Ozark Defensive

The boys recently discovered a huge hornet's nest under the shed drop. While I was at Wal-mart the other day, Zack called to ask me to pick up 'a' can of wasp spray. So I did.

Usually we don't go out of the way to kill anything, but this could potentially be a dangerous situation even for someone not allergic.

We already had a half-can and once given the full can, it presented a conundrum. Who would get to battle the mighty hornets with only half a can of spray? Neither felt brave enough to attempt such a feat with inadequate weapons. They battled between themselves until Garrison suggested a round of paper/rock/scissors to make the draw.

Nearly dusk now, Garrison took the full can. Zack, with a defeated look on his face, as if he knew he was marching toward certain death, took the half-can.

They assumed positions in what they'd determined to be the best tactical approach and commenced the skirmish.

Once spray hit the entrance, hornets began pouring out, rightfully defensive and very, very angry.

Garrison dropped the full can and abandoned his post, leaving Zack scrambling for his dropped can while continuing to direct the stream of spray from his half-can into the hole, hoping to hit as many of the beasts as he could while putting the second can into action. Praying all this happened without a pause in stream delivery.

So he finished spraying out the full can, after emptying the rest of the half-can. Once it was all said and done, we had a good laugh out. No one was stung.

Garden Projects

In my tiny garden beside the house, I've been stacking rocks.

The rocks are varied in size and shape. Thick flat rocks, roundish cobblestones, and square brick shaped are common and abundant here. Rather than sort the rocks, I just use whatever is nearest at hand and go from there.

Makes for messy walls, I know. But so little else is organized and neat in my life, why should the walls be any different?

I stacked them from inside. The fence is level, so I wanted to build up the gap between the ground and bottom of the fence. It's meant to keep out dogs, cats, chickens, and horses. I doubt it will keep out the cats if they really want in, though.

First, this cute picture of Cheese in Zack's boot:

The fence is aluminum and I got it from a lady who posted it on Freecycle. Until now, I hadn't found a good use for it, but I knew sooner or later I would. Yes, I'm a packrat.

The ground is fairly sloped, so I have to look uphill toward the garden from down below the front of the house. Hopefully, this will help with erosion and the ground on the inside will build up behind the wall over time.