Summer solstice – The weather has been wonderful – summery but not hot. For me it’s a lazy time of year. All I want to do is read a book and have something cool to drink. In a few weeks (maybe not even that long) it will be really hot and not as nice to read outside. I have the last book written by Mauve Binchy that was published posthumously. I hope it’s as good as her other books.
Ants, ants, ants – My four cats eat at different areas in the house. Three are on the first floor susceptible to ant invasions. Typically ants do not gather around their feeding stations until August but this year has been strange in so many ways. The ants started visiting in May. The beloved husband sprayed the baseboards. I’m not crazy about the idea of toxic chemicals inside the house so I found a specific ant spray to use that will not also kill bison and anything else that walks. The little critters have been back so I pulled out the new stuff and went to spray in the laundry room area. I laughed as I saw that overnight a spider wove a very intricate web that contained 20 dead ants. Sometimes nature does take care of things. I did not clean it up. The spider deserves his banquet!
I have a bullfrog! – The pond places tell me that it’s not a good thing as they will eat my fish and maybe even my green frogs. Green frogs are timid and easy to catch but bullfrogs are not. You have to catch them at night, in the dark, with a flashlight. (It’s starting to sound like snipe hunting isn’t it?) My pond friend suggested putting a net on the plant inside the pond that he sits on. He sat next to it. The green frogs partied in the net. Net result, no bullfrog was caught. This is not over! (He will be relocated to a nearby stream. There will be no frog legs for dinner!)
Yet another project – I always swear that we won’t do projects anymore. We are converting one of our upstairs bedrooms to an official cat room. (No, we are not crazy!) To do that we have ripped out the old carpeting and will have an easy to clean flooring installed. We could have had the floor place do the whole job but we do like to torture ourselves. The beloved husband is laying a new subfloor prior to the installation. It’s a straightforward job but it still requires some frustrating moments and bad words. Maybe this will be our last project (not!).
Caught!
Poor Hazel – Two weeks into the diet, she is down slightly from the start but up 3 ounces from last week. She must have traded something for someone’s supper but she’s not talking.
How was your week?
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
You know it always starts with just one room. 🙂
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I know *sobs uncontrollably*
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me, too….there’s boxes of wood flooring in the dining room…just can’t face it yet (Oh, wait, injured shoulder prevents any moving forward on that right now. See, good in everything if you look hard enough…)
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Wood flooring! Good choice. Perhaps it’s because I have pets…so many of them….but I like hard floors. No more wall-to-wall carpeting for me. It will be beautiful….as soon as your injured shoulder gets better. That may take weeks (wink, wink).
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Last 2 houses the first thing we did was rip out all the carpeting. Carpet gets really nasty in hot damp climate where people are always running in and out in the yard. Dogs make it a non brainer for here. (It would be easier if it were mine.) Thanks for the encouragement
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I’d like my next house to be all tile (with teeny tiny grout lines) with a drain in the middle of the room and showerhead in the ceiling!
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Lucky you to have a cat room! I have always wanted one but we are down to one outside cat so we don’t need it now. Happy summer – stay cool!
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Well, you could always adopt a few more then you will need a cat room. Or you can turn it into a fun room for you without cats.
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Poor Hazel, she’s riding the diet rollercoaster…hang in there Hazel!
Ugh…I can so relate to the ant invasion, Kate. I’ve been fighting my own battles with those critters. These ants aren’t after food, they’re after water and they are persistent. I’ve come to the conclusion that our home is built on a giant ant hill. I’ve learned the only way to get rid of them is to kill the queen by using bait. The ants will partake in the bait and take it back to the queen. It’s been a long and slow process, but I’ve been wiping them out, one colony at a time. I’ve been using a product called Terro and it’s awesome. You’ll get grossed out because it will draw in more ants, but they’ll come and come and then one day, they’re gone. Have a great upcoming week, Kate!
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Is it toxic to cats? I should look it up. About Hazel — she doesn’t want to be on a diet. This morning very discretely and quietly she cleaned up Jake’s plate, then Morgan’s plate. I don’t know who ate Mollie’s. There wasn’t much on any of them but she licked them clean. Whadda cat!
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You can buy the Terro traps where the liquid is inside…I don’t think the cats could get to it, but you might want to check out the toxicity for cats.
So, I assume the others cats are losing weight if Hazel is eating everyone’s food. 🙂
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Not a chance. In this house no one loses weight. Morgan and Mollie have access to dry food all the time on a high cabinet. Jake convinces me to have a tea time with him.
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Think: detente. Work out a compromise with the bull frog. Encourage him to decimate the ant population before they move indoors … and then share with the spider before they sit down beside her.
The cats’ evil plan to take over your home … and then the world … has begun. Cats rule!
I’m already hiding indoors as it’s too hot for me. Enjoy your summer, Kate. 😉
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Today is a little toasty outside but as long as you stay in the shade there is a nice breeze going. Of course you can’t do work or move too much. As for the critters, nothing happening today.
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Good on you for leaving the spider to his banquet. I did laugh out loud at the description of the safe ant poison that “wouldn’t kill a bison or anything else that walks” – hilarious!
A Cat room? You know you’re feeding into their “let’s dominate the world” vision, right?
We have those green frogs in our yard; boy have they ever been singing at night – lots of rain and lots of singing. Crazy! I have one who lives on the skimmer cover of the pool. I sometimes sweep him off when cleaning the pool but mostly, like your spider, I let him enjoy the bug buffet that the skimmer provides.
Yesterday was my birthday and normally its much hotter by now – I’m not complaining – 80F is perfect in my book1!
Cheers! MJ
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Hey, happy birthday! The weather is your gift!
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you’re right! 🙂
MJ
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You are now the official crazy cat lady. And that’s no bull . . . frog. 😎
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I have worked hard for that title! I want to thank the academy……
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Only one thing comes to mind. Jeremiah was a bullfrog…
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and he’s living in Kate’s small pond!
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