Up Close and Personal

Yesterday I plucked bagworms off the arborvitae, then picked up dog poop, depositing it in the same plastic grocery bag, on top of the bagworms. Then I set the bucket aside while I mowed front and back. Later, when I picked up the bucket to dispose of its contents, some of the bagworms were trying to escape. I tapped them back in, tied the sack closed, and threw it into the trash can.

Today I noticed this fellow climbing up the door jamb of the Florida room:



Ewww! But fascinating. You can see how these things go unnoticed until it is too late. I'm not seeing much evidence of these boogers elsewhere in the neighborhood, so I'm beginning to wonder if they arrived in my yard courtesy of the cypress mulch.

Other achievements this weekend were some watering (we received 0.5" the other day, but some plants, like the lace leaf Japanese maple, are just water hogs), the emptying of the Florida room (only the couch remains), the relocation of the Avant Garde clematis (hope it survives the trauma - not the best time of year to move it), relocation of the reverse osmosis thingamajig (thanks to my son-in-law), and a valient but useless attempt to remove the planks from the deck. I wanted to reuse the wood in my landscaping, but gave up after two hours. The majority of the screws were not unscrewable, even with power screwdrivers, drills, WD40, and the brute strength of my SO. Oh, well. It was a nice idea.