I'm proudly a Lazy Gardener!
Most bugs are good for us! I have been carrying spiders out of the house for a long time, and still remember when Ex killed a wolf spider as big as my hand when we lived in Florida - neither of us understanding that it was helping us by eating the “palmetto bugs,” which are actually just huge cockroaches. He also killed the black snake that was living under our water heater in the Higgins house on the river, not knowing that the snake was eating the rats that infested the place.
I will kill mosquitos, cockroaches, and the kinds of spiders that could kill or really hurt me - black widows, brown recluse - but that’s about it. I did have a black widow nesting on my porch steps years ago, and I’ve seen several brown recluses in my bathroom over the years.
One of my Susan friends gave me a little gift “basket” - actually a clear plastic box with a fold-in lid. I’ve used up the essential oils and cool sprays that were in it, and the box has become my essential bug-catcher. Stink bugs are slow and easy to catch, but jumping spiders and some others are not, so it’s nice to have a container for those.
If you’re a Washington Post subscriber, you may have already read this. It’s good stuff! https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/04/23/how-make-bug-hotel-insect-decline-bees/?wpisrc=nl_optimist&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3d7cfaf%2F6629029e04823c327d80309a%2F5ea437e1ade4e276b3af57b1%2F21%2F40%2F6629029e04823c327d80309a
I’d seriously considered turning my back acre into a park-like environment, and Jim had it cleared for me, but I’ve decided to let it go back to Nature (except for the invasives, which will take a lifetime to get rid of).
Off to have some suspicious cells removed from a body part I wasn’t aware I still had since my 2018 hysterectomy.
Speaking of 2018, I’m attaching (I hope) a picture that was taken that year - four dogs I dearly loved and who are all gone now. Tinyletters didn’t allow for photos, so hopefully this’ll work. It’s JodietheFosterdog (adoring my chin), MissEllaneous dba Lil’ Bit, Gracie (big yellow), and Willie.
