On this sunny beautiful day in late October I found myself in the “spring cleaning” mood. Not sure where that mood was in the spring but at least it has finally hit me! 

David was at the boat putting it to “bed” for the winter so I decided to clean the screened porch. After a season of winds and bugs, it gets pretty grimy so I thought I would clean the ceiling and framing before the snow blows!  I got my super duper sprayer along with my Dr Bonner environment friendly soap (recommended by David Suzuki) and I was ready to go. I figured an hour, maybe two at most and all will be done!  Well….after four hours I was still going….and not strong! 

What was I thinking? This was one tough job! 

Living in the country has its joys but there are a few things that can make farm living an absolute hell……bugs!  You see, we screened in our porch a few years ago so we could sit outside and enjoy the country sounds, fresh air with no bugs. It has been one of the best things we have ever did!  I love our porch…. but so do the bugs.  But not just any bug……those dreaded invasive lady bugs. They are not the real lady bugs of my youth….you know the ones. Those ones are bright orange and when they would land on you, you’d make a wish!  These new ones are actually called asian lady bugs but I am not sure if that is politically correct so I will call them the nasty lady bugs and so not to offend “ladies”….I will refer to them as those “nasty” bugs. They even bite. Enough said. So these nasty bugs love the porch too…so much that there are literally hundreds of them in the porch right now.  YUCK!  

Don’t get me wrong ….I do not hate all bugs. I am careful to never kill spiders, I can watch a bumble bee work on a flower and marvel at its beauty, I get excited at the sight of a walking stick or praying mantis and dragonflies make me smile but  I hate….no, I despise mosquitoes, black flies, wasps and hornets, cluster flies and those NASTY invasive bugs! 

After I had cleaned half the porch David returned home and said he’d be happy to clean the rest!  He didn’t look happy but I have to take his word for it. Next we put up a contraption I bought at Lee Valley….an asian lady bug buster! Made in Collingwood! I sure hope it does the trick. 

After the porch was finished, David rushed on to the next job…..I decided, after hearing our neighbours say they had their septic tank pumped, that we should have ours done too! After all, it has been about 7 years since the last pump out.  Before the septic service company comes to do the dirty work,  David has to dig down to the lid….he did this chore with a smile! 

Me….I decided I deserved a treat so I had a bowl of vanilla ice cream (Reid’s Dairy of course) with butterscotch sauce.  It was delicious. I guess you could say that asian lady bugs can cause weight gain! 

David is now cutting the grass hoping to get it done before the sun sets. Me….I am sitting in the porch enjoying the last few hours of sunshine watching those damn nasty bugs go everywhere but into the bug buster!  

So there you go….our lovely fall day in October!  

At Tranquility Farm on a beautiful fall morning in October…….

On my Laurentian Great Escape in late September, we stopped at Gatineau to see this amazing floral display in celebration of Canada’s 150th.  It was a visual extravaganza! 

Love the puffins of Newfoundland

Fishing the Atlantic

Isn’t this guy cute!

This gives you the idea of the size of the displays

A Canadian iconic symbol