Problems with insects and arachnids!

Because the sun was shining yesterday I wore a sundress. Well, that’s not strictly true; I wore the sundress because there’s no point in having clothes in the wardrobe doing nothing. And it was appropriate clothing for the weather - strappy, loose, a bit floaty, cool and comfortable - even though a sundress has the disadvantage of exposing more of your shoulders and back to the elements than you might really like. But then, I wasn’t planning to be out and about in the hot sun getting burnt. The most I was going to do was hang washing in the back garden. The washing dried beautifully, by the way.

Later, in the early evening we went for a bit of a stroll around the village. This may have revealed another disadvantage of exposing your shoulders and back to the elements. When we returned home I set about putting the finishing touches to our evening meal. I discovered a persistent itch on my back, typically at one of those points you can’t reach easily unless you’re the type of yoga fanatic who can send one hand up behind your back and the other down your back over your shoulder and have them touch. I can no longer even come close to that. Anyway, eventually it occurred to me that I might have been bitten. Phil investigated for me - yes, I had been bitten or stung - and he then administered antihistamine cream. Relief!

At some point later in the evening I went to the loo. Sitting on the toilet, I suddenly saw movement on the floor to my right. A HUUUGE spider had scuttled out from somewhere and was sitting there as bold as brass. I swear s/he could have been the model for the Maman spider sculpture outside the Guggenheim in Bilbao. Now, I have a method for dealing with spiders and so I went and collected a glass from the bedside table. It was only just wide enough to pop down on top of the spider without chopping off any of her/his legs. S/he was angry at being trapped and hopped about rather fiercely in the glass. All to no avail! I slid a card under the glass, carefully picked up card and glass and dropped the spider out of the bedroom window. Job done! Problem solved!

It must be large spider season. Only a few nights ago Phil spotted a large on right above his side of the bed. With some difficulty, balancing on pillows on top of the bed, he carried out the spider-catching manoeuvre, this time unfortunately breaking off a spider leg or two. He had to repeat the manoeuvre a night or two later, without the balancing as the spider was in a more accessible place, possibly with the same spider as this one was also minus a leg or two.

Last night, after my spider emergency we settled down to watch some television. My iPad kept pinging messages which I did not investigate until the TV programme had finished. It turned out to be Granddaughter Number One with a spider emergency of her own, she had opened her attic bedroom window to let some air in and a giant spider had scuttled in. Now, Granddaughter Number One, always an anxious individual, has a near-paranoid fear of spiders. Normally, faced with such a situation, she relies on her housemate to deal with the arachnid. Unfortunately her housemate is away on holiday with her parents. So she needed to share the problem on our family group chat. Completely unnerved by the possibility of a spider crawling over her on the night, Granddaughter Number One retreated to the living room and slept on the sofa. 

She appealed for help to deal with the problem in the morning. No way was she going back into her bedroom until she knew the bed had been stripped and shaken, just in case, and the bedroom vacuumed to check Sally Spider was not hiding in a corner. She could not do these tasks herself as Sally Spider might rush out and scare the wits out of her. She might never be able to go back into her bedroom. Talk about Miss Muffet!

I thought I might have to go round to her house today. Her mother was also volunteering. But quite early this morning she told us that her father was going to visit this evening to sort out the whole business. 

I do sympathise. I used to be almost as fearful of things that flap as she is of eight-legged scuttlers. The presence of a large moth in a room would have me out of the door. I am still not happy with birds flying around indoors. The bat cave at Chester Zoo is a bit of a trial. But mostly I have got over it. I decided I didn’t want to pass on the terror to my children and opted to be brave. All is possible. 

What amazes me, however, is that Granddaughter Number One can happily handle her pet rats and snake, something that gives me the heebie-jeebies! Each to their own!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!