After a long series of raw or rainy days that had me coaxing small fires in the woodstove to take the chill off the house, yesterday was sunny, humid, and hot. Really hot. It may have topped 70F but I didn't check the thermometer. The black flies, which have been toying with us ever since the last snowfall, appeared en masse and in battle formation. I knew before I opened the door, as I could see the goats shaking their ears and making sudden short sprints in the paddocks.
Here we go.
Black flies, mosquitoes, deer flies, horse flies.
The hair is standing straight up on my head just from typing those words.
I'm going to try to start taking Piper for short walks very early in the morning. Piper has never been a morning person. Like LeShodu, who kept the whole herd on a Brunch, Not Breakfast schedule for her lifetime, Piper won't eat first thing in the morning. And even though dawn has always been one of my favorite times of day, after I've been up - not just awake, but up - on average every three hours throughout every night, I am not particularly sparky in the morning myself. So it will take a bit of effort, this experiment in early walks to see if we can avoid some of the biting bugs.
Today was Day One, and I persuaded Piper to come outside with me when the sky was greying but the sun had not yet come over the stone wall and through the woods. There was no one else walking on the road (I have seen more people and dogs on this road in the past few weeks than in the past decade) and the Invisible Dog That Always Barks At Us was silent. Our route was a narrow triangle of slightly more than a mile, and when the sun dazzled through just past the half-mile point, we began to see a few black flies. So...tomorrow I'll try to get my lazy self out a little earlier. Piper is a better sport than I am about getting out of bed and staggering toward the door, but only if I "go first," so I will have to be the driving wheel in this endeavor. Wish me luck.
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p.s. I'm planning to get the Candy Roaster squash seeds in the mail this week.
Six people in three states have already emailed their mailing addresses, and I have LOTS of seed to share, so please feel free to join in!
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Yesterday there was a small glimmer here that maybe (shhh, don't say it too loudly!) spring might be here. I have a small window of opportunity to enjoy it until the trees really start to leaf out and then I have to coop up inside to try to keep my allergies under control. I guess this enforced virus isolation might work to my advantage this year.
ReplyDeleteI empathize about seasonal allergies! I'm feeling it in my eyes already, and thinking about using over-the-counter allergy pills to see if it will help without making anything else worse. The one time I tried prescription stuff I had a perpetual sore throat until I figured out the connection and stopped using it.
DeleteGood luck with the morning walks! I hope is works out.
ReplyDeleteSo that's what those little black flying things are! This is the first year that I remember any near my deck. There's a little puff of them where the gutter drain pipe is. No bites or even interest in me, with my handy spray bottle of dish liquid. I thought they're flying ants.
If they are not actively trying to get into your ears and eyes, and under your hatband, they may not be black flies. Or else they may be black flies lulling you into a false sense of security while they gather their strength.
DeleteOh my, lots of biting things! We have mosquitoes and no-see-ums, and late in summer the horseflies show up but they are not many these days as we don't have livestock.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention no-see-ems. Ugh.
DeleteI remember those biting bugs way too well. I wish you luck on beating them outside every morning.
ReplyDeleteI missed the post about seeds. I'll try to send you an email. I'd love to try them.
Hi KB - seeds will be sent! Welcome to Team Candy Roaster ;)
DeleteAlready getting close to 100 degrees here. Walks not quite as comfortable. I remember walking through the woods in NY one summer with friends and there were sooooooooooo many flies chasing us. No fun at all. Good luck getting out bright and early.
ReplyDelete