Invaded

Last year we purchased 2 swan plants, 1 each for the boys. Thought it might be fun to hatch a few monarch butterflies in the garden.

Unfortunately it looked like a bug had got at the plants and they didn't seem to developed into much at all. However we left them where they were and ignored them for a while.
Well both plants grew and grew and still no monarchs came anywhere near our garden.
Then this summer, whilst the swan plants are now both over 1.5m high (!) we suddenly have butterflies for Africa!

A few have successfully laid eggs and we have had a few caterpillars, unfortunately the wasps have been out in force and not many have survived to growing to full stage to be able to turn into butterflies.
Several however have for some reason took to hanging off the garage wall rather than the plant itself, so we have had full view of the chrysalis doing its thing.

2 of the butterflies appeared on the same day. 1 minute they were in chrysalis and the next we looked...all of 10 mins later, the butterfly had appeared and the chrysalis was empty.

The boys have enjoyed having something happening in the garden and we have had lots of monarchs fluttering around all summer.

However with the summer weather comes other bugs and sadly we have managed, without trying I may add, to grow a nice amount of pantry moth in funnily enough of all places ..... the pantry!! Yes we have weevils in all the rice, oats, seeds etc
I can tell you, not what I wanted to do on a weekend...empty the whole pantry, throw away all dried food that is riddled with bugs web etc and start again with dried food in the pantry.
Last night we had chicken curry for dinner, I didn't realise at the time that they had successfully invaded the rice bucket as well and when it was finally cooked I found 2 dead maggots in amongst the cooked rice. Let's just say I had chicken curry without rice last night as for some strange reason I had gone off rice last night!!

War is Called

There is war in this house, well there was until the weather took a slight turn for the colder moment.
It was definitely a war that was going to be won and I was going to win it. The opponent did not stand a chance although they fought long and hard!
Outside I have a lovely flower bed at the edge of the front deck. I try to keep some colour in there in the winter prior to planting our annual sunflower competition.

This is a closer look at the Kale that I planted this year. Never planted it before and had seen it around. It looked so cool.

No this is not who I have declared war against. This is our cat Prenzel who loves to be with you if you are outside at all.

This on the other hand is exactly who I have declared war against.

Little green caterpillars who have decided that the Kale is their new pantry. I don't think so!
So I have been regularly checking the plants and removing said bugs, and squashing them, they ooze green when you stand on them too.
I seem to have beaten them and they seem to have made a hasty retreat back to whence they came from, wherever that may be?
Although the really cold weather we are having at present may also account for the lack of them as it is just way too cold for them to want to snack on my lovely plants!

Unexpected Challenges

I am currently working my way through 100 Challenges as shown here. Those I know about, I can read the list and sort of plan how and when they will get completed, at my pace in my time.
What I am not prepared for is the unexpected challenges that cross your path......like Thread Worms.

Yes you read correctly, like Thread worms.
Alex had been, on very sporadic occassions, complaining of a tummy ache at meal times. Nothing bad and maybe once every 2 weeks, no pattern to it or anything. I always told him it was because he was hungry. Once dinner was finished he never complained of tummy ache again.

He has also, on a very sporadic occassion, been complaining of an itchy bottom. Now that was the one that made me originally think about worms, but he showed no other signs and the complaints were at odd times of the day, never at night, when I know they are active. Again it never had a pattern to the complaints and sometimes you forgot he had mentioned it because it was so long since he last mentioned it!

However last night he came into me at about 11pm, crawling over the bed, wriggling saying bum hurt. Now I do remember being told somewhere that to discover worms you need to do it in the dark. You need to get the child all prepared and have a flashlight ready and when all is ready shine said light on the area.
Well low and behold it worked......not that I am proud of the fact or anything, but there was the worm.
Alex is our little helper man, he loves being in the garden and helping out. So it is no surprise, although I have a feeling this has come from school!

Alex has been at school for 6 months now. Within 3 weeks he had head lice, which we treated, and then within 6 more weeks he had it again. Now Thread worms! I just love the challenges of school.

Luckily I knew we had medication, so we proceeded to administer, although unfortunately we only had enough for 2 people, so seeing as Alex has them then he got some, well what he would swallow, we are going to complete his dose today. Because I have had such painful insides for last 3 days then I had a dose as well. Today I will go to the Pharmacy and get more to dose the rest of the family.

Even though I am off sick from work, my job today, in between resting, is cleaning sheets, vacuuming bedrooms and wiping down areas of importance, anything to ensure we break the cycle of the beast! Alex, still wears a nighttime nappy, so I have a feeling that it may have stayed contained at night, but am not taking any risks.

These are the joys of parenting, these are the things they forgot to tell you about when you signed on for this gig. These are the things that only parents get the joy of experiencing. These are the things that even if they do tell you about them, you forget them all when gazing into the ever so cute and gorgeous eyes of your new born baby thinking that nothing like that will ever effect your family!

Ha, don't believe them, it can happen, it will happen, enjoy parenting!

Bugs and Things

Yesterday morning I took Ben to the Hearing Clinic. We are a very small amount concerned about his speech. There are quite a few times that Alex is better at talking than he is, more in the way it is said.

So the first step is to get his hearing checked, he has managed so far to miss out on all the checks done at his Daycares.

Anyway, all was fine and he apparently has perfect hearing for a 4 1/2 year old. So no worries there.

The thing that did worry me though was the office we were in.

As we stood in the reception area waiting to check in I happen to notice about 6 rather big crickets scuttling across the floor of the centre!

Now I am not a bug person, nor an insect person come to think about it, I just plain don't like anything that crawls!

Now Kent and Leisy I am sorry, I know you love them, but I don't. I have no problem cohabiting with them on the planet as long as they stay in their garden and I am in the house, and if I am in the garden well they just have to stay well clear of me!

So to go into this office where they are everywhere and no one seems to be taking any notice just threw me.

So I mentioned when we checked in if they realised that they had black things crawling all over their office....Yes they did, apparently there was an infestation of them outside and because of the weather they were all heading inside.

So there we are sitting in the office, Ben is doing so well having his test done and I am freaking out as another cricket runs past my shoe!

Was I ever glad to get out of there!