Wrens have been nesting in the terracotta birdhouse that I bought in Williamsburg and hung on my back porch. And now they have babies, who are adorable in their ugliness.

Last weekend I spent most of my time drifting in a sea of manuscript papers and references, slogging through freelance work, but the Professor persuaded me to get dressed in real clothes and go to dinner at a local pizza joint by using the magic word: coupon. (Of course, he was paying anyway, but still. I just get so excited when people get a deal.)

While waiting for our food, I started playing with my camera. I have no idea how to use all the special settings. It's always just on auto. So I explored.

Here I am in auto setting under pizzeria light. This equals serious profile face.

Black-and-white equals angst.

Sepia equals Old West. Evidently this is my Old West pose. I think it would be more convincing with a feather headdress.

No idea what this combination of settings was, but it equals lobster, I think.

The pizzeria was so-so. Neither the Professor nor I really liked our pizzas, even though one was free and therefore tasted better than usual. And I was annoyed that my simple bottle of beer cost more than four dollars. What a fool I was to order something without a price on it! But it should've been maybe two bucks. The overpricing negated the goodness of the coupon. So I don't think we'll go back to Little Azio's, even though they had cool cork decor.

I still know nothing about how to use these camera settings, but I do know more about their existence. Perhaps there'll be more playing when this freelance work is finished.

I have noticed a lot of yellow-jackets in my backyard lately. They hover close to the ground, as if they are foraging. They don't bother me or the chickens, but I was worried that there was a nest somewhere underground and that if I made a misstep or ran over it with a lawnmower I would be attacked. So I asked a few folks for wisdom on how to find a yellow-jacket nest. That yielded little fruit, so I hunted the internet. Still unsure, I turned to my trusty Extension agent, and she sent me back all sorts of helpful info. I don't think she'd mind me posting it since she put it in the paper today.

I'm sorry to hear about your yellow jacket problem in the yard. I don't want to discourage you but it isn't usually very easy to find a nest in the yard. Your yellow jackets could be flying 300 to 1,000 yards from their nest in search of food so it is highly possible that they are coming from a neighbor's yard. They prefer shady areas with little traffic so hopefully you won't be mowing in that area. The best way to find the nest is to follow the yellow jackets at late dusk when they are headed back home for the night. I would have more than one person doing this if possible because it is not easy to keep track of them. If you do find the nest make sure you don't shine a flashlight in the hole. This could wake them up and provoke an attack.

If you find the nest purchase a can of wasp killer that has a propellant. Spray this into the nest in the very early morning or after dark. This should destroy the nest. I would never pour gasoline into a nest; this is terrible for the environment. An organic method of control involves placing a glass bowl over then nest entrance and allowing the heat/sunlight to cook the yellow jackets. I personally don't want to get that close to the nest to put a glass bowl and some soil on the nest. Also, this wouldn't work as well in a shady area; less heat from the sunlight would build up.

If you can't find the nest, try using either homemade or store-bought trap. Homemade traps can involve anything from dead fish, liver, apple juice or cola. A typical homemade trap involves hanging fish a couple inches over a pan of water that has had a small amount of dish soap added. The yellow jackets will remove a piece of meat, which is typically too heavy to carry, and they will fall in the water. The reduced surface tension of the soapy water will drown them. This will only be helpful in small yards since one nest may contain hundreds or thousands of yellow jackets. Commercially available traps rely on attracting the yellow jacket with a sweet drink or juice and the insect becoming trapped and exhausted, finally drowning in the liquid.

Here is a great publication which is even more in depth concerning the control of yellow jackets: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2075.html

The good news about your pests is that the only yellow jackets that overwinter are the queens. All other nest members will die with the first frost later this year. The queen will not return to the same nest next year.

I am SO going to hang a fish in my backyard, just to see if it really works. That would certainly get my neighbors abuzz.

Later she wrote back with a bit more information:

The chipmunk holes probably don't have a nest in them. You may want to scout around before you mow to make sure, but you would see the workers going in and out all day. The area around an active nest is bare dirt from all the activity on every nest I've seen.

Meanwhile, the mice in my house are probably on their way to a grisly death. That makes me sad--I'd rather they just leave or at least die peacefully--but I am a wreck since that mouse ran across my floor and extreme measures were necessary. Including my leaving town for the weekend. The fellows at Athens Exterminators were so very nice and kind and patient with my neurosis and we cleaned up and they set out bait. They also found the hole in the floor in my laundry where the mice were coming in. Tiny hole for a big mouse. Even though I am sixty miles away, I am still jumping at small movements. I am way more upset about these intruders than I was about the burglar.

Speaking of, before the exterminators arrived, Scott from EMC Security came and installed my new security system. He was such a nice and professional young man. I've been really impressed with EMC so far and highly recommend them. It was also nice to have someone in the house. Somehow I felt less threatened by the mouse and even walked into my kitchen with his moral support. I warned him that if he heard me scream, not to worry, it was just a mouse.

I also sprayed a wasp nest by my back door. I was going to let them keep their nest, but sometimes they'd chase after me when I'd come in and out, and I was having the security system installed and am having a party soon and having a friend look after my chickens while I'm away, so I sprayed. That long-distance stuff sure makes it easy.

So many varmints.

So long, trusty Lumina.

Hello new Fit!

It's been a very exciting day. Bought a car for the first time in my life. Then came home to make supper, and a mouse ran across my kitchen floor. Very near me. Following stereotype, I screamed loudly and sought a chair to jump up on. I wonder if that would have been my reaction had I not been conditioned by cartoons as a child. It was pretty instinctive, if not at all useful. Clearly the traps are not working. I upgraded the traps this weekend but found that the varmints had managed to lick off all the peanut butter without setting off the trap. I called an exterminator tonight and am hoping for a return call in the morning. I am going to try to stay here tonight but have avoided the kitchen. All the lights are on. I'm pretty jumpy. Actually, I guess I could sleep in my fancy new car. . . .