Oh my gosh, the neighbors planted Red Tips years ago along our property line. I guess they wanted privacy? Well, they have since moved and now the Red Tips are all dying! They keep dropping leaves in my flower beds. The new owner is so nice and he said he would have them cut down. They were beautiful at one time. And I just might put that Honda grass catcher in the back of my Rave4 and use it for bringing bags of groceries inside...Great idea!
Get rid of that English Ivy....it is just a lovely place for snakes to hide out, especially Copper Heads!
Here it is a breeding place for mosquitoes. All I can do is contain it. It comes over from both neighbors. The kudzu is faster but easier to stop. Do you have lots of mosquitoes?
Yes, I found Repel Inspect Repellent with 25% Deet before we go out. Mostly for the grandkids and myself. I got several mosquitoes bites the last time I did weed eating a section of the yard. I know we have a lot of summer to go, but I cannot wait for Fall! I grew up in the "Deep South" but have never liked the summer heat! UGH!
Have you folks ever used a bug coat? Homesteaders here in the Bush often have a light coat or shirt they use for repelling bugs. They saturate the coat or shirt with Deet, and hang it by the door, they the don the coat when going outside. That way the chemicals don't contact your skin. If they get real bad, there are head nets and commercial bug jackets that can be purchased.
No, but sounds like a good idea. It gets so hot here in the summer, it's miserable wearing long sleeves and pants. That reminds me of someone I used to know who worked in the summers in the slash pines in south Georgia collecting sap for turpentine. He said they always just rubbed diesel fuel all over themselves for mosquitoes. Cheap.
My day is made now! . Found the place you dump old appliances. Was able to get an old window AC into the truck that's been sitting in the basement for years. Four big items and 21 fluorescent lights bulbs, gone. Went cruising right through the middle of town. No traffic. Such friendly people there unloading. I think everyone was just glad to get rid of their junk. It was like a party. And the employees were so nice. Now I can get two red tips in the back of the truck. It just doesn't get much better than this.
You can also try this type of thing which requires no chemicals at all, and deals with heat okay...but is better if you have something underneath it.
The cartoon reminded me of when I spent some time in India (Calcutta). The room I stayed in had a mosquito net rolled up around the bed but I never used it. There was a swamp and a large shallow pond just outside the building, and mosquitoes were a problem. The windows in the building were always open, and many had no screens. If some have no screens the ones that do don't help much. LOL As long as the power did not go off and you kept all the ceiling fans running it was fine. But they still bit your legs under the dinner table. The mosquito repellent they sold there would make your skin turn red and burn.
Discovered yesterday, in the barn on a shelf wedged between the wall and a metal box. These are consistent with eggs from a Tufted Titmouse. [That phone camera seems to want to focus on the center of a picture, except when you want it to. So annoying. ] The same species of birds whose nest got raided by the black snake last year. I can think of nothing you could do there that would keep the snake out and still allow the birds in without involving a major construction project. {sigh} They are such pretty birds, make a nice sound, and are not very common out there. I can see some of Rusty's hair in the nest. And why would they choose to use a plastic bag. Stock photo
Another puzzle... My father kept talking about the persimmon tree out in the front yard near the road. Other than pines, the only tree I ever saw out there was a sweet gum. The bark looks a little like a persimmon, but not the leaves. My mother and I kept telling him it was a gum tree, but it never changed his mind. So...I'm sitting on the front stoop last week drinking Kool Aid, and noticed the gum tree. Right near it were two other trees about the same size. Sure as heck looked like persimmons. Took pictures and brought them home to check, and they matched perfectly with stock photos on the net. I even pulled up StreetView just now, and drove down the road virtually to make sure I didn't miss another gum tree. From left to right...forked persimmon, single persimmon, pine, gum, pine. I measured them yesterday and they are about 8" dbh. It never occurred to us he might be talking about a little sapling. But persimmons are pretty slow growers, especially in the poor dry soil out there, and gums are fast, so how did they catch up with the gum tree? You couldn't miss them today. Very strange. Maybe this belongs in the paranormal forum. Leaves and bark Edited to add:. It's possible those could be sourwood tress, but that is beside the point. . .
Things have been going well since discovering the fallen tree on the fence. It's been too hot to even think about clearing that other pile of trees on the fence lately---high 97 F (36 C) yesterday. The well water was down to a trickle Thursday, and apparently the pump repair man is waiting for a replacement part, because there is a part laying on the porch now and no water at all. Replaced 10 gallons of water for Rusty yesterday because of mosquitoes. Lost a cap from a tooth. Since I had nothing to do, I watched several troubleshooting YouTube videos about garage door openers, and ruled out everything simple. Tore the thing open and found broken and badly worn plastic gears. The opener is only 25 years old. This actually makes me happy, because they still sell parts for a Chamberlain garage door opener, and not too expensive to replace the whole shaft, with all new gears. IF .this is all that's wrong, with a little luck, maybe I can fix it. Who knows. There was one more egg in the bird nest yesterday. That makes 4. Will try to cut out a few more red tips this evening to haul out, along with more water, tomorrow.