Beauty

[just bee]

On 5/7/2014 aprilskies said:

On 5/7/2014 just bee said:

On 5/7/2014 PAlady said:

justbee - Just looked up a picture of a wolf spider, I would have been screaming. I don't like spiders, and that one is just creepy.

When we first moved here 19 years ago we saw our first wolf spider on the patio. For some reason it looked very odd and very large. When we looked closer it appeared that the surface of the spider was... moving. Better-half touched it and it exploded. What seemed like zillions of baby spiders went scattering all over our patio.

I ran back into the house screaming:

"I'm calling the realtor -- start packing!!!"

I have a soft spot for them now because they seem like good parents. Carrying all those kids on their backs...

Just another thing the NM Tourism Department failed to mention.

Wolf spiders - I just looked it up too. No way could I handle that. I often think I want to live out more in nature but I dont think I could handle all the critters. Maybe its a matter of getting use to them. I dont know. One of my cousins use to live in Arizona. They would find all kinds of snakes and things in their garage. Omgosh. I wonder how they get in the house - through the pipes and drains?

I was born on the North Side of Chicago. (Dad wanted to be as close to Wrigley Field as possible.) When my parents separated, Mom moved us to Rogers Park -- a block from the lake. I used to look at pictures of bugs in books. We had your basic garden-variety bug in the city: Spiders, roaches, June beetles, ants, mosquitoes, and the occasional bee, wasp, butterfly, and grasshopper.

But then, when I was ten, my mother moved us to Prescott, Arizona.

All those bugs in the books lived in Prescott. And there were some that didn't even make it into the books.

Ever see Them?

[aprilskies]

LOL, Just Bee. I intend to stay blissfully ignorant.

[just bee]

Perhaps I should mention this. Occasionally a bird will die in our yard. We attract a lot of birds because I keep several feeders filled for them. We have hawks that visit.

But a lot of the birds expire from natural causes, and I saw one yesterday, lying peacefully by our air conditioning unit. Note: If you ever move to New Mexico, do not buy a home with a swamp cooler. We finally ditched ours and have never looked back. But I digress.

Anyway, I got busy yesterday and forgot to pick up the bird. We have wire fencing around the unit so nothing can get too close to the unit. When I was out this morning filling the feeders and watering the butterfly bushes and lilac I remembered the bird.

But it was gone.

What could have come into the yard in the dark of night to get the bird? And what could have crossed the fencing?

A chupacabra, perhaps?

[just bee]

On 5/7/2014 aprilskies said:

One of my cousins use to live in Arizona. They would find all kinds of snakes and things in their garage. Omgosh. I wonder how they get in the house - through the pipes and drains?

I wonder about that, too, because every now and then we find a lizard in the sink.

This is not unusual. I Googled "lizard in the sink" and clicked on "images." Seems to be a common issue...

[aprilskies]

On 5/7/2014 just bee said:

On 5/7/2014 aprilskies said:

One of my cousins use to live in Arizona. They would find all kinds of snakes and things in their garage. Omgosh. I wonder how they get in the house - through the pipes and drains?

I wonder about that, too, because every now and then we find a lizard in the sink.

This is not unusual. I Googled "lizard in the sink" and clicked on "images." Seems to be a common issue...

It would be so cool to be around nature like that, just not in the house. Lol

[aprilskies]

Alright ladies. I have been toying about buying a pressure cooker. I have always wanted one. I have so many small kitchen appliances and wouldn't even know where to keep it but I love the idea of one pot meals. You don't have to soak beans, etc. I would love to make soups in an hour. But I I am holding off. I just don't know if it just sounds good, then once I get it it will sit happily on my shelf. The mind is a tricky place. Maybe if I do decide to get it, I will need to get rid of some appliances. Always something to entice you.

[dosey]

Just bee, you are a better woman than I am. A spider in my home is officially on death row. Except Daddy Long Legs. I'll put a DLL outside if he wanders inside. DH was bitten by a Black Widow a few years ago, and it was very serious. I will spare you the gory details, but it took several trips to the doctor and weeks on antibiotics to heal. I am convinced that if that spider had bitten a child, the child would not have survived. My DH is a big guy, and he could barely tolerate the pain. There are other poisonous spiders in my area, so I take no chances when one enters my home. I just put it out of my misery. Most insects suffer the same fate as spiders unless the insect looks friendly and moves slowly. Don't ask me what qualifies as a friendly appearance. I can just tell my looking at it.

Aprilskies, I would like to have a pressure cooker, too, but am afraid it might explode. My mother used to talk about exploding pressure cookers. Was this a big problem? I never hear about exploding pressure cookers. Yes, the mind is a tricky place. I am afraid of exploding pressure cookers and can identify friendly bugs. WTHeck???

[just bee]

On 5/8/2014 Dosey said:

Just bee, you are a better woman than I am. A spider in my home is officially on death row. Except Daddy Long Legs. I'll put a DLL outside if he wanders inside. DH was bitten by a Black Widow a few years ago, and it was very serious. I will spare you the gory details, but it took several trips to the doctor and weeks on antibiotics to heal. I am convinced that if that spider had bitten a child, the child would not have survived. My DH is a big guy, and he could barely tolerate the pain. There are other poisonous spiders in my area, so I take no chances when one enters my home. I just put it out of my misery. Most insects suffer the same fate as spiders unless the insect looks friendly and moves slowly. Don't ask me what qualifies as a friendly appearance. I can just tell my looking at it.

Aprilskies, I would like to have a pressure cooker, too, but am afraid it might explode. My mother used to talk about exploding pressure cookers. Was this a big problem? I never hear about exploding pressure cookers. Yes, the mind is a tricky place. I am afraid of exploding pressure cookers and can identify friendly bugs. WTHeck???

I guess I won’t tell you about New Mexico centipedes. So I’ll just let Jason Bateman have the honor! This, from an old interview:

You almost want to feel sorry for Jason Bateman. Almost. This week, the star of “Extract,” which opened this weekend, was on the “Late Show With David Letterman” to promote the new film, and he talked about how many bugs and creepy crawlies New Mexico has.

Bateman was here earlier this summer to make the sci-fi comedy “Paul,” which will be released next year.

While chilling and watching TV, he told Letterman: “A snake starts to wiggle its way up a screen door. They’re tough things to love. They can’t hug.

“So that scares me.

“One day later, the coup de grass-es,” he said mispronouncing the French phrase, “or however that goes … was something skitters across the floor in the middle of the night. I’m in my robe and slippers.

“It’s a centipede that’s thumb thick and it’s about 8 inches long, yeah, and the business end of it, the thongs, or whatever it is, the fangs, the daggers, I don’t know what it is… the pain inflicting portion of the centipede is taunting me.”

Then, Letterman and Bateman talk about the merits of slippers before Bateman continues his tale of woe in New Mexico.

“So I figure, I get a face towel out and that will cover him,” Batman said, “The worst part of it all is the housewife squeal that came out of me when I stomped on it. I didn’t know I had so much estrogen in me. Awful.”

Well, at least he didn’t stay in Placitas, where mountain lions are showing up in the locals’ backyards. They’re much harder to cover with a face towel.

[Caffeina]

On 5/8/2014 aprilskies said: Alright ladies. I have been toying about buying a pressure cooker. I have always wanted one. I have so many small kitchen appliances and wouldn't even know where to keep it but I love the idea of one pot meals. You don't have to soak beans, etc. I would love to make soups in an hour. But I I am holding off. I just don't know if it just sounds good, then once I get it it will sit happily on my shelf. The mind is a tricky place. Maybe if I do decide to get it, I will need to get rid of some appliances. Always something to entice you.

I've never been much of a cook, but I love using my pressure cooker! Got it from Walmart.com. I decided to get one last year after watching several presentations on QVC & HSN. I make pasta dishes most of the time, but also make a lot of soup. I'll make things like ribs and pork for my husband too. Not much of a meat eater myself. I do have a place to store it, but I use it so much it hardly ever gets stored. I have a small kitchen, and when I'm done with it I usually end up moving it to a table in another room. What's great about an electric pressure cooker is that you can pretty much set it and walk away. No bothering with watching and stirring a pot on the stove.

Dosey, you don't have to worry about them exploding. Years ago when stovetop pressure cooking was in its heyday, there were a lot of companies that started making cheap low quality products. They exploded and ruptured, and that's how pressure cookers earned a bad reputation.

[aprilskies]

On 5/8/2014 Dosey said:

Just bee, you are a better woman than I am. A spider in my home is officially on death row. Except Daddy Long Legs. I'll put a DLL outside if he wanders inside. DH was bitten by a Black Widow a few years ago, and it was very serious. I will spare you the gory details, but it took several trips to the doctor and weeks on antibiotics to heal. I am convinced that if that spider had bitten a child, the child would not have survived. My DH is a big guy, and he could barely tolerate the pain. There are other poisonous spiders in my area, so I take no chances when one enters my home. I just put it out of my misery. Most insects suffer the same fate as spiders unless the insect looks friendly and moves slowly. Don't ask me what qualifies as a friendly appearance. I can just tell my looking at it.

Aprilskies, I would like to have a pressure cooker, too, but am afraid it might explode. My mother used to talk about exploding pressure cookers. Was this a big problem? I never hear about exploding pressure cookers. Yes, the mind is a tricky place. I am afraid of exploding pressure cookers and can identify friendly bugs. WTHeck???

The other night my kitties were both standing there and looking down at the same spot. I was wondering what the heck they were doing. I look down and see something moving. Figured they found me a bug. I get closer and it was a bee, um, lights out for the bee, made me nervous since I had a swarm of them making my porch their home so I was hoping they didn't find a way in. A big spider like that though, i wouldn't even know what to do.

I was always scared of the pressure cookers that were pots with the little rattling knobs on top. I was even scared of those big battery packs that were car chargers. I bought one and gave it away. My one brother goes, well it's not like you hear cases of these things exploding. Lol well, he had a point. But thanks for telling me after I gave it away.