Sunday, June 14, 2009

local firefly population in serious jeopardy

the kids have been patrolling the yard each night for fireflies. there is almost nothing more fun than watching little kids scurry around trying to catch fireflies. i believe they have created a no-fly-zone in the immediate yard. the fireflies have obviously pheromonally communicated to each other that if they fly there they will be chased down. they will be caught and imprisoned in the glass cage of doom. all hope for catch and release practices should be abandoned.

kassi is the most adept and has decided that concentrations of fire flies are greater in the upper paddock. i assume there will soon be a bug implemented no-fly-zone there very soon. now if squash bugs were as much fun to catch we'd be in business. although the other night tabitha employed kassi's prowess on the recent onslaught of japanese beetles. we'll be dosing our yard with milky-spore very soon.

i finished my chicken plucker yesterday. well, almost i still need to attach my belt tensioner. finding it might be part of my problem. i also plan to attach a spray system, if needed, after i test it. that will be version 1.3, tensioner will be version 1.2. i must admit it is pretty cool. now if it just works like all the u-tube videos and as well as real life witnesses profess we'll be in business.

i am going to make a chicken plucker post only after i test it. if it sucks we'll never speak of it again...

i lost my paper list of stuff i need to do. i used to be able to have a mental queue. then i started making lists. i like to blame the need for written lists on the magnitude of stuff that i need to do and not my deteriorating brain. now since i'm loosing my lists that rationalization no longer stands. i'd make a digital list but then i'd have to remember to write them down when at the computer. the computer is filled with distractions and that has never really worked for me. i might try writing down stuff to be added to my digital list. but, if is start loosing those little lists then i'm screwed..

8 comments:

Kevin and Beth said...

Karl,
Here's a nice blog about the trials of a homemade plucker with a happy ending. It's worth every penny you've put into it! Did you join the Whizbang Yahoo group? It's helpful too. Lots of pictures and information. Anyway, here's the site that just completed theirs, really nice story. http://aspiringtosimplicity.blogspot.com/
Good Luck,
Beth

tansy said...

i blame it on the kids! the more you have, the more memory you lose.

that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

crowson2000 said...

If you come up with a good way of encouraging them to catch squash bugs let me know! They were the bane of my garden last year. So far this year I've only seen a couple (fingers crossed).

Ron said...

I was observing a bug on my squash, determining if friend or foe, when it started flashing. Been a while since I'd seen a firefly up close. :)

I've been trying to figure out how to make catching squash bugs fun for Kiddo, no luck.

Losing lists is liberating. :)

Ron

Shannon said...

There's a firefly watch project from a New England Museum of Science. A good homeschool project! Don't have the website offhand but I'm sure you can google "firefly watch project."

Knitters Notebook said...

We have many bug books due to the fact if we find a different looking bug we have to look it up immediately!

We like to keep the good ones and get rid of the bad one's :)

Lynn

Beau said...

We've been catching fireflies too! It's too much fun- and the boy lets them go the next day. The evenings are wonderful.

JoeLarry said...

My left front pocket contains much paper scrap with important(Ha) things that must be done soon !It works for me, as long as I don't wash it!!

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