Yellowjackets...

...are a type of wasp found in great numbers around here. We have had more than usual this year and have suspected that there is a hive (nest?) somewhere, but it is very difficult to them as they nest underground. We bought new traps and bait at the fiesta yesterday at our local nursery and John put new bait in this trap which has been emptied at least twice. There is another trap on a lower roof corner and they show little interest in it, but when this one went up,  we noticed the gathering of a large number of them under the eave on the back of the gutter. After watching them for awhile, we decided that they probably have a nest in the gutter itself which is covered with a leaf guard, making it much like an underground spot. The leaf guard is clearly not keeping the yellowjackets out and if they do have a nest in there, it will be clogging the gutter. Fortunately, they should go away in a month or so. We have no interest in investigating further until then, although they are massively annoying right now, buzzing around the porch and waiting at the door until we open it so they can buzz inside.  They actually don't buzz much, they just hover around anything that breathes and, like gnats, refuse to be swatted away.

The sight of hundreds of yellowjackets flying aimlessly around causes me to reflect on how my thoughts and my ability to follow through on any given problem seem to be following a similar trajectory. Jim came by to show me how to check on the three different insurance policies that replace the one we had for 40 years and will not be renewed in November. I'm a luddite when it comes to doing all this on a computer with no hard copies of anything, but now I have been educated on how to access the policies, check on their status, and pay the premiums. It  gives me a headache.

I did get out to the nursery to get a few more plants for the pots we've been replanting. Yesterday's fiesta was clearly a one day event as everything was restored to order, gravel paths raked, plants watered and, lo and behold, a whole new display of Talavera pots set out. I don't think I've ever seen them here before, but I think we have decided not to replace the one that broke yesterday. I did have a bit of a lapse and bought plants for it anyway. I remembered before I left the nursery that there was no longer a pot to put them in, but I bought them anyway....

I can always find a place for another plant even though John isn't always so enthusiastic about planting them in our inhospitable soil....