Luna's Baublebilities

What a day we had here yesterday! The weather has been hot and sticky - in the 80's with about 115% humidity - all week. We had been working on growing gills and I was opening a new Etsy store yesterday afternoon when thepower blipped off and sky began to grow dark. Ominously dark.

I said to Molly "You stay in here and keep Maxx in the house. I've got to go out and bring in the tomatoes." (I still have 72 tomato plants in a flat that were sitting under the lilac tree waiting to be planted. Don't ask why I started so darn many tomatoes. Do you need some?)

I grabbed my Tevas and slapped them on my feet, stood up, opened the front door and was immediately blasted with a horizontal deluge. (Is it a deluge if the rain comes into the house horizontally?) Maxx started screaming so I left the tomatoes to sink or swim on their own and started closing windows instead. I was honestly beginning to think that I would have to take everyone down cellar when the wind started to let up a bit. It was blowing in every direction and I couldn't see out the windows to the trees that are 15 feet from the house. When the driveway became visible again, I realized that one of our beautiful young maples had lost a major part of its crown and split down the trunk with the force of the wind. Upon further inspection after the storm, I could see that the crotch of the tree had been rotting out for some time. I guess we were lucky that it fell away from the house - though an insurance settlement might have been handy to fix the roof and get rid of the bats. . .

We fared better than our neighbor down the road. A huge Cottonwood was uprooted in her lawn and landed on her roof. She is an elderly widow and has been in her home for a long time. This event is turning out to be very stressful for her. You can see the roots of that huge tree in this photo.



Speaking of Bats - we had another one in the house last night. This is a regular occurrence in the summer as we are running an unofficial bat sanctuary in the attic and game room of our home. We attempted removal of them our first year here but they have been very persistent about coming back. We've sealed off parts of the home where they have access so that they do not get into our living space unless something is left open but the smell is bad on hot days. A permanent exclusion will probably cost $20,000 or more for new roofing, soffets and siding so we just practice vigilance and try to keep them out. Here is what to do if you get a bat in your house:

Don't panic. Screaming and ducking is fun, for a while, but not really effective. If it is evening, the bat is flying and you know that it came in recently and has not had contact with humans or pets in the house you should open a door and watch to make sure it flies outside. If the bat is too stupid to fly out on his own, catch it in a fishing net and release it outdoors. Wear gloves and be very careful not to touch the bat with your bare hands.

If the bat is resting on the wall or floor and you know that it came in recently and has not had contact with humans or pets, place a can, jar or net over the bat, scoop him up and release it outside. Again, be very careful not to touch the bat.

If it is morning or daytime or if you have any doubts about how long the creature has been inside and about whether or not it has touched any person or pet, you must catch it and send it in for rabies testing. Again, catch the bat in a net or by placing a can or jar over it while it is resting. Put the sealed container with the bat in it into your freezer. Call your local department of health and arrange with them to have the bat picked up for testing. You'll have to fill out a form and you'll be contacted in a few days to let you know whether or not the bat had rabies. So far, we've never had a rabid bat but I've always been relieved to get the 'all clear' call.

Time to wrap it up - here's a photo of some things about to go up in my new Etsy supply shop - GoblinsMarket.