Monday, December 14, 2015

Dance of the Ladybug Faeries...

...and here we have one of about 200 gazillion ladybugs that have chosen to infest my house this spring-like winter.Yesterday I must have vacuumed up about a hundred, and soon as I put the cannister vac with the closed bag system (yes--I learned an important lesson the year I used the wand on the bagless and emptied it into the garbage only to have them all crawling up out of the garbage can like a Wes Craven film and re-infesting my entire house) away, 20 more came out of nowhere.
  
Our first encounter with this seasonal phenomenon came the second year we lived here and the Irishman was getting the kerosene heater out of storage in the garage and found almost 5 pounds of the little beggars inside it around the wick.  since then  it's a battle we fight almost every late fall and winter. They drive me crazy, they stink and I feel like they're crawling on me all the time. Little terrorists.

 So I am on countdown to the party. Cleaning and de-cluttering (as much as I can). And now I have to get beets today and try to fit that in to everything else. Had an opportunity to get a bunch of small beets that I will can whole, mostly pickled, some plain. Can't pass it up. My pantry is so bare....lol


  I have a daily list of things to do, and in between I have things like tonight's holiday potluck with the La Vista gang. Was thinking of making the roasted vegetable pot pie (remember the one with the little biscuit angels dancing on the crust ?

 Then I thought maybe a pasta dish would be easier...a porcini mushroom tortellini with a pumpkin butternut squash sauce. Not entirely home made stuff, but even I can only do so much... I am feeling better, but still running a little slow. Woke up to rain that has been going on all night and yesterday, but supposed to stop. And now it has and the sun is out and streaming through the window. Thank goodness. Got the chickens loosed and fed and the critters all taken care of.  Have a grocery list made and will head to town in a bit.. Yesterday the Irishman helped me take down all the light fixtures and clean them and put them back up (he's much better on a ladder than I am).  They were all full of ladybugs and dust. I got more napkin rings made, but only a few. I put a couple of small pork tenderloins in the crockpot with some taters and carrots and that cooked while we cleaned, napped and watched a couple of movies. He slept on the couch for over 2 hours about an hour after we got up (late) and I think it made him feel a little better, although last night he was a coughing fool again...


  Alright. I have a grocery trip on my  Monday list, then back home to clean the spare room and get it ready for potential guests from out of town. That and the aquarium are on today's list. That's probably all I can manage. We'll see.  lol


  Have a wonderful Monday. The weather is cooling off here starting today (last few days have been in the high 60's) and I am hoping it will stay sunny at least. And maybe dry up some of the mud. 




  Namaste...

6 comments:

DJan said...

We have had an incredible amount of rain for the past couple of weeks, and saying that I'm tired of it is an understatement. I've run into those ladybug infestations before, but not as bad as yours. :-)

Susan said...

You two take care of yourselves. Are these the pseudo-ladybugs? I have been battling stink bugs. Eeewuuwuw. Did you post your vegetable pot pie recipe? That sounds so good right now. Can't wait to hear how your party turns out - I bet it will be a smash hit!

Ol'Buzzard said...

That pot pie looks delicious. When we lived in Kentucky the lady bugs would show up in the house in the winter. I just left them there and would gather them up in the spring and let them loose in my garden.
the Ol'Buzzard

Akannie said...

DJan...I miss the rainy PNW, believe it or not. But when it's gray too many days in a row here now, I get a little pissy. lol I can handle the cold much better if the sun is shining...

Akannie said...

Susan...check it out here... http://dragonwomansmysticalmeals.blogspot.com/search?q=vegetable+pot+pie

It was a crazy day. Lost my car keys and didn't have all the ingredients for the pie, so made something else. Then the Irishman came home from work so sick (and I have been too, not real bad, but...) and we decided it wasn't fair to pass this around any more than we had t. So--we stayed home and ate the pasta dish ourselves...

Akannie said...

Ol Buzzard...that's the best policy, but they annoy the pediddles outta me, flying around everywhere, getting in my hair...we have tons of them in the garden every year, that's why we have tons of them in the house I guess. lol PS--that pot pie is delicious...