Spiders, mites and squirrels

Despite our spider frightener, I can’t get rid of the skinny ones that regularly invade the spare room and spare bathroom, which we are currently using. Last week I got the Dyson tools out and vacuumed up at least six of them from the ceiling of the bathroom – two directly overhead when I was showering. They seem very attracted to the place.

They are not the only pest that’s invaded. When I was making a pizza for the party on Sunday, I decided to add in a scoop of wholemeal flour. To my horror, when I opened the pack it was alive (literally) with mites. I’ve never experienced that before. And I only got the flour to make things for my daughter, a semi-veggie with a healthier lifestyle than mine. I can’t think she’d want to bake that lot of creatures, though. Outside in the garden, a squirrel has spotted our plums (still green at the moment) and is intent on stripping the tree. This happened about three years ago, when the tree was laden, and the squirrel was up and down every spare minute. Some time later, we found a dead squirrel in the bushes; I don’t know whether it was poisoned by a surfeit of unripe plums. In addition, the branches of the tree were so weighed down, that the branches broke off. Now it’s just a tiny little thing, still trying to recover.

Three good emails today One from my cousin telling she had received a copy of an article I had published many years ago on solar heating, and it might be useful for the course she’s doing. One from my daughter who says she is safely home after travelling from Hereford to Wales and back, in the last few days. And finally - one from Anne www.myspace.com/annebrooke saying she has got her contract from PD Publishing. Her novel, Maloney’s Law will be published in the US in 2008. That’s absolutely wonderful, Anne. I join the many people who are rooting for you.