Bugs ‘n Blood—Never A Dull Moment

In these days of changing light and weather, we have to take the opportunities to work as they present themselves. We had a big day yesterday in terms of work. We had plot cleaning to do, digging over the rest of the bee’s standing place and we needed to pack up the woodlets of the removed plum trees, bad weeds and garden rubbish … then the whole thing was loaded onto a cart and pulled up to the auto. We just barely got it all into the back.

Off we went to the staging area for waste. After depositing it all into the respective containers there we felt that we were due a bonus, in the form of a milkshake from the nearby KFC.

Then it was back to the lottie for more fun.

On the way to our lottie from the parking lot, we saw these shield beetles gathered en masse.


When we approached our garden we were greeted by the fragrance of the Clematis which grows over the gate and arch.


Some plant debris has been chucked onto this one veggie bed as a protective winter mulch.


The next candidate is this bed with the Swiss chard and outside toms.


Then it was time to harvest some Moonlight apples.
The tree is loaded again this year.


We harvested all but the top portion. Don’t they look nice?


We made some applesauce with some and gave away oodles, but we still have more in the bushel basket here at home. The Bride is not really looking forward to making more applesauce, as she maintains that the pantry is too full with it and the rest already.


That applesauce is really light in colour, but oh, so tasty. But not as light as on this picture, weird lightfall.

Well, as I said, we finished cleaning up the bee stand, prepared the soil, bought a new Opal plum tree. Now he goes into the ground.


We still have more work to do there and adjustments to the lines and bricks to make; but it’s in. Of course garden work is not without its dangers, and as they say—an accident sits in a smal corner.

So the Bride was forking the soil loose and I was on my hands and knees sorting out the bindweed roots, stinging nettle and Zuring (Rumex) roots. We were working the area off in rows—very organised, otherwise you could miss a root.

I was sifting the clods with my gloved hands and a trowel. I would just hack the clods sometimes with the flat of the blade, sometimes with the sharp edge. You just sort of whack it and it splits open, exposing worms, roots or nothing.

—there was a moan—
…a pause, then the colourful words rained down like the Niagara. Gasps, more colour. Groans.
“I stuck the fork into my foot, into my toe…and it is beginning to hurt a bit”.

She said that she didn’t actually stick the fork into her foot, just banged the fork onto the top of her Welly. She was just going to stick it into the ground while she waited.

The Bride said that she would repair to the bench and elevate her limb. I told her to go ahead and elevate it and I would keep working unless she needed help.

Directly I heard a little chirp or two… or did I? There it was again. I called out and she asked me to come. Tools down then, and off I went. When I got there, she had taken off the Welly and sock and blood was running down a toe and across the top of her foot.

Oh, well then I shall have to operate I told her. I washed it with soap and water then inspected and doused it with betadine and slapped a little bandage on it. The hole was very small but it bled well.

That night it was discoloured and sore, but this morning it looked better.

well after that drama, here is a piccy from the last day of the Food Bank pick-ups. We found this on the bench in front of our garden house. No note. We took it along with us.

 

My word, that WAS a big day - you probably slept very well after all that. My sympathy to the poor wounded soldier. An injury to toes is usually very painful indeed. Hope the foot improves quickly.
PS I'm not familiar with those shield bugs. Can you tell me about them please?

 

We call those little fellows, vuurwants. They suck plant sap and the fluids out of dead insects. I don’t know much about them other than that. They are very common over here. It does seem to me that I am seeing more and more each year though.

 

Oh bother Sjoerd Well done with the first aid

Apples look lovely, lots of stuff going on there

I had a Shield bug in the cactus house yesterday

 

Eileen, you are probably right about that. They are just so common here, that I almost don’t notice them anymore. I never looked them up, regrettably.

Zigs, I’ll bet it liked the relative warmth. There are so many different sorts in the shield bug family. I wonder if it will spend the winter in there.

 

Thanks for that Eileen, it seems these are just helpful stinkers then - not harming anyone nor any healthy plants. I read that they quite fancy Mallow plants and lime trees. Both of those abound in my garden.

 

Well that was QUITE a day. Such a beautiful garden Sjoerd - so lovely to see it as a whole. Congratuations on the new addition! And what a thoughtful orange gift left for you both.

And now...the Bride. We are so terribly sorry to hear of the puncture wound. Those kind of wounds are awful, and sore, and bleed and are...just awful. They hurt longer than they should.

I have to ask though...the colourful words...partly for the injury, partly for a hole in her Wellies??? I would guess perhaps both.

I shared this post with Hubby and he ( first of course happy to hear that she is okay) also jumped to a Billy Connolly song. Being a Scot ( born in Canada, but his grandparents and parents immigrated with him already more than a growing thought), his Dad gave him many of the Billy Connolly LP's . We still listen from time to time and have a laugh.

"If it wisnae fur yer wellies
Wherewud you be?
You'd be in the hospital
Or in firmary"

Good thing she had her Wellies on. Glad she is on the mend.

 

Woah…You know Billy Connolly? What about that.
Thanks so much for that song. My Bride thanks you and I thank you. We sat and listened to it over our morning tea.

Well, the colourful words — it was the sudden pain annnnd that she kept calling herself dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb ( with more colour). Chuckle.
Actually it wasn’t until the discomfort had begun to subside that she checked her Wellies. And discovered the tiny hole. And it was tee- ninecy- weeny tiny. You see, the tines on the fork she was using were thick and quite flat, not narrow like her border fork, mercifully. Do you know, she was the most concerned about her sock. It was her favourite pair of working socks that she was wearing at the time. I had to take a pic from her bloody sock:

 

Yeah, that is bad. Haha.
I am still trying to imagine how that accident could have happened. She doesn’t know herself. She rammed it in a bit hard because the soil where she was standing was hard.
Ole Ian has the right attitude though— you don’t throw away what can still be used, right?

 

Sounds like you had a eventful day Sjeord, hope that your bride recovers quickly and well done with all the work that you both did.
I like Billy Connolly.

 

ooohhhh Eileen, what a lucky man.....That is my all time favourite Christmas gift....New Socks! I look forward to it every year. It's an easy shop for Hubby, and I'm easy to please. New socks make me feel like a kid again. I darn mine, until I hit Christmas season. ( I'm already excited....)

 

I feel her pain...her favourite sock pain that is. I get very attached to my socks - certain ones for certain tasks. Hopefully she can mend them and they come clean. And hopefully the mend doesn't irritate her toe ( one must be mindful of not disturbing the comfort level of a favourtie pair of socks - can't lose the favourtie sock Mojo.) . Very important.

Welly loss cannot hold a candle to favourite sock loss - that is certain.

( and of course hopefully the foot is on the mend - can't forget that part )