Snakes, Geckos and Ants - OH MY!

Well no pictures for this blog entry. Just a story to share about all "my critters" of late.

Pest #1 -ANTS: Two days ago, I found ants traveling around my pantry door.
I killed them, cause Doug said they are just sugar ants and they are probably coming in under the slab, around the baseboards. I did not see one ant on or near the floor.
Yesterday morning, I woke up and started making myself some breakfast and noticed a considerable amount of more ants traveling around my pantry door. Opening the pantry, they are now going across all the shelves....That's It!!! No more Ms Nice Gal! I emptied EVERYTHING out of the pantry and found the ants were most interested in the Andersen's Honey jar, Aunt Jemima's maple syrup and some white corn syrup. I cleaned everything in the pantry, including the shelves and the floor. I watched the ants, for what seemed to be about an hour, and found out they were not heading down to the floor but up to the ceiling. There was a small hole in the ceiling where the corner of the kitchen meets the narrow wine cabinet wall. Doug sprayed some bug spray into that hole ....wallah - no more ants.
But now the pantry was cleaned out and Doug painted all the shelves. He says the shelves need to dry for 2 weeks...so guess I will have to contend with all the clutter of all the food in the house being on the counter-tops and kitchen table. Two weeks is an aweful long time for clutter. I've decided to avoid the rooms as much as possible and not set my Type A personality into a tailspin.

Pest # 2 - Geckos: I've had a number of traps set up outdoors to catch the "quick" little critters.
Last night, I went out to pick up a phone book that was left on our front step. I should have known better than open that door after dark. One of those slimy little devils ran over my foot. I shook my leg and darted in the door, hoping to prevent him from entering my humble abode. Pest #2 as it relates to Pest #3

Pest #3 - Snake: This morning after Doug left for work, I was cleaning off the kitchen table from our morning coffee...remember, all the stuff that is piled on my table has to be moved everytime we want to sit at the table and eat. Anyways I digress! I looked out the back door to see one of my glue traps not sitting next to the house any longer. It was moved near one of the monkey grass by the pool patio. Hmmm, it must have been blown over there by the wind.....NOT! I went outside to move it back to the house wall, when I picked it up, there was this snake head with his mouth wide open hissing at me with his tongue sticking out...wishing to be put down I guess. His body was wrapped around one of the monkey grass mounds. Yikes! Back in the house I went to call Doug and tell him he was on SNAKE PATROL tonight. He told me I better get the hoe and cut the snake in two, so that it doesn't venture any farther. The snake had apparantly been lured into the glue trap, because there was a gecko in there. So now I've elminated two pests with one trap. Yea Me!

Now mind you, we've caught some baby snakes in our little glue traps, but this one was quite a bit bigger than those captured in the past. I went indoors and got my shoes on and then went to the garage and grabbed the hoe; snake choppin' here I come. Well one mighty swoop of the hoe and the snake had quite a gash in his skin. I didn't know snakes could bleed so much! The snake was still hissing at me, so gave him another whack! Hiss at me, why don't you! I used the hoe and dragged the snake out to the garbage can...Doug can pick it up when he gets home. Still don't know what kind of snake it is; most people tell me Texas Rat Snakes are very common to these parts. Ok fine, so Texas Rat Snakes are not poisonous...GOOD!... but they look like a copperhead which is quite poisonous! BAD! I'm no snake expert...so guess I'll treat all snakes like they are poisonous and stay indoors for the rest of the day. Enough Wild Kingdome for me for one day!

Buffett Concert

Saturday night, Doug and I enjoyed seeing the Jimmy Buffett concert at Frisco's Pizza Hut Park.

We had even better seats than last year!

It was an awesome concert and the weather was spectacular. Started out about 73 and finished at about 68. The rain held off until early Sunday morning.

Jimmy puts on a great concert and there is always as much entertainment in the stands as on the stage:-)






Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band

“The Year of Still Here” 2008 Tour











Performer/ Credit
Jimmy Buffett Vocals, Guitar
Doyle Grisham Pedal Steel Guitar
Michael Utley Keyboards
Mac McAnally Guitar, Background Vocals
Robert Greenidge Steel Drums
Ralph MacDonald Percussion
Peter Mayer Guitar, Background Vocals
Jim Mayer Bass
Roger Guth Drums
John Lovell Trumpet
Tina GullicksonVocals, Guitar
Nadirah Shakoor Vocals
Sonny Landreth Guitar, Vocals

Songs Played Breakdown:
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
A Pirate Looks At Forty
Brown Eyed Girl
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
Cheeseburger In Paradise
Come Monday
Far Side Of The World
Fins
Fruitcakes
Homemade Music
Makin' Music For Money
Margaritaville
Miss You So Badly
One Particular Harbour
Rainy Day Women #12 and 35
School Boy Heart
Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
Southern Cross
Tiki Bar is Open
Volcano
Cowboy In The Jungle
Creola
Pencil Thin Mustache
Scarlet Begonias
We're Still Here
Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw
Another Saturday Night
Defying Gravity
Glory Days
Gulf Coast Highway
Mexico
Piece Of Work
Somewhere Over China
Stories We Could Tell
The City
Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season
While My Guitar Gently Weeps

The Colony Sky

Today we are again expected to receive some nasty weather. This is what the sky looks like as the leading edge of the storm moves in. Scary!

Alto-cumulus clouds are "larger rounded masses, white or grayish, partially shaded, arranged in groups or lines, and often so crowded together in the middle regions that the cloudlets join." These clouds at times resemble the cirro-cumulus, but their much larger size and lower altitude, two to three miles high, distinguish them readily. These clouds, too, when accompanying cirrus clouds, forewarn us of impending storminess.

When clouds appear like rocks and towers,
The earth's refreshed by frequent showers.

Save the Date!

Jill Kuklenz & Joshua Elliott
have announced their wedding date

Saturday
December 19, 2009

First Presbyterian Church

1801 19th Street
Huntsville, TX 77340

Deans List

The Administration and Faculty
of the
College of Arts and Sciences
Sam Houston State University

take pleasure in extending congratulations

to

JACKLYN KAY KUKLENZ

for
Outstanding Academic Achievement

Dean's List
Fall 2007

April 4th Hail

It was 3 am and I was sound asleep when I was woken up to the sound of hail hitting my windows.

I went and looked out the front door and the back door. The ground was white! I grabbed a couple of the hail stones, that were within reach of the door. They are about the size of a penny.

I turned on the tv and checked for what else was coming. No tornados...thank goodness! Just heavy winds 50-60 miles per hour, hail and rain. We got almost an inch of rain, the hail and no roof damage that I can see. The truck was also not damaged.

The worst of the storm appeared to be located in Denton, TX a mere 20-30 miles from here.

See the below link of some of the photos taken by the Channel 5 news chopper this morning.
http://www.nbc5i.com/slideshow/news/15791958/detail.html

It's Spring

My strawberries are growing!

The banana plant is sprouting!
The bushes are blooming!
The Indian Hawthorn is budding!
The peach tree is surviving!
YEAH SPRING!!!!!