Project Done At The Bamboo Lagoon

Finally, finally, finally, I managed to finished up the big electrical project. All the switches, outlets, and plate covers have been replaced in the whole house. I still need

It was supposed to be done ages ago, and I am not sure why I stalled out on it when I only had a very little bit to go...I think it happened because the office part of it didn't work out the way I planned. I also knew that doing the garage was going to require turning off the power to the office and that means no Internet if I have to look something up.

So today, I flipped the breaker and got down to it. I carried all the necessary parts downstairs so I could finish up. So I replaced 2 two-way switches, 2 three-way

switches, and three switch plate covers. For the most part, they were pretty easy. Only one was using a larger gauge wire, so I did have to wire that one.

Oh, I guess I should mention that I decided to tackle this in the early evening, so I had to eventually put on my head lamp to see what the heck I was doing.

The walls are not looking all that great, but look at those clean, bright switches and covers!!

Boxelder Buggers At The Bamboo Lagoon

Sample on flower bed rocks

Normally these little guys would not be a big deal but for some reason, everything this year has been overboard and bugs are no exception.

Starting in early October I started seeing a lot of these guys...and the numbers just kept growing. I hate to kill bugs that aren't "pests" but these guys have gotten to that point, big time. At one point, there were hundreds on both our front deck and our front porch...to the point that you couldn't get in the door without bringing them in with you. Last year, I saw a few of the fully developed adults but I have run into three different nests of them at all stages of life.

At first, I tried to just get them to go away by brute force, just sweeping or using the hose to try to deter them from hanging out on our front porches, but this didn't seem to have any affect on the population.

So my next course of action became "death to the bugs". I decided to go with a non-toxic version and just used dishsoap and water in a spray bottle and I went to town. It was surprisingly effective. Over the next few days, I was able to not only get rid of most of the porch dwellers, I also hit all three nests I found. After death, I would sweep or hose off the porch to get rid of the evidence of bugicide.

I am hoping that next year will easier. We will need a few good freezes this winter, I am sure.

Update 11/8: We cooled down quite a bit and they seemed to go completely away but now we have warmed up a bit in the last few days and it seems a few are trying to make a comeback so I got the spray bottle back out.