Friday, August 24, 2012

here's 2 of 'em

i don't often say "I HATE" anything... but here's 2 of them:  fruitflies and vinca, neither are commonly seen on that kind of list, let alone on the same list.

so, where the bloody hell do they come from, those fruitflies??  all of a sudden my kitchen is inundated with the small annoying beasties.  i even bought a heavy duty snap-lid kind of container for the compost, and did it eliminate them?  nope.  and i've hung up 2 of those sticky fly strips...both of them are full of the awful insects... and there's still an abundance of em' flying around all over the place.  Jim pours a glass of wine and within seconds (well, it seems like that) they are all over the rim and swimming around in the wine.  they don't seem interested in the vegetables i've had in the food dryer, but i'm really reluctant to try drying fruit.  juicy, sweet peaches?  i don't think i want to go there.  and i keep getting repeated offers to bring home peaches and nectarines from a local farm... which i guess i'm supposed to turn into jam.  just not sure i want any part of that.  realistic consideration tells me that it would be way more simple to find an organic peach jam at a farmer's market or Trader Joe's...and since my jam-making usually produces more of a sauce than a jam, well, i think the purchasing option makes way more sense on so many levels!  ha!  that's settled... no jam making attempts here.

and then there's vinca.  i'm not talking about the "cultivated" kind of vinca sold in nurseries as a ground cover.  nope... this is wild vinca and its life in my queendom has a long ago history.  many years ago when we were building our house (which took many many years to do) we built it on the edge of a wheat field.  there was only dirt around the house... only dirt.  no trees or bushes or landscaping of any kind... just lots of dirt, which turned to mud when the rains came.  we had no money to put into plants or trees or bushes or landscaping... every penny and more went into building the house.  i became friends with a neighbor, Celia, who was in very similar circumstances.  we were always on the look-out for any green growing thing we could plant in that dirt (which became dust in the summer and mud in the winter. and the mud dried when it came into the house... and it became dust).  so, one day when we were out for a walk we saw what looked like a likely solution to cover up some of the dirt/mud/dust which surrounded our homes.  it was vinca and it looked green and healthy and vigorous.  having no idea what we were doing, we both pulled some of it up from the side of the road and planted it around our houses.  we did not know at the time that it was a spawn of the devil with roots that must go straight down to hell.  just try pulling or digging it out.  it always wins.  so, 30 some years later i've just spent another bunch of grueling hours trying to pull and dig it out.  i will never win this one.  and there is not a chemical weed killer that i have not tried.  nothing works, not even the pulling and digging.  and it's a losing situation for me.  if i give up, it takes over.  even when i spend hours trying to conquer it, there's always one bit of root that escapes me and that's all it needs to keep going.  i don't give up easily, but i'm getting close on this one.  i HATE vinca!


2 comments:

LORI LAWSON said...

LOL! Just thank your lucky stars you don't live in the South and have kudzu literally taking over and growing over and into everything. In South Carolina, I saw kudzu growing over, under, and through the windows of an old VW bug. It enveloped the whole car. Or, you could have planted some morning glory. I won't even go there. I think there are other subjects that are deserving of a little "hate" rather than the vinca, i.e., a certain senator who made some really stupid statements recently about "legimate rape".

Sandy said...

i'm ever so happy that i don't have to deal with kudzu. i've seen it in action. also morning glory. it doesn't diminish my hate for vinca and fruit flies though. i've got to deal with them in the here and now. and yes, Todd Akin does deserve the ire of anyone with a brain!!!