbage bag and left it out in the sun for the beetles to die. TJ then took them to the trash when he got home. The bag weighed several pounds and had a couple hundred Japenese Beetles in it I'm sure. It will be interesting to see how many beetles we have collected tonight when I get home.

Trapping the adult beetles is not the most effective treatment, though it is all I can do at this point. The beetles come from grubs that live in the ground in the fall and spring, but only cause proplems to trees when they are adults. The best defense is to apply nemotodes to the ground when the grubs are there. Nemotodes are small parasitic organisms that will feed on the grubs and prevent them from emerging as adults. I'm hoping to be able to do this in order to take control of the situation.

Though I was sure this was a Tennessee problem, TJ insists that he has never seen these beetles before. Thus, we have decided that Japanese Beetles are indigenous to Lyles, TN. However, the information says this

This imported pest is generally found east of a line running from Michigan, southern Wisconsin and Illinois, south to Alabama. Occasional introductions are made into western states such as California and Oregon when the adult beetles or larvae are shipped in commerce. The original population was detected in New Jersey in 1916, having been introduced from Japan.

so we must be mistaken.

Curtains

I have been working on getting curtains up around the house. Here are some pictures.

Office

Livingroom

Kitchen

Spareroom

The only room left that needs curtains is the bedroom and I'm working on it. I just need to get some more fabric and then I'm ready to start sewing.

Wedding Picture

I was finally able to figure out how to post pictures without using a separate program. This is a picture of TJ, me and my family. We were taking the professional pictures at the time, but this picture is actually taken by TJ's sister, Johanna.

Die Ants Die

We are being overrun with ants. You know the kind . . . tiny, black ants that are attracted to anything sweet. I have declared war against them though and I'm going to win. My first mode of attack was to set out Raid ant baits. However, that didn't appear to be working fast enough for my liking and when the ants found the hummingbird feeder I decided on the second attack. (as a stop-gap I first killed all the offending ants with bug-killer) Attack #2 consisted of sweet-eating ant killer. The problem with this killer is that it has to be monitored constantly. But the advantage is that I get to see it working. Many, many unsuspecting ants eating what they think is a free meal. (Morel: there is no such thing as a free meal) My hope is that the ants will be under control in another week or so.

On a positive note, my bird feeders have been a great success. So far the sparrows are enjoying the seed feeders. There have even been some mama birds feeding baby birds. Now that the ants are occupied with their poison they have been leaving the hummingbird feeder alone. And this morning there was a hummingbird at the feeder. I am very encouraged by all of this. Birds are so wonderful to look at. What a beautiful creation of God!

Finally . . .

I think things have finally slowed down. Of course that could be because the wedding is finally over and I have been married for two and a half weeks now. After a bout of sickness on my honeymoon, I seem to have fully recovered. The house is getting in order, though there are still some boxes to sort out. Unfortunatly, most of those boxes are books and I have run out of bookshelves. So until more are purchased they will be remaining in boxes.

I'll post pictures once I get them sorted out.