Hibernation Starts

We woke up this morning and on looking out of the window we were confronted with a grey, gloomy looking sky. Turning the radio on proved that we were still in Bulgaria, and had not been mysteriously transported back to the UK during the night. I don't remember noticing the weather forecast warning that it would degrade before the weekend. I had things that I had planned to do outside, such as another bonfire to get rid of more garden bits and bobs. Once it started raining that put the kibosh on that idea. I am glad that all of the wood is now up under the barn, cut into cheeses and drying out ready for next year. So far the running repairs which I had to carry out on my English splitting axe are still holding out.

So if my previously planned outdoor activities couldn't go ahead, then I would give Net a hand indoors. With two of us doing it we could give the house a good go through before the onset of winter. Very much like Spring cleaning, but in the Autumn. As we don't have carpets, normally everything is swept by broom, but today the Dyson made its way out from its lair in the cupboard under the stairs.

Another added benefit of the vacuum cleaner coming out is that I can get the nozzle into some of the higher corners. Admittedly I'm no man mountain, but I am taller than Net, so it makes more sense for me to do things like that. Now although it might be heading towards Halloween, and cobwebs might be considered seasonal in certain circles, if Net tells me that they have to go, well who am I to argue. Unfortunately it wasn't just the webs which ended up being sucked up, but several spiders also made that one way trip. I am sure that I didn't manage to get all of the spiders and tomorrow webs will be back festooning the corners of the ceilings. At least with the damp weather now, there shouldn't be so much dust flying around from the fields and roads around the village. So hopefully the new webs might not be quite so noticeable.

So while I was causing death and destruction to the local spider community I started thinking about some of the other bugs and beasties which we get indoors. It wasn't until we moved to Bulgaria, that we first confronted these House Centipedes. They are mainly nocturnal, or inhabit shadowy areas, and supposedly prey on other insects and bugs. I have never seen them eating or even hunting their prey, but I have seen them running across the wall when disturbed. I will say one thing for them, they do have a fair turn of speed, as a consequence we refer to them as road runners. We have been told that they do bite, fortunately neither of us have had to experience that. Also their feet have an acid like substance on them, so if they do run across bare skin there is the possibility of an allergic reaction.

Another set of visitors at this time of year, are the ladybirds. They are looking for somewhere to hibernate during the winter months. You would be surprised at just how many sneak into your home each day, and then all of a sudden you will find a colony of them. Everyone seems to think that they are harmless, unless you are an aphid, but these are something else that will bite you. That's gratitude for you.

Our latest visitor arrived courtesy of one of our cats, thanks for that Brahms. Those living in the country will be well aware of all of the work going on in fields. As fields of stubble have been burnt, and then turned over by rough ploughs, their normal inhabitants have found themselves being evicted. So they head into the villages trying to find somewhere warm and dry. Our cats certainly seem to know where to sniff out these new neighbours, judging by some of the dissections we find on garden paths. We wouldn't have minded so much had Brahms let us know that he was bringing a friend home to tea, but nothing had been said. The first we knew about it was when we saw Mr Mouse just sat there cleaning his whiskers. A quick swat with the brush stunned it, and I was able to scoop it up and move it outside. My problem was trying to place it somewhere out of temptation for the cats, otherwise they would try and bring it back indoors. At least we haven't had to face any visitors which hiss this year.

When you consider that this weekend the clocks are due to change, as is the weather, we shouldn't be that surprised with things trying to find somewhere to hibernate. I don't know about anyone else but the clocks changing always seems to come round so quickly. Maybe even more so this year, as it feels that it has been a very wet summer. The good news is that most of our winter preparations are already either complete, or under way. So I hope that the really bad weather doesn't set in yet, the nights getting colder we expect, and delicate plants have been moved under shelter

When Ladybirds Attack

Ladybird

Some of you might remember a statement that I made a few posts ago. The one about how the insects in your garden if not trying to eat your plants will be trying to eat you. So there I was out cutting the grass when all of a sudden I felt something bite me on the shoulder. The only thing there was a Ladybird. It turns out that these little buggers do actually bite. I have noticed that there seems to be a lot of them this year, and on checking the roses, there doesn't seem to be that many aphids about. So maybe either these ladybird needs to go to Specsavers, or I have started to look like a great big greenfly. I am hoping that it is the first of these options, otherwise I might have a few snags that I was otherwise unaware of.

Wasp Spider

As you might imagine there are all manner of insects lurking in the average Bulgarian garden. Some look quite scarey, but these are the peaceful ones. It is the ordainary looking ones that often trying biting lumps out of you. There is a fly , that seems immune to all known fly sprays,whose sole purpose on Earth is to bite people. The closest that I have come to it before now was something called the Blandford Fly. To try and control these bugs and beasties we have got a couple of things from the Agro Apteka. Firstly we got something called Fedona, which can be liberally sprayed round. It is recommended by the World Health Organisation, and is often used out in Africa. A small vial is mixed with 6 litres of water, and that will last you all through the summer. It is also pet friendly, although I am not sure about using it round chickens and such like. We have also got something similar, called Icon 10 which is meant to control the Mozzies.

Grasshopper

Grasshopper

Then there are the Grasshoppers. These also bite, but luckily we have cats who like hunting them and then eating them. It is not unusual to find bits of Grasshopper leg on the step by the back door. I am guessing that there is not a great deal of meat on the legs, unlike a chicken drumstick. Occasionally we also get Praying Mantises in the garden, but I have only seen male ones so far this year, and not the larger females.

Moth

The Fireflies have either disappeared or their batteries have run out as I don't notice them flitting round the garden of an evening now. I am expecting the big Hawk Moths to arrive soon, although as I remember there were not that many about last year. These are something else that the cats love to chase, but unfortunately they damage some of the plants as the leap around trying to catch these large moths.

Some of the larger beetles are already out and about. There are Stag Beetles, which many in the UK will be familiar with. There are also Rhino Beetles as well, unfortunetely I don't have any photos of a complete one as the cats seem to think that these form part of their diet, anyone would think that we don't feed them. Ignore what Mr Cat says, as he feels that he should live on a diet of Cheese, Ham, Chicken and Fish.

Poppy Spider?

Garden Spider

There are plenty of different species of Spider to be found over here. The good news, for those who are a bit worried about such things, is that they are not that big. Although if you do have a bit of a phobia, I am guessing that any spider can appear much larger than it really is.

Wasp

Quite often you will find that people in the villages keep bees. It is often said that if you suffer with hay fever then if you take locally produced honey this helps to build up the bodies immunity. I know that Dencho, round the back of us, keeps bees as we keep fishing them out of the pool. The little sids are quite ungrateful, as a couple of times we have been stung by them. I can understand people keeping bees, as they are useful for the honey and the wax, and they also help to polinate the crops. With the number of wasps and hornets about, do people also keep these in hives? Last year our Boxer, Fenny, decided to sample a Hornet just to see what it tasted like. Half of his jowls swelled up, and he ended up looking like the Elephant Man's dog, he wasn't too bad after some anti histamine. Surprisingly he doesn't seem that keen on a repeat performance this year.

Jewel Bug?

Cockchafer?

So as you can see there are quite a few insects that inhabit the gardens, and there are still plenty that have yet to be photographed by me. This will also include the various different species of Ants. I have noticed that the smaller something is the worse it's bite seems to be. Whenever I am watering the garden of an evening, I often get bitten, but on looking there never appears to be anything there. maybe they are related to the famous North American Nosee'ums

Before I forget I would just like to welcome a couple of Ladies who are now officially following the blogs. So a very warm welcome to both Net and Chris. The good news is that there is still plenty of room should anyone else feel inclined to follow the blog.