Tuesday 9 September 2014

One of Those Days

So I thought it would be a good day to think about how to hang my banner in the front yard. I marched out to the front of the house and lo and behold, I found a wasp nest right in the middle of the lawn. I did not know that wasps would nest in a lawn. Now I do.

Google to the rescue! Apparently, one of the least harmful ways to remove a ground wasp nest is to flood it.

Made sense to me - remember I have some experience with wasp nests up at Christie Lake. Our strategy then was to disturb the nest with a very long stick in the hope that the wasps would get annoyed and decide to find a new home, which worked out just fine.

I did get stung twice that day but I'm not allergic so it was no big deal. However, sliding a garden hose into this new nest was bound to be a more delicate operation.

I got my mosquito net hat from our vast array of camping gear and put on a heavy coat, leather gloves and heavy leather shoes. I made sure all my Velcro seams were shut tight and I grabbed the hose. Let the flooding begin!

Time to get Biblical!
Everything went surprisingly smoothly. I cranked the garden faucet to full pressure and waited for the hole to flood... which never really seemed to happen. I checked the hose for kinks and finally took another big gulp and went to check the nest. Curiously, the water was level with the lawn but it wasn't exactly gushing from the hole.

I decided to play around. Bad idea.

I pulled the hose from the hole and sure enough, plenty of water was pouring out. And wow, were the wasps angry! I was getting swarmed!

I'm not normally too bothered by bugs so it was no big deal and then all of a sudden I felt a familiar stinging sensation at the end of my nose... where the netting from my hat was resting. How did they figure that out?

If you've never been stung by a wasp, let's just say it's not much fun. There's a sharp burning sensation which quickly turns to numbness as the swelling sets in. Generally no big deal.

I "calmly" put the hose back in the hole and ran back to the house. I was covered in wasps but luckily, my ersatz beekeeper's outfit was doing its job. I managed to brush off all the wasps and get inside.

Did I mention about the swelling? The last time I'd been stung, it was on the arm and leg. It turns out that being stung on the nose is somewhat more serious.

Quite rapidly, my nose began to grow and grow. I had some errands to run and the swelling moved outward to my cheeks and my upper lip. Looking good!

Luckily, as a hay fever sufferer, I have a ready supply of antihistamines, which is helping a lot. Never the less, the whole thing sort of put me out of commission for the rest of the day. I kind of feel like I've been punched in the face.

I still don't know where all that water was going...

There was a bright spot in my day though: my new rack cards arrived and they look great!

Super snazzy!


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