Fighting Spiders

I went spider hunting this weekend. I was going to mow the lawn, which admittedly, I hadn't done in a while. During the summer, I keep the riding mower (I know, I have NO excuse for not mowing!) parked in the garage and my car lives outside. So I really hadn't been in there in a long time. The place was COVERED with spiders. Big ones, little ones, spindly ones, dark ones, light ones, and baby ones in sacs. I lost count after 20. I sprayed them & stomped on them & smacked them with a broom. I was very concerned about unseen spidies jumping on my legs once I got on the mower to back it out of the garage. Thus, my spider-fighting uniform. I know, I'm such a superhero. (Note to anyone who might publish this blog again. Kindly do not include this picture. Thanks.)


It didn't occur to me to document this spider infestation until I was finished. Instead I took pictures of the granddaddy long legs that live on my house. These pictures were taken in about a 5-foot area on the side of my house. (The second picture is sideways, not that it matters.) I want you to imagine 5 times that number of spiders in the same space.





And now imagine most of them look like this:



At least, I think that's what they looked like. They were dark and had big round butts. I did not get close enough to examine markings. I choose to believe it was the extended family of that one above, and not of this lady here below:

[Edit: I found a big-butted spider on one of my glue traps, and it is, thank goodness, the former & not the latter. I also caught a wolf spider.]

Garden, Overgrown

The edges of the garden are pretty hard to see, because it is WAY overgrown.


Only a few of my broccoli plants made broccoli. I let this one get a little yellow. Whoops.


Shallots separating.


Swiss chard in a forest of grass.

I also planted lettuce & arugula, but I have eaten those, and they're going to seed now. The strawberry plants did not bear fruit & none of my peas appear to have come up.

I'm pretty proud that my garden produced ANYTHING and didn't totally dry up.

We're Published, Y'all!

Sarah H. had a bridal shower this weekend and received lots and lots of cookbooks, including this awesome one. You might think from these pictures that it's from me, but it's not. It's from her law school friend. (Thanks, Ericka!)

I'm pretty tickled that we're, technically speaking, published authors now. Go us! Put it on the CV. Hope you enjoy, Sarah! Particularly those classics such as "How to Pour Cereal" and "Bad Day Meal." =)

Expanding?

I was thinking perhaps we should expand our blog just a bit. Although the focus should still be on food, maybe it could include all things domestic & house-related? Maybe that way a certain contributor would have things to post. Like her home improvements, her new patio and bbq pit, etc. What say you?