I Miss Them!

I miss my Bluebirds! I'm going to be putting up my bluebird houses at the beginning of March.

And I'll be so happy to see my Hummingbirds again.

Things to look forward to.....

I've been trying to keep a good attitude about winter, the cold and the snow but the truth is I am ready for spring. Here's a few things I've been thinking about lately.

1. Jeep rides with the top off

2. Sunshine and longer days

3. CAMPING, I can't wait to get the trailer out of storage.

4. As soon as the weather breaks we are having the back yard fenced. I'm very excited about this for the dogs.

5. Gardening and doing some planned landscaping this year.

6. Driving around with the windows down.

7. Sitting around the fire pit outside.

8. Jordan's track season!! I love track!

9. Jordan's high school graduation this spring.

Bring it on!!!!!!

Bee's and Bat's

We live on an older home. Our house is nearly 100 years old. The exterior is what they call pregnant block. I love the "antique" look of our older home but it does have it's drawbacks, namely the critters that have access to an older home. When we first bought our home 8 years ago we went through a few months of bats paying up visits in the middle of the night. Not a fun thing! I think it happened 3 times. But luckily we have not seem any bats for years! We'll I spoke too soon.

Although, the bats have not been a problem we have had a problem with bees/wasps getting in the house since last summer. Wasps were turning up in our bedroom on a weekly basis. Twice Craig even got stung in the middle of the night last summer. We noticed an area outside the house were we could see wasps entering and exiting on the second floor. We knew this would have to be addressed when winter came around. Well, now that winter is here and the bees have died down it didn't seem to be a priority. Until last week.... Craig put his shirt on one morning and promptly got stung by a wasp twice. He had to rip his shirt off to get the wasp off of him. OK... now the wasps are a priority again!

As a result of the wasp incident Craig decided to empty out a storage area in our bedroom where we had a suspicion the wasps had taken up residence.

In the process of emptying out the storage area Craig found not one but TWO bats. They were alive but sluggish from hibernation. I don't know why Craig has such a big smile on his face. Maybe he's happy with himself for catching the critters and getting rid of them.

This photo just freaks me out! I DO NOT LIKE BATS! Especially in my house!

Anyway, back to the wasps... After emptying out the storage area Craig removed a board that covered up a space over the downstairs bathroom. LOOK WHAT HE FOUND!!!! This thing is as big as a basketball! You can't tell from the photo but the wasp nest is about 6 feet into the rafter area and there is no way to stand or walk into that area. We have no idea how to get rid of this thing. All I know is it HAS to go. I can't live in this house knowing that is in the wall of my bedroom.

I'm checking into calling an exterminator but if you have any bright ideas I'll love to hear them.