On the Creepy Crawly front, I found this disgusting thing in the dogs' water bowl a few days ago. It's still alive, and when you look at it's jar, the damned thing moves toward you! Yuk.
It's very, very thin, like coarse hair, and maybe 18 - 24 inches long. I looked up every kind of worm I could think of with no luck. I did an internet search for thin worms, etc., with no luck. Of course, the first thing I had done was email Dr. Hannan, but he was unavailable for a few days - during which I panicked.
Was this something that had come out of one of the dogs? Could it get into one of the dogs? What in blankety-blank is it?
Got Doc's answer, and He-who-knows-all immediately identified it as a horsehair worm, benign unless you happen to be something like a cricket or grasshopper. So, I'm holding on to it until Scottie gets home for his viewing pleasure, then I'm sure we'll release the little darlin'.
As ever, BIG thanks to the unstumpable Doctor Hannan for calming my worried mind!
Moving along to Beautiful Blooms, a much more pleasant subject, this is portaluca. It's sometimes called moss rose though it's neither a moss nor a rose. It loves heat, thrives in drought, and is generally quite happy here. I have learned that both deer and bear love to munch on it, but my special concoction of rotten egg, cayene pepper, garlic and urine (up to you how you get that), mixed with water and sprayed on the plant will pretty much take care of that problem.
My mother grew these in Illinois in the summer. Everything I read and am told says they are annual, but hers came back every year. I hope mine do.
This lovely is chilopsis, called desert willow, another misnomer since it is not a willow and won't live in the desert. It does do quite well in heat and drought, just not to the extreme of desert conditions. Hummers love it as do bees and bugs of all sorts.
When we first planted this tree, we had a sudden cold spell just a few days after, and I thought we'd lost her. (I'm calling this one female.) She dropped all her leaves and went dormant, but heat and water along with a little rose food to get her going brought her back. I call her Cindy, short for Cinderella, for her amazing comeback.
Cindy will bloom all summer and keep some sort of beauty going in the midst of heat and smoke and pollution.
As for pampered pets, here they are. I'm sitting on a straight backed little chair, hunched over a table at the laptop, while these 2 slugs lounge on my daybed!
Truth is I'm suffering terrible pet guilt. With all the smoke I just can't walk them every day like I usually do. Too much deep breathing outdoors right now just does me in, so the babies are suffering neglect (right) and I'm feeling guilty. Buck especially has mastered the soulful look that really conveys how badly treated he is.
In my next life I'm coming back as the pet of someone like me!
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