Sheri Sweet – Nature Along the El Camino Real

Sweet Sheenanigans for February 2023

February 28, 2023 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Sheri Sweet

Well, it’s past due time for another Sheenanigans so I’ll lump several together!

Last night, I took the Big Hairy Beast (aka Newton, the dog) out for his bedtime constitutional. We were standing on the porch, and both heard a rustling in the Popcorn rosebush (Big Hairy Beast is on a leash because with the slightest movement he’s off! He LOVES to chase the neighbors’ guineas!) I do digress. I didn’t smell a skunk, so everything was OK. Anyway, he rousted out this creature with a LONG skinny tail. At first, I thought it was an opossum. They have a mouth full of sharp little teeth and a nasty disposition and hiss and growl if they are not happy!

Seems the Bit Hairy Beast was after Army, the armadillo. Well, armadillos are pretty quick at times and he was chugging right at me – I screeched before I realized it was Army. He charged right over my FOOT and between my legs, then crashed into Fred, the Rock, next to one of the tree trunks that support the porch. Army bounced back, dead canna leaves were flying, and Big Hairy Beast’s teeth clanked against Army’s shell. Army felt his way around Fred, the Rock, and dashed behind some more rose bushes, heading to the HUGE hole he had dug at various times (I expect the rose bush to fall into it any day). Big Hairy Beast hit the end of his leash and couldn’t go any farther.

Fred, the Rock, is a big sandstone rock we found at Lake Texoma, and we rock-napped him when we lived in Oklahoma. When we moved back to Texas, my daughter had a hissy fit until we agreed to move Fred with us! Uncle Grump lived under Fred, the Rock – he was a very large gray toad with a light stripe down his back – the brand name escapes me right now. Uncle Grump was really grumpy that we took his rock, but now there are several of his relatives living around it down here!

Several weeks ago, I opened our front door, and there was Oooh-Yuk, the six-foot-long Texas rat snake! He has a very neat diamond design on his sides – no, he’s NOT a diamond-backed rattlesnake! In looking at him, I had the idea that his skin would make someone a very nice belt! Ooh-Yuk looked at me and slithered around five inches. I slammed the door and went hunting for Wes to get his gun. Couldn’t find him, so Oooh-Yuk gets to live a little longer. If I catch him trying to rob bird eggs or baby birds, he WILL be a dead Oooh-Yuk, like a couple of his relatives! Yeah, yeah I know! I’m a Texas Master Naturalist and he’s a “good” snake. Unfortunately, I STILL think the only “good” snake is a dead one! So Sorry!

Oh yes, if you want some “fun” and action try kicking the top off a fire ant nest! Be sure to jump back after that! Fire ants do like to get even with you! Nasty things!

Ol’ Mother Nature decided to shake her fist at everyone last week. I don’t know about y’all, but we had several large limbs fall out of our trees or at least break and split down the tree trunks. Some fell across our lane from both directions so we couldn’t get out very easily. You should see the pile of trimmings we have tractored out to the burn piles! Son, Brian, came out today and did quite a bit more trimming for us. The chainsaw is a very alluring piece of equipment for him.

While Brian worked outside, our daughter-in-law Christina, worked inside on some light bulbs I needed changing, Seems like I have acquired a bad relationship with ladders and nine-foot ceilings! Somehow it seems easier to ask the younger generation for help sometimes. Grandsons Eli and Oliver raided the candy jar and drinks from the refrigerator.

See y’all again sometime when I get around to more Sweet Sheenanigans!

Sweet Shenanigans: Lexington Garden Cleanout

November 7, 2022 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

by Sheri Sweet

Many thanks to Dave Mason who helped me clean out the Lexington Senior Center Garden! I’m attaching before and after pictures – lots more is needed out there, but this is a super start!

The first picture is the north end of the garden. The second picture is the south end of the garden. (Don’t EVER let anyone try to talk you into planting Plumbago in a flower bed unless it is a very large bed, so you don’t have to worry about it spreading!) The third picture is the arbor (butterfly rest area).

After Dave and I got the first pass done, this is what it looks like now! The first picture is the north end, the second picture is the south end, and the third picture is that arbor. The insidious vine was growing into the electric box, so Dave kindly removed it. The arbor started life with a yellow jessamine on the north side and a purple hyacinth bean vine on the south. I think where tut there’s still a jessamine in there, but the Hyacinth Bean Vine never came back. So, I planted Cardinal vine seed on the south end. Well, there again, no one ever mentioned that it was invasive!! It grew out and I started finding it at the south end of garden! Runners were 20-25 feet long!

The insidious vine – that’s another story! When Wes and I were building this garden, about 3 -4 feet down, growing out from underneath the FOUNDATION of this building was the base of this insidious vine. There was no way to remove this root. We decided to just deal with the tiny little pieces of vine as they came up!! That was fine until they started putting out all the hundreds of little starts!

Then, someone with the Senior Center apparently gave orders to someone who mowed the whole garden down to the dirt line. We found the wreckage the next day when we went over to work in that garden. There were several expensive plants out there that never did come back. We lost interest in that garden after that and have done minimal work there for several years.

I have decided that the thing I need to do is plant polite perennials out there to make it more maintenance free.

In working at the Senior Center Garden, Dave and I were pulling out two vines: a wild morning glory with pretty light purple flowers and the no-name insidious vine!! But wait! On the arbor is ANOTHER vine! Leaves similar to holly with beautiful bright red berries! And that very easily also “went to town” and I was finding it on the north end, which is 30 – 37 feet from its epicenter!! Too bad someone wasn’t trying to make rope!! It would have worked beautifully! What was so amazing to me was the lengths these vines grew!!

So that’s where we stand now. Gradually (probably in the Spring) we’ll start working on this garden and try to bring Some sort of order to it!

Oh, wait! I forgot to tell you about our freeloader! When I was working out there, I grabbed hold of one of the vines, and started pulling on it. I caught a movement, stopped, and leaned in to see what it was. There sat a very perturbed toad the size of my fist!! He did NOT like being disturbed. By the time I got my phone for a picture, he had hidden himself again.

Sweet Shenanigans: Wheel Bugs

January 18, 2022January 19, 2022 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

Sheri Sweet

This is another “Sweet Shenanigans.”

One day last October I stepped out onto our porch and noticed a dead bug. As I swung back to kick it off, I remembered our grandson was collecting bugs for fourth grade science. So, I got a piece of paper and scooped up the bug. Then I took a GOOD look at it. It looked like some prehistoric creature! I put it in a plastic bag for Eli and set it aside. Then I got curious about what it was as I’d never seen this thing before. I hauled out my bug books and hunted through two of them with no luck! Hmmm. Sounds like something rare! So, I went to the trusty internet. Uhh – how do I search for it if I don’t know what it is?? I thought about it, and feeling rather foolish, I searched for “bug with cog wheel on back”. Imagine my shock when all this information started pouring out at me!! A WHEEL BUG!!! How unique!

A Wheel Bug is in a group called Assassin Bugs. Order – Hemiptera; scientific name – Arilus cristatus; family – Reduviidae. They are about one inch long and range from blackish brown to orange or a mixture. These bugs have a cog-wheel type of crest on the back of the head and body. The female is larger than the male. This is a good bug/bad bug. They are considered beneficial insects in gardens and wooded areas. They eat cabbage worms, caterpillars, Japanese beetles, etc. And they are also considered pollinators. They like to be in or around homes because of the carbon dioxide we emit when we breathe. They can be found on the underside of leaves on garden plants. They can be found under rocks, under cool, dark areas, beneath mulch.

Most varieties won’t bite humans; however, species in the SW United States are most likely to bite. AND their bite is described as ten times worse than a wasp or hornet sting with the pain lasting for several weeks up to several months.

NOTE! We have discovered since this blog originally posted that wheel bugs don’t transmit Chaga’s Disease, just kissing bugs (Eastern Bloodsucking Conenose Triatoma sanguisuga). However, in case you run into a kissing bug, here’s the information on the disease:

Along with the very painful bites, they can also transmit Chaga’s Disease and or Trypanosoma Cruzi. This is rare in the southern states but will probably become more common. If untreated, it can later cause serious heart and digestive problems. The ACUTE phase includes fever, fatigue, rash, body aches, eyelid swelling, headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea or vomiting, swollen glands, enlargement of liver or spleen. The CHRONIC phase causes irregular heartbeat, heart failure, sudden cardiac arrest, difficulty swallowing from enlarged esophagus, stomach pain or constipation due to enlarged colon. The acute phase may have no symptoms until it becomes chronic OR there may never be symptoms!!

These bugs are considered uncommon in the US. Hence the reason I didn’t find them in my bug books. I asked the TPW biologist if she knew what a Wheel Bug was. She gave me a funny look and said yes. I told her my story about finding one. And her reply was “you mean they are already up here?” These bugs are common in South and Central America and Mexico. You can draw your own conclusions about this. I recently presented a little program about this bug to the Lexington Garden Club. A man there who lives out west from Lexington said they are all over their property.