Wanted: Peaceful day without catastrophes

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Source: Food Network

Source: Food Network

Who said retired people live quiet, sedentary lives? They would be wrong…so wrong!

When I was in my 40s, my former in-laws, who were in their 70s, were an amazing couple. They traveled, owned and lived at a beach house during the summer and were rarely idle. It was hard to visit because of their active schedule.

My brother, who is now in his mid-80s is also amazing. If I stop by, there is an 80% chance that they won’t be home. There are paper doll conventions, golf, dominoes, and Trivia Pursuit competitions sprinkled in with exercise rehabilitation sessions and doctor visits.

I’m not much of a traveler these days but our days are filled. Ok, the things that fill our days are not as exciting as an Alaskan cruise but they are…umm….interesting.

Devoted readers will remember that we had the attack of the yellow jackets in the garden last week which ended in a huge assault on me requiring a trip to the doctor (and endless whining).

Continuing the theme, the beloved husband found a dozen or so in his closet (a long way from the garden). That was the first day. After spraying and sealing the hole, they ate another hole in the drywall and came through with the cavalry. There were about a hundred of them and two of us.

Isn’t that an exciting way to spend a Sunday? Multiple trips to Home Depot. Hourly spraying and massive funerals for dead bugs. No mint juleps anywhere to be found.

After the spraying, the beloved husband had to clean the chemicals off the floor, wall and the Venetian blinds where an errant spritz or two made themselves at home.

Other people were dunking in pools and drinking beer (the temperature hit the high 90s with high humidity) while my poor husband was crawling in an attic where the temperature had to be 130 degrees. (Seriously, he’s kind of old for that excitement!)

I was holding the ladder in case you were wondering what my role way. My hair wilted just standing under the hole access to the attic. (Some sympathy please!)

Since we lived in fear of the little buggers clawing their way into our bedroom (the result of too many horrors shows!) we decided to call the professionals. They came yesterday.

The result is that we did such a great job the hive was considered inactive and no treatment was necessary.

We got some very valuable information. Since wasps travel back and forth to the hive over time it is not unusual to continue to see dead wasps a day or two after the treatment. It doesn’t mean the treatment failed. We just had to be patient for them all to come home and drink the grape Kool-Aid. (We all know how much patience I have!)

The retired people who live in this house would like a nice quiet day to enjoy some of those mint juleps and card games!

 

 

48 thoughts on “Wanted: Peaceful day without catastrophes”

  1. Yikes! You’ve had an actual assault to your peace and harmony lately! I’d stay up late and have some of those drinks! And a quick question…paper doll convention? Really? I’m so curious.

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  3. Kate … I’m relieved that you finally got rid of those yellow jackets, wasps and other buggers. You should have a mint julep now that you finally have peace of mind after that ordeal.

    About a month or two ago, a portion of the screen on our lanai flipped open. A duck found that opening and came a-visiting. I forget how Dave convinced it to leave. The second duck couldn’t seem to figure out which way was out. Dave had to capture him in a box, then release him near the pond outside.

    We also had a wasp fly into our lanai. We opened the screen door. It took the hint and left. A squirrel, however, thought it was an open invitation and scrambled inside. Dave “encouraged” it to leave. When the screen repair guys came, we were very relieved and have since had a bird/wasp/rodent-free lanai. 😉

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  4. Wonderful post, Kate. It really struck a chord with us. My husband and I were just saying that the only surprise about retirement is that we stay so busy. Sometimes it’s by choice, other times it’s out of necessity to meet take care of a sudden situation, meet a surprise deadline, or answer the call of our family, especially grandchildren. But as my dad always said, “It’s must better to wear out than rust out.”

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  5. Now that you have conquered the army of yellow jackets, you can relax with those mint juleps! What did you spray and then seal the nest with? We have a colony growing in-ground, just outside the living room window. Spraying only makes them madder.

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    • Spray that was available at Home Depot. In a confined area like the closet I’m sure they were mad and some did flit out but it killed them fairly quickly. I had a friend with an in-ground nest and it didn’t work for her.

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  8. What a stressful time of it Kate. It would freak me out a bit! At least you know your fight flight or freeze response is still working 😉
    Now I hope you can relax and take it easy … until the next wave of nature asserts itself! I’m thinking snow storm at end of February would be okay.

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  9. I was feeling all grateful that we don’t have wasps, then I read your comment about termites… yikes! They don’t sting but they do a heck of a job eating houses. Our house is due to be tented soon as we’ve recently discovered the dreaded evidence here and there. I think I’ll start on the mint juleps now (after all, we need to make sure all food and food-like substances are out of the house before the tents go up!).

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  10. Wasps are terrible…and they have this ‘take over’ attitude! We’ve had a few off and on…now they’re trying to live in our carport. Hubs took care of those angry things quickly! Now we’ve wee little ants trying to move into our kitchen…don’t like them either. Work, work, work…all caused by critters! Ah Kate, life is hard. But the drinks help!!!

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  13. Oh, man! Quite an adventure. (Adventures are only fun after the fact or when someone else is having them.)

    Well done Beloved Husband & Faithful Ladder Helper. 🙂 I hope your hair recovered without incident.

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    • Had to buy a flat iron to defrizz but that was in the plan anyway. Yeah, yeah, husband great but it’s really all about my hair. I would rather read about adventures (like yours) than have them at least at my age.

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  14. Industrious, aren’t they? Glad you got rid of them, Kate. It’s hotter than heck here too, cannot imagine hanging out in my attic. You and hubby deserve that mint julep and a nice, yellow jacket-free day. Enjoy!

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  17. I feel your pain…well, not exactly all of it. Critters in the house are awful and yellow jackets meaner than a junkyard dog. I’m glad this is now a future cocktail party conversation but so sorry that you got stung. Ouch!

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    • Cats and the occasional spider are the only things I want in the house. This has been a bad year for fruit flies too. They started early, like in May and have been pesky ever since.

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  18. Congratulations on winning the battle of the yellow jackets. Let’s hope you won the war, too.
    You have a lovely place to sip juleps and watch the flora and fauna. Don’t forget to “stop and smell the roses.” Oops! I don’t think you have any roses there.
    Seems like all nature loves your back yard; it is a lovely place. Lots of seeds and salads for everyone. The gold finches would like to see some sunflowers for added treats.
    Enjoy your retirement, life is too short.

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  21. What utter misery! I hope your days are quieter now. Battling wasps in that kind of heat sounds like the definition of hell.

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