I have two daughters. They are gifts to me.
A Buggy Friday
Lady Bug, Lady Bug
Summer and I illustrating and water coloring a children's book I have written. The problem is reading my own writing...It will be fun to finally put my children's fantasy stories on paper after all these years of making them up on the spur of the moment. And NEVER writing them down.Fall White Oaks Leaves
These natural floral oak leaf formations drop onto my yard every late summer and early fall. I am struck by their form and how naturally beautiful they are. No one could tell me what they were. So I am using them in floral arrangements on my tables and wreaths and such.
I decided I needed to study what they actually were and how they were formed: I mighta, shoulda done this first before I fell in love with them. So here is the story:
Oak Apple Galls
These are large (1- to 2-inch diameter) rounded growths that are filled with a spongy mass. A single wasp larva is located in a hard seed-like cell in the center. Galls are usually found on the petioles or midribs of leaves. They will dry to a brown, paper thin wall. Removing and destroying galls before they dry and wasps emerge from a hole may help to reduce the infestation. While large and spectacular, they cause no measurable harm.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef408.asp
So all this time I have been making arrangements and pretty gifts with WasPs in them. Ugh! But they'er so cooool.
I guess this is a gentle reminder that all that glitters is not gold. Check your gold for wasps before bringing them into the house or giving them as gifts. There has to be a deeper lesson here somewhere...My word, you'd think I'd learn after all these years.
I still see them as natures art. And cool. I just check for any stingy thing which might reside inside before giving it to a friend. A not so good a friend, maybe not...Oh all right. I will AllWays check for resident creatures if I must. Picky, picky, picky you all are. Love ya anyway.
I decided I needed to study what they actually were and how they were formed: I mighta, shoulda done this first before I fell in love with them. So here is the story:
Oak Apple Galls
These are large (1- to 2-inch diameter) rounded growths that are filled with a spongy mass. A single wasp larva is located in a hard seed-like cell in the center. Galls are usually found on the petioles or midribs of leaves. They will dry to a brown, paper thin wall. Removing and destroying galls before they dry and wasps emerge from a hole may help to reduce the infestation. While large and spectacular, they cause no measurable harm.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef408.asp
So all this time I have been making arrangements and pretty gifts with WasPs in them. Ugh! But they'er so cooool.
I guess this is a gentle reminder that all that glitters is not gold. Check your gold for wasps before bringing them into the house or giving them as gifts. There has to be a deeper lesson here somewhere...My word, you'd think I'd learn after all these years.
I still see them as natures art. And cool. I just check for any stingy thing which might reside inside before giving it to a friend. A not so good a friend, maybe not...Oh all right. I will AllWays check for resident creatures if I must. Picky, picky, picky you all are. Love ya anyway.
Still think they're cool.
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