Double U's

The World Winds Wild and Wonderful....

The past few weeks have seen me busy in a world of W's. Double U's. Double Ewes?

Some examples:

Wasps--It wasn't what I intended, when I became a beekeeper, to kill things. But one of my dear friends called me a few weeks back, telling me her mother's country home appeared to be overtaken by wasps. Scratch that--she wasn't quite sure WHAT was going on, but upon talking to a landscaper about her mother's front yard, several "bees or wasps" suddenly jetted out of a low slung tree stump in the ground. Since the stump was level with the ground, I doubted that these were honey bees (no species I know of can make comb in sub-terrain), but wasn't sure if I had a colony of native bees to contend with...since my friend had a baby who would someday like wandering out of doors,  yes, I would be sojourning into upper New York to see if I could either save a group of beneficial bees, or rid the area of dangerous wasps. I had never dealt with the situation before, and was curious to see this nest of stinging animals....

Here are a few pictures of that day (click to enlarge):

Here I am suited and ready. At this point, I've no idea what I will stumble onto. In case these are wasps, I didn't want to chemicalize the grounds we we have two pots of boiling water. I have a hammer to pull up the dead stump, as well, so that no other pesky bugs could make a home of it...

After kicking up the stump, several irate yellow jackets flew up, and directly at my feet. I yelled to my friend (who was also taking pictures! Thanks Belen Velez!) that she had wasps on her property, and to keep a safe distance!

 I test the "give" of the hollowed stump--the ground is soft underneath. I will have to pour, then pull up the dead wood....

After pouring 4 POTS of water, I managed to  dig and pull out the wood. It was a shallow pit, I couldn't see too many wasps, but there were a few larvae in it. As long as the hideaway to these dangerous insects was done for, then Belen's baby and others naively crossing the green yard would not be hurt. Certain wasps can sting over and over, causing some victims to bleed. Not so with bees, whose barbs will get caught in human skin, and they will die with one sting....

I can safely say it was quite an education working this way.....I hope future wasp families decide to make their homes further up and out of the way of humans!


Wishes....

With the year more than half way through, I usually compile a list of wishes, simply based on what I'd like to get accomplished versus what I am actually doing...
My list so far...

* Somewhere in the world, or one of my rooms, is a scarlet violin that sits lonely and unplayed. This would be the third year it serves as a surface for gathering dust. This must change...perhaps this Winter?

* I wish had more time to bake things...muffins, breads, pandowdies....heck, I wish I had time to reasearch how the word pandowdy even came to exist!

* Of course, there is always the wish for a garden. This year, there was no garden planted. I'm never home to properly tend to it, the record heat is scorching everything this year and, yes, I've seen squirrels eating tomatoes. As far as I understood, squirrels avoid nightshade plants. However, these are New York City squirrels, tough as nails. Ummm, this is the theory I'm going with....other than the mutant, alien squirrels from outer space that eat acidic foods....

* Somewhere in the world, there is a horse waiting for me. A brave, painted, three colored horse with large flanks, sweet eyes, and a soft pink snout. Yes, the horse drawn idea still lingers....but it's a foggy vision, when living in the concrete jungle...

* A closer goal; I really need to perfect my sewing. It's a crying shame when I CLOTH doll artist can't work with cloth!

* Speaking of art(!), I really JUST NEED TIME to get all of my finished art online! Those pieces of wood that I keep posting, in progress, now sit waiting for new homes! I swear I can see them glowering at me for my lack of action in getting them new residences. So hopefully, that will happen by this weekend!

Hmmm....so far, that seems like a competent wish list, don't you think?


Finally, in our journey of W's...

WaterWorks...

When it gets hot, nothing is better than a dip in the pond...or, if you live the metropolitan life, a dip in the local fountain at the trendy park! Here I am at Washington Square Park, this past weekend, with Sweetheart in tow!

He was kind enough to take the picture, as I slipped off my sandals and dipped my hot and worn tootsies into the cool fountain water. I will say, as an aside, he himself wasn't quite as adventurous, but at least he cheered me on, as well as the younger children, who were FAR BOLDER and actually SWAM in the fountain depths...oh my!

TA DA!

Here's to hoping everyone stays cool! More soon!