GAH! Okay, we're going to be fixing all the seals on the doors ASAP. We've got a good supply of lizards and dragonflies around the house, but bugs are still getting in. A couple of times the past week I've found a bug in the bedroom. (I think the last one was a cucumber beetle)

I'm already neurotic about most bugs so this doesn't help!

You can read about it here. It really is kind of creepy.

http://www.statesman.com/news/...

Seriously, I want to get tested! Who would want to wait and find out many years later when it kills you? Okay, I know...only 20 to 30% of those infected have the more serious complications! BTW, here's some good pics...if I see any, I'll kill it and call the county health dept.!
http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/c...

I thought you were kidding. You should get tested if you're concerned. I bet there will be a long wait for appts here in Austin after the article came out. I have them all over my dwarf pomegranate right now. I've always let them be because I thought they took care of worse bugs.

I'm just freaking out because I read about the eye swelling, and because of my allergies I've had three styes in the past couple of weeks in the same eye. Definitely not what I had once I saw the pictures of "swelling"

I feel I've just yelled fire in the middle of a crowded theater....

Update on the assassin bugs. They're working on a vaccine at Baylor, but it might take ten yrs before it's available.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs...

Good! And that lady is with the medical school that my DD went to, BTW! Maybe after they get the vaccine for people, someone will develop one for dogs...I read that many dogs become infected and that makes the owners more likely to catch it.

You may be right, but ten years is a long time to hope for a vaccine. And how would the dog give it to the owner, unless he bites? I'm going to just hope this is something you'd be more likely to get if you lived in squalor.

My "granddog" died Friday. Before the grandson came along, that dog would patiently let me dress him up in costumes. When DD would pick him up after work, I'd let her know that I'd stop when I got a real grandchild. He was a rescue dog and he lived to be 15. Saturday, he was buried at the lake under the tree where he liked to rest. We were all sad, and one of DD's friends sent her a photo she had recently taken of a cloud formation. Somehow it gave us all comfort. I encouraged her friend to get that pic copyrighted. It's a one in a million shot. Doesn't it look like a dog heading up to Heaven? Forgive the sentimentality, I loved that ole dog.

Awww! So sorry that the dog passed...but yes, that does look like a dog headed for that great dog spa in the sky!

That is an awesome picture! How thoughtful.
It is sad when our dog companions leave us. I am glad he gets to rest in his favorite spot.

Didn't mean to sound so sad. I don't want to get attached to another dog, though.

The posted fall photos are great! I have some to post, just need to find time.

So nice to have such a cool day! I was supposed to have jury duty today, but when I called in last night I found out it was cancelled. Good deal! I've been seeing Monarchs lately...not many, but every day I see one or more!

I checked DG and found that the time I saw hundreds of Monarchs was mid October, 2006. There was a cold front coming and the oak trees were nearly covered with them. I had camera, but couldn't get good photos of them in the trees, too high. I just enjoyed them with DH (who could have cared less). They flew north to south and literally up our street. At the time we had lots of flowers in bloom. I put out water, but they weren't interested. They were all gone the next morning. If I remember, it rained the next day.

Haven't seen very many here this year, and those were sort of ragged. Saw more at the lake. Thought we'd see some today after the front that blew thru, but we were gone most of the day to San Marcos. If they came, we missed 'em. Maybe tomorrow!

We had a butterfly expert speak at our garden club and she said butterflies in general had a hard time this summer. Usually they like tubular flowers but they were even trying to get food from crepe myrtles

Wow!

Earthquake hits south of San Antonio

CAMPBELLTON, Texas (KXAN) - An earthquake centered in Campbellton, Texas shook the area early Thursday morning. Preliminary reports said the 4.6-magnitude earthquake hit sometime around 7 a.m.

At times I've headed out toward Bandera or (the town of ) Medina when migration is going on and there tends to be more Monarchs flying to the west. If I HAD to go to Hondo for jury duty, I'll bet I would've seen more than around here! Hmm...maybe I should head to Medina!

This is the original Mode Walker bluebonnet painting (from the late 1800s) that hangs in the Neill-Cochran House Museum. The museum director, Cecille Marcato, brought it to our meeting last month. The painting was instrumental in getting the Texas legislators to adopt the bluebonnet as our state flower.




This is how the painting looks in all published photos of it. It's quite a difference.