To Bee or Not to Bee

Some nagging bugs outside turned out to be a significant problem, and of course we waited until a long holiday weekend to do something about it!  Outside the laundry room door, some bees had been congregating under the eaves, but there was no visible nest or hive.  Russell sprayed foam in the most obvious openings in an effort to keep them out of the house, and a day later, the bees made a persistent and noisy entrance into the house through any available means: light fixtures, vents, outlets, etc.  Luckily the bees were limited mostly to the laundry room, which we closed up and temporarily did without.

Thankfully, some local exterminators were working on a lazy Saturday afternoon, and they came over within the hour.  With the help of our ladders and power tools, they cut into the crawl space above the laundry room and extracted 6 to 7 large honeycombs.  Too bad the combs were covered in insulation, or else they might have been a tasty treat.

Speaking of the birds and the bees, our almost-resident cat seems to be pregnant.  She suddenly puffed out last week, and the best explanation is the white male cat who lurks around the edge of the yard.  Darn those natural instincts!  Kitty will make a visit to the vet or the shelter next week... not yet sure which.

Kitty's new wide girth

One week later: Kitty took a trip to the vet to get fixed, and despite the trauma of being in a car and indoors for the first time in her life (not to mention in surgery), she has forgiven us and resumed hanging out in the driveway and stalking tennis balls.

Kitty post-surgery