God's Beauty vs. Nature's fury...

We've found a beautiful creation in our cherry tree in our front yard. Ryan actually discovered the masterpiece...or maybe it was Beezer... I'm sure if dogs could talk, Beezer would claim this...
Ry took the dogs out late last week...and Beezer, being a boy doggie, likes to lift his leg on anything. On this particular afternoon, he chose the drooping branch of this cherry tree. When he was finished and his leg was heading back toward the ground, I guess it hit the branch in such a way as to disturb our guests. Several stinging creatures went at him...but he wasn't stung, thank goodness. After my super hero husband came in for me, put away his cape, and checked Beezer for any stings, I took a look at it. I wasn't sure what type of nest it was, but after some investigating, it appears to be a hornet's nest. It's actually quite beautiful...it's amazing to see that these little insects can build such a structure... It reminds me of those tops that we played with that had the "push down" rod that made it spin...


I stood outside watching the little fellows (err, maybe "little its" since some of them are drones?) for awhile... They fly right into or out of their perfectly shaped circular entrance/exit... They go to search out whatever they like...and return back. They didn't bother me...I wasn't that close... I was amazed at how they created this nest but also wove in part of the leaves...incredible...







I guess hornets aren't the best architects, however, because on Sunday night, we came home to find the lower part of the nest on the ground. Only about a quarter of the nest remained... We were a little excited because we thought we'd been relieved of having to spray the nest and risk being stung. But, alas, upon my further examination with a flashlight, the little buggers were still in the nest!!! I could see ALL of them working there...WOW... I didn't stay around long, however...but figured that, by morning, they'd be smart and leave...

Now, today is Tuesday, and in less than 48 hours after the apparent destruction, they've rebuilt the entire nest. It's not as big as it was, but they've sealed up the whole lower half with a dome and have a new exit/entrance pointing directly at the ground beneath... I'm thinking it will be hard to spray in there...unless we're lying on the ground, which I don't think we plan on doing.


In my research, I've read that the nest is usually vacated in the winter months... So, knowing how we tackle projects around here...we'll wait until they move to Florida in November... :)

Dogs and Gas

There have been a few interesting (and now humorous) events of the last few weeks... :)
As you know, we have been doing some traveling... Our first leg - the PA/NY leg - was in mid June. We came back to VA for a few days before the second leg - to Illinois - and in those few days, we had some interesting dealings with a dog and some gas...
:)
First, Hooch, as we called him, because he looked a little like the dog in the cute Tom Hanks film... :) Ry was out walking the dogs when a "large cat" approached him...only to find out that it was a dog. The dog was friendly...and well behaved (put our dogs to shame :))... He appeared to be well-cared for...he was clean and used to people. We petted him for a little bit in hopes that Animal Control could come to get him, but it was too late (1 AM)...and we'd have to wait until morning. So, Hooch spent the night on our deck... We fed him, gave him some water, and gave him some comfie rugs to sleep on...and he was good. :) He never barked or ANYTHING... When we got the things all set out for him, he ate, drank, and then laid down on the rugs we put out for him. So cute... :) Animal control came in the morning to take him, but the officer said he thought that he was probably a fighting dog...or he'd been in some fights. He noticed some scarring on his face/muzzle and legs. :( How incredibly sad........ The theory may have also explained why he was on the skinny side, too... We hope that the predicted history for Hooch wasn't true... The officer loaded Hooch up and took him back to the shelter. He thought his owner had called and reported a dog missing that matched his description...we hope so! Gosh, I wish we could have a dog haven here at the house...we'd have no room at the inn. :)

And some gas...............
On Father's Day, when baby K went down for her nap in the afternoon, I went out and trimmed some of our bushes. We could hardly make our way up the sidewalk to our front door due to an overgrown bush...and there was a honeysuckle along the side of the house that was out of control, too. I LOVE to garden, but since I was pregnant all last summer and just don't have the time to garden THIS year, all of our areas have sort of gone to pot. ANYWAY, I was determined to do a little trimming before Ry mowed...
So, I plugged in my trusty Black and Decker electric trimmers and managed to pretty much butcher the bush in the front near the sidewalk enough so we can walk without being attacked... :) Since I had time, I decided to also tackle the honeysuckle. Well...while I knew the propane gas tank and lines running to the house were near the honeysuckle, I was careful... BUT, the honeysuckle vines managed to wrap themselves around another one of the lines that I DIDN'T see (camouflaged)...and well, the clippers stopped and all I heard was "psssssssssssssssssssssss." The gas was pouring out...Ry was in the back yard walking the dogs...so we immediately got away from the house... I ran in to get the baby and the phone. We called 911 and had a visit from the local fire department... They were able to get the tank shut off (Ry tried but the smell was too much for him even after a few minutes)...and there was a large nest in the top of the tank where the shut off was... The fire fighters (who looked like they were about 12 years old but very sweet!) evacuated us and the neighbors (the other set of neighbors was camping) to another friend's yard...turned off the gas and then walked in the house to check it for any overabundance of gas...it was clear... So, our gas company had to come out to repair the line...what a joy... *sigh* Happy Father's Day.......................
Thankfully we were A-OK...and while I was very embarrassed, it could have been much worse... :)
Lessons learned...
~Black & Decker makes one heck of a set of hedge clippers - if you are in the market... :)
~Don't go too wild with your clippers when you have a few bushes to tame.... :)
~Don't call me to trim your hedges or bushes :)
~Donate to your local fire department because they're really important to us all... :)
~Always love a stray pet... :)

More stories to come later........... :)