Where's the song ~~ "Don't let your daughters grow up to marry a Cowboy" ?

​​​​​​​Life is tough! Requires hard physical work, long, long days of pain, dirt, and broken fingernails.​
​Days of frigid cold & scorching heat; through the dust & mud; daybreak into the darkness of nite~~​
​the heart & body becomes toughened & weathered replicating leather!​
​A forever constant factor for a real Cowboy's Wife is tons of sweat, oceans of tears and a constant 'drought' in the wallet!​
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​​​​​​​​​IF​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ she wants to spend anytime at all with her Cowboy, she must do as he does, you become partners!​
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​​​​​​Kick off your boots, grab a cup of coffee, sit back and envision yourself in my life!​
​... It really isn't that bad! There are many rewards to be had to make it a great lifestyle! ...​ ​​​​​​​


Showing posts with label Bugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bugs. Show all posts

Friday, September 5, 2008

I never claimed to be...

...the smartest duck in the lake!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Today, I went on a rampage in the garden wielding a pair of scissors!
The grasshoppers were plentiful and I had a brainstorm!
Chase them down, catch those buggars & cut their heads off!
Cover them in chocolate…everybody loves chocolate, right?
(I didn’t think it would be too appetizing to leave heads on)
I thought if I packaged them real purty like, I could give boxes of Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers fresh from A Cowboy's Wife's garden ~
as great gifts to all my friends at Christmas!
Sounding pretty good, eh?


*****
HOW TO: If you want some before Christmas
**snicker, snicker...
Melt baker's chocolate in double boiler.
Fill molds halfway with chocolate, add grasshoppers,

fill rest of the way.
A tasty surprise in every one!





*****


Place your orders now if you want my surplus!


OK...let the chasing begin!
I put on my racing shoes,
(and mind you, I NEVER wear shoes, so this was meant to be hard core competition!)
donned my knee pads for the crashes I knew awaited me,
And headed for the gate!
Bucket and scissors in tow!

The Game is on fellars! Here comes the tough Cowboy's Wife!

"....ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles. And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go...."

(Oh, those are Johnny Horton's words...

and besides...rabbits DO go where I am about to go!)

I made a wide sweep around the corn stubble, through the strawberry patch.
Danged!
These grasshoppers wanted to play a wild game of "Catch me if you can”!

Given that I had nothing better to do today, (if you believe that, I have ocean front property to sell you right here in the Palouse!) and with grandiose visions of the approaching “season of sugar plums” dancing in my head…or at best…Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers,
I advised them that I was up for a full eight innings…more if required!
After the ‘trip’, ooops, around the 3rd row of stubble, collecting my footing,
fist still curled...
I opened the fingers ..and.. lo and behold! Ten catches in one!

Hey, this is going to be fun!

So, I crouch low, sneak around the jungle of tomato bushes,
and dove into the compost pile!

Howdy Doody! Now I have 28 in the bucket!

I’m not tuckered yet nor am I suffering any pain, so let’s keep playing!

Tromping through the bean patch (because I am soooo done with them!)
I managed to tackle 33 more of these feisty varmints.
The bucket is yet to be heavy in numbers, so let’s continue!

Once more around the strawberries, through the carrots that refused to produce

(I just know where I planted them) ...up to the zucchini!
May as well trash through them I figured,
even the chickens are tired of ‘em!

Onward and upward!

Stumbling through the mighty Dill, scattering seeds to wind…....
oh well, next year my whole garden will grow already pickled!

Tiptoeing through the cantaloupe.....
(no I wasn’t thinking of Tiny Tim’s Tulips...but since you mentioned it...)


Tiptoe to the window, by the window that is where I'll be......
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me!
Tiptoe from your pillow, to the shadow of a willow tree.....
And tiptoe through the tulips with me!
Knee deep in flowers will stray,
we'll keep the showers away.
And if I kiss you in the garden,
in the moonlight, will you pardon me?
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me!


....and leaping over the peppers I finally decide to call it quits, there are more than enough for dipping in chocolate...for the trip to Grandmother's house!
Oh...I am the Grandmother...come on over and get your
Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers!

Over the river and through the woods
To Grandmother's house we go.The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh, Through white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the woods,Oh, how the wind does blow.It stings the toes and bites the nose. As over the ground we go.
Over the river and through the woods, To have a full day of play.
Oh, hear the bells ringing ting-a-ling-ling,For it is Christmas Day.
Over the river and through the woods,Trot fast my dapple gray;
Spring o'er the ground just like a hound,For this is Christmas Day.
Over the river and through the woods, And straight through the barnyard gate.
It seems that we go so dreadfully slow;It is so hard to wait.
Over the river and through the woods, Now Grandma's cap I spy.
Hurrah for fun; the pudding's done;Hurrah for the pumpkin pie.


Oops, I almost forgot, there are those gorgeous red beets over yonder!
I'll bet there are more than 100 of these 'dying to be' Chocolate critters in there...

OK...One more round guys!
Here I come!



The Cheering crowd of pumpkins was driving me on!

Even the competition was slithering out of my way!





I'm running towards the finish line!

Beets! Here I come, yield into my bucket, those grand grasshoppers!

!
!
!
!

OUCH!!!!

!
!
!
!

Game is over....

I lose!

No Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers for the giving at Christmas!

Garden is trashed!

And I don't care..

Beets are the end of my gardening career for this year of 2008...

Yep.....

You know those danged scissors I was wielding around?

GOT ME!!!!

Snipping the leaves off the beets!

Cut right through the band-aid & into my two day old Pinkie wound that has yet to quit throbbing when abused & made it bigger yet!!

Anyone got a knife? Oh...I forgot, I do

...someone want the job of chopping the durned thing off so it's out of my way??? I won't even charge you!

Wonder what it is....about me, my Pinkie, and RED food???

....how's that TW?

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Desperate times...

...calls for desperate measures!



By the time I got done with evening chores & was ready to mow the grass, I decided to take another pass thru the veggie garden to see if any of my concoctions had killed the pests.
What did I see? Or rather what was gone now?
Beets ~devoured; Spinach~no sign of; Carrots~ 75% gone (however, I do know that they grow new tops & should be OK...don't know that about beets); Green, Banana, Habanero & Jalepeno Peppers~covered with bugs! I hadn't even thought to look before, but the Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli (the parts you eat, not the plant) were demolished! Gone!
As I walked through, it was the eeriest sight, sound & feeling! I felt like I was in a Sci-Fi world, truly!
They'd 'fly' past me, some would land on me, Ewww...to their next plant! You could actually hear them as you walked in my garden gate! I'm not sure if it was their munching away, or rubbing against each other or what! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have I seen the likes of this! They were working their way down (my garden is on a hillside) row by row! Some had reached the tomatoes, watermelon & squashes, but no real damage yet......and they were eating weeds along their path!
I made a frantic phone call, and luckily someone had SEVIN. I've never used pesticides & hate to, but......I wanted, I needed to save the rest of my garden!
This morning.......the ground, literally, is 'black/gray' and crunchy between the rows!
I have a bazillion garden books that I've look through, spanned the Internet last night...hoping for a clue! Nothing. I did gather up a few of these 'things' in a jar & will have that friend who works for WSU take them in to see if they can give me some insight.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Eve of Destruction....


....at it's "FINEST" !!!


HORSES can be real Destructive!!


This one is getting a taste of my NEW remedy...we'll see if it works!
I mixed 1/4 cup Cayenne pepper, 20 drops of Tabasco into 1 1/2 cup water.
I just 'painted' it on the chew shots! Hope it burns them into quitting!

Figures...they just HAD to get it chewed through while Cowboy is gone! I'll be keeping an eye on them all today....see how well they like HOT LIPS!



~~~~~~~~~
Is there CROP INSURANCE for a homeowner???
~~~~~~~~~

"I am sooo BUGGED" !!

Something is eating my plants!
These are just a few! Coleus & Japanese Maple

Then....
there is THIS! I haven't a clue what this bug is...I saw them 2 days ago, eating the weed Koshia, no problem! Go for it! Yesterday...they just about consumed ALL of my beets!

Today.............my spinach is gone!
If you look really close, maybe you can see these blackish/gray 3/4" bugs, devouring the beets!
They don't seem to sting...just cling when I walk through them!
Just hosed them off my beans, because that seems to be their next course!
I need to find something that works!
Preferably in the next minute!
Seems as this swarm can consume everything in sight within minutes!


Between the wind storms wiping out the corn & now this infestation, I'm ready to go out with a machete and destroy whatever is left! I've never had problems in my veggie gardens in all my years!





With the state of the economy...
I NEEDED this garden to be productive,
not destroyed!




~~~~~~~~~

MICE have invaded my domain!

~~~~~~~~~

During the wee hours of the last few nights, I've been "hearing" something... I donned my slippers, a flashlight & a bat....guess what I found!

They are chowing down on the dog food in the hall closet!












They like sunflower seeds too! Even the Jalepeno ones!!!
They found these in the basement!

~~~~~~~~~

DOG GONE IT...anyhow!!
~~~~~~~~~


Just got 'caught' red handed! Ooops....maybe that is 'brown-pawed'...

The Old Man Mac....must be UPSET he got left behind!


He probably knows the Cowboy went to his old stomping grounds! Where he was born & raised, and learned to work cattle!


Here's two of the 5 holes I've found that he has dug thus far!!







~~~~~~~~~

....and then in comes RELIEF!
~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday....I was blessed with a visit from FedEx!

I received a package from one of my dear Blogging friends...TOCCO!
A sampling of her Gourmet House Blend & Sumatra Black Satin!
MMMMmmmmmm ... GOOD!!
Sat on my front porch last night as the sun was setting on the horizon beyond those "amber waves of grain"
...sipping a cup of Sumatra Black Satin....AWESOME!
I'm all de-stressed now after all the de-struction!

Thank You TOCCO!