I didn’t really have a vacation this summer. Since we don’t have kids in school, I usually try to plan trips more off season. My morning blog reading/writing time was curtailed for quite a while by lace. No, not that kind of lace – this kind:
I have never seen a Japanese beetle in Minnesota before this summer. When I fount the first one back in July I thought it wasn’t possible because they can’t live here. Hah. I took on the little rat b#$st$%rds every morning and evening, and other times during the day when I was around. Eating the roses was bad enough, but the real battle was to save the raspberries. The crop is diminished, but at least we are getting a small bowl each morning. Nothing like last year’s generous crop, however. This is part of one morning’s slaughter:
The bonus was spending early morning looking closely at leaves and plants. I saw several varieties of butterflies spreading their wings to dry. I took my phone along one morning and saw this fellow drying out:
My favorite varmint hunter came for a week. (I took the bug picture to send to him.) He didn’t catch anything good this summer, but he did build me a ‘homeland garden security system’ which involved sticks, string and lots of imagination. He rescued a giant snapper from becoming roadkill out near the barn:
and learned to cook Pad Thai.
We also rode horses, flew kites, went to a bowling birthday party and watched many, many episodes of Mythbusters. Motto for the week? “When in doubt, C4!” I went to the State Fair and saw some beautiful knitting. (Check out the State Fair Goddess, Ms. Rainey.) Really, though, could they get some new mannequins?
And this was part of the textile arts – I’m not sure which category.
I have been knitting and knitting. I can’t show some of it, but I’ll post on this photo shoot next:
Hope your summers (winters) were eventful as well.
MLE
Yarnerinas 
He’s looks a lot bigger than the last time.
Did you design that cute baby sweater?
We have Japanese Beetle traps here in PA (I don’t know if they’re available where you live). The bag has beetle pheromones and you trap a LOT of beetles.
My mom always hung a bag in the yard and emptied it when it was full. It won’t get them all, but it did help.
Wow, that’s a LOT of beetles. I’m glad you rescued a few of the raspberries, at least! And it looks like you guys had a lot of fun together (the pad thai especially looks yummy!) 🙂
But pray tell, why did someone chuck a football at that baby’s face? And is the baby old enough to catch yet? (The sweater’s gorgeous, though!)
Maybe that’s what’s eating some of the leaves on trees at Lake of the Isles. UGH.
You have some ‘splainin’ to do about that baby! 😉
What is happening to the gorgeous baby? The Pad Thai looks delicious, but I have no advice for the nasty beetles – North American vermin just aren’t within my knowledge base!
Good to see you again! Is the baby in the picture the next youth element on your blog? The one is growing up so you’re ensuring there’s a replacement before it’s too late? :0)
I’m almost afraid to ask what a Japanese Beetle is and how it got there.
You live in a very exotic place. Japanese beetles, a snapper? Is it a tortoise? Pad Thai? Looks delicious! Lovely knitting. Is it for a book?
Uff! You might have your varmint hunter check your compost pile for grubs. We have those green figeater beetles here — their life-cycle is much the same, I understand — dozens of grubs in the compost.
Cute sweater — cuter baby!
Those mannequins look really bored. Super bored.
The lacy leaf does look lovely though. I hope you eradicated the beetles.
When I was an elementary school-aged kiddo, growing up in western Pennsylvania, the lots in our subdivision were divided by these terrific hedges. Which were chock full o’ Japanese beetles every year! As kids, we thought they were kinda silly–if you lightly tap one on the back, it’ll stick out one of it’s hind legs, pretending to have a stinger. Wait a miniute, tap it again, and the other hind leg will stick out!! “Look out,you! I gots two stingers, and I knows how to use ’em!” We’d crack up. Then we’d get buckets & collect them, mostly so we could put about a million of them somewhere they’d least be expected…..