Thanks! I do have to be careful of the bees, too, as well as the mantids and the butterflies.
Here's the mantis my son named Lola.


She's still small, most of my others are three times this big.

Lynda maybe Lola is a picky eater she should be looking for a mate soon. it's that time of the year for them. all the mantids I've seen this year have been brown as well except one smaller green guy. he stood out because he was perched on Amistad salvia and his limey green color really was eye catching.

My son likes Lola because she's the only brown female I have. I saw my first Chinese in my yard, and it was dressed in desert camo! A mottled gray and tan. Weird looking. I tried to catch it to take it away from my yard, but it flew! So obviously a male.

I just wanted to say Thank You again, to all of you that have posted and "treemailed" me during my recent adventures. Many ups and downs...but the main take away is that our home is intact and Shorty is doing fine.. We are the fortunate ones as some that we know have lost everything....art work, valuable stamp collections besides not having their homes now.
We are so very grateful to all that made this possible, and to the many that sent us notes and messages, emails and prayers. It was a team effort for sure.

What a relief!

pirl said:I gave into temptation on my 80th birthday, Thursday, and called my trusted guy to come over, clean up and weed, and haul away. There's no point in being a grouchy old woman, constantly complaining about weeds that grow too fast and plants that want to invade, so I'm treating myself and it's a wonderful feeling.

I want to look good as I garden (just like Martha Stewart who will be 80 on August 4th!) and not feel like the garden is my nasty boss.

Arlene ~ I won't be 80 until November. I hope to find a "trusted garden helper" by then!

I hope you do. It removes the pressure and allows for more pleasure in the garden.

Wow, you ladies amaze me! I just turned 67. My trusted garden worker is my son. He's always asking me how long do I plant to keep gardening, and I tell him until I squat down and can't get up!
So every spring, when we go out to clean up the garden beds and get them ready for the growing season, he has me squat to see.

I often wonder what people think we'd do with our plants if we decided to give up our gardens. How would anyone give away thousands of plants? I haven't a clue and don't intend to find out.

I have NOT read all posting---all seem to be interesting---but one thing is certain, I am NOT going to quit soon, although I have a lot of the same problems----being a senior, arthritic knees----one thing though: I succeeded so far for no Japanese beetles: LONG time I had lots of them on my roses: I flip into a soapy water small bucket, and so they were killed, but instead of throwing everything away, I used the water to spray my roses. They never came back!

@pirl: all insects, especially mosquitos and gnats, bees love me. So I bought and always wear clothing that is bug proof. I recently purchased Brand: Insect Xtreme Insect Xtreme Performance Outdoor Shirt with Repelling Technology
and I do not have problems with bugs. I also use Tiger Balm, use on my temple, neck, DO NOT use above on your forehead, they will sting your eyes. When they are on sale I like exofficio womenbugsaway---be careful in online shopping, although you search for bug protection or bug proof, they include SUN protection--THEY are NOT bug proof--- I also wear the pants and socks and hat if I wear them----THEY really work, but do not wash them too often----

@tantefrancine - glad you found a solution for the JB's and for the bugs!

evelyninthegarden said:Hi Tiffany! Yes, I am doing well. We got home this afternoon and the refrigerator has been cleaned out. I had to use a spatula to remove some recalcitrant mold, then scrubbed with a cloth with bleach water, followed by baking soda.
I'm tired now. I think we are due for an early bedtime. Freezer tomorrow.

Even though they have been cleaned out with bleach, then baking soda, there still is an odor, tthough not as strong. A product called Nature's Miracle is on order, and when received will be promptly used. (This product was recommended by a neighbor that used to work in the heating and A/C business.)

Originally it was used on pets to remove skunk odor. It is enzyme-based so actually eliminates the odor, not just masking it or using harsh chemicals.

That's a lot of work, Evelyn - so hard to get rid of the "musty" odor! Hopefully the new product will do the trick... in the meantime, crumpling up some newspaper and putting it inside can help absorb the odor as well.

Weedwhacker said:That's a lot of work, Evelyn - so hard to get rid of the "musty" odor! Hopefully the new product will do the trick... in the meantime, crumpling up some newspaper and putting it inside can help absorb the odor as well.

Thank you for the suggestion. We don't get any newspapers, but I'll look around. I may have used all I had in shipping out irises this year.

(I sure am glad I had that hip replacement!)

Or something green that smells good, like some mint or other herbs, a lemon. Anything to permeate it with a food-related scent that you like. Maybe put a small open bowl or jar of uncooked rice to soak up any moisture.

evelyninthegarden said:

Even though they have been cleaned out with bleach, then baking soda, there still is an odor, tthough not as strong. A product called Nature's Miracle is on order, and when received will be promptly used. (This product was recommended by a neighbor that used to work in the heating and A/C business.)

Originally it was used on pets to remove skunk odor. It is enzyme-based so actually eliminates the odor, not just masking it or using harsh chemicals.

@evelyninthegarden, Nature's Miracle is designed to kill odors in pet feces and urine only, I believe. Something that I HAVE found that kills food odors INSTANTLY, better than baking soda, is antibacterial gel. Yes, when I cut an onion, I put a dab on my fingers and smell is instantly gone. I use it down my garbage disposal, too and man, you just can't beat it to kill food odors.

On another topic, I just harvested all the seeds from my pink ('Pam Puryear') and red ('Drummondii')
Turk's Cap plants. If you're still interested in seeds from either color plant, just private message me with your address and I'll send you some. They hadn't produced fruit when you last asked me about seeds.

Peggy,, am I correct in assuming that by "antibacterial gel" you're referring to "hand sanitizer gel" ? That's a great tip, I think we probably all have some of that stuff around these days!

I find that vinegar works wonders on stinky odors! As a "fisher lady", in the summer I catch and clean a lot of fish, and dipping my hands in vinegar removes the fishy odor. A half cup of vinegar included with the detergent in washing clothes takes the smell out of clothes, too. I cooked in the deli when I first started working there, and it was the only thing that would get that stinky fried grease smell out of my work clothes. I fried a lot of chicken!
Works a lot better than baking soda, I think.

Weedwhacker said:Peggy,, am I correct in assuming that by "antibacterial gel" you're referring to "hand sanitizer gel" ? That's a great tip, I think we probably all have some of that stuff around these days!

Yes, the hand sanitizer is what I mean. Really works on FOOD odors well. @evelyninthegarden, I have found Nature's miracle just isn't the product it was 10 years ago. Back then, it truly killed pet stain odors. Now, not at all IMHO. So if the person recommending it hasn't used it in awhile, they would be surprised at how ineffectively it does that job now. I suspect corporate is watering it down now, like the food industry sizing cans/boxes down (but charging the same). NM hasn't been so good since they changed the actual smell of it some 10 years ago. That change marked my noticing it going downhill even on pet stains.

When I have onion or other odors on my hands, I do what my gramma said, rub salt all over while hands are wet, then rise. Works every time! IDK if the technique can be applied to a musty refrigerator, but if I forget that I washed a load of laundry for so long that it develops a musty odor, dumping a can of salt into the machine and running it again on the fastest setting gets rid of the musty odor on the clothes. A 50¢ miracle!