Thursday, October 19, 2017

Battles

We might lose a battle to the fierce winds that came through but we are winning the war against the leaves.

Tuesday we blew leaves out of the entire yard.  Wednesday Far Guy raked and blew and I went round and round on the lawnmower mulching the leaves.  The wind was uncoorperative Wednesday as it swirled around and came from all directions…we finally both came in and had a nap.

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Popples behind the house.

Someday all the leaves will be out of the trees…the Popples seem to be hanging onto their leaves a long time this Fall.

The Asian Lady Beetles have decended upon us.  They showed up when the bean fields were harvested…no more food source for them.  They look like harmless Lady Bugs but they are more orange than red and they bite and if you squish them they stink.   Far Guy battled them one day with the vacuum cleaner. I chose the flyswatter as my weapon…it was futile. We have to shake off before coming indoors to rid ourselves of the horrid little creatures.

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16 comments:

DJan said...

I never heard of those beetles before. I'm glad we don't have them around here. The leaves are still mostly on the trees around here, and we had a huge windstorm yesterday. Most of them are still hanging on. :-(

Phyllis Pritchard said...

Yes, they (asian lady beetles) are horrid little creatures!!!!!

Sam I Am...... said...

What are Popples? Poplars? Yes, those bugs are horrid and I love lady bugs but I am no longer fooled! LOL!

Terry and Linda said...

Ugly nasty bugs!

Lisa said...

Nasty little creatures. There are some species of insects that I suppose their only claim to take up space in the ecosphere is to plague humans.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Yes Poplar or Aspen we call them Popples :)

Karen said...

Interesting read about the lady beetles. I don't think we have that variety around here, but some years ago we did end up with a lot of lady bugs in the house. Everyone is calling the asian ones 'horrid', but sounds like they do a good job on the aphids.

Rita said...

We call them Japanese lady bugs or Japanese beetles. Karma used to eat those orange lady bugs and then she'd barf--never learned. Just started seeing a few of them here, too. Good luck with your leaf battle. ;)

Patsy said...

We have lady bugs trying to get in, not as bad as
your bugs.We have a big oak tree right in our door never
knew they were so bad some thing is falling out of
that tree all year long. Ever morning have to wash bird
droppings off the walk.

Pauline Persing said...

For several years, those nasty Asian Ladybugs hid under the edges of the wallpaper in our kitchen. We pulled the wallpaper down and painted the walls.

L. D. said...

That is a bad beetle. To think they introduced them into our country for some believed good reason. Having something that looks like a lady bug and bites is not right.

Red said...

It looks like the vicious winds we had Tues afternoon hit you too. 100-130 kmh. Lots of dust and to top it off we had grass fires...some started when power poles went down.

Unknown said...

I'm dealing with those plus an unusual number of chinch (stink) bugs. My dogs inevitably find them first and a stinky odor will come wafting through the house.

Granny Marigold said...

Yes, those invasive ladybugs are gross. We haven't had many here but talking to my sister in Manitoba today and she said the ladybugs cover the screen door and they can't come and go without some invading the house. I encouraged her to vacuum them too.

Linda Reeder said...

Like DJan said, we don't have those beetles, and I'm glad, but any bug that bites will find me!
Our leaves are just starting to turn and come down.

Jacqi Stevens said...

I once thought I was bitten by a bug, but when I looked, I saw what I thought was a ladybug, so I told myself I was just imagining it. Whoever heard of a biting ladybug? Now I know better ;)