The itsy bitsy spider

went up the water spout.
Down came the rain,
and washed the spider out.
Up came the sun,
and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider
went up the spout again.

Such a cute little nursery rhyme; don't you think? Well, I couldn't help but think of it this evening as I was clearing stuff out from under our front porch (one of the tasks to make the yard look nicer). Prior to our days with a shed, we stored some random stuff under the porch - things that have not been touched since they were put there. I began by pulling up some weeds along the edge of the porch ... and then I pulled out some leftover garden bed edging. It was filthy (rightly so since it had been sitting there for two years) and had cobwebs all over it. I began to spray it clean with the hose and see a few spiders running from the water. No big deal, I thought. I continue to spray and notice some egg sacks attached to the sides of the edging. Interesting. I'm now done cleaning off the edging and start to spray down a yellow crate under the porch; it was filled with some plastic containers and old flower pots. I then notice this cob-webby thing on the crate (just thinking about it now made me shiver)... it had a bunch of tiny bugs on it... I go in for a closer look and realize that it is a BUNCH of baby spiders. I kid you not! You know that feeling, after seeing something like that, it feels like they're crawling on you. Oh, that is so gross!!!

Now, I must clarify that I am not one that is easily bothered by the variety of bugs in the outside world. Knowing that God created them and that they each serve a purpose is actually quite amazing to me. And I typically just let them be. But upon seeing this not-so-pretty nest of a hundred plus baby spiders creeped me out! I immediately went inside to tell Tony of my discovery and then armed myself with wasp & hornet spray. Yes. Because we of course didn't have spider spray. Ha! I sprayed that area like crazy and kept that stuff by my side, along with the high-powered water hose, as I pulled out the rest of the stuff. ;)

I also unearthed some lovely shiny black spiders with a touch of red... black widows they were. And a really neat writing spider (he was left alone). Oh, and there was a mad wasp. And lots of black beetles. Some of our "junk" was pushed way under the porch, and there was no way I was crawling under there to get it. (I know you don't blame me). Praise the Lord, for a random bamboo stick about 4 foot long, that I ended up using to push those hard to reach items out into the light. :) Everything was hosed down and then sorted - keep or trash. The keep pile was carried to the shed and the rest is going to the dump tomorrow!!

{Insert a huge sigh of relief} I am sooo very glad that is over with!! And pray that all those little spiders do not go up the spout again. ;)
-----------------

In other news, we were able to hang up some more of our new blinds yesterday!!! Yippie! Now all that's left is the front living room and dining room.

We celebrated last night with a homemade cheese pizza and some yummy wine. <3

---------------
My parents invited me over for breakfast this morning and this is what we ate....

It was nice eating breakfast with them and my brother Joey. :)
And just for fun, Pedro (the dog) loves cherry tomatoes.