The End?

No, unfortunately, not the end of the snakes. I'll get back to them in a moment. This week I have shipped all my boys out to camp/mission trip. I do this every year and it's a great time. I usually accomplish a major project while they are gone so that is a nice bonus. This year it is the upstairs. Wow. I think this is our third (?) summer working on the upstairs? But, the good news is, if my arms don't fall off, we could be nearing the completion! Yay! I have been working on taking plaster down this morning. I started at D's door and am almost turning the corner around B's room. It got to the point that I wasn't sure I could hold the hammer or the chisel anymore, so I came downstairs for a break. I'm excited because I can see actual progress and I know Philip will be so much faster than me we'll really truck when he gets home! This is the last area to take down plaster and lathe in. The goal for the week is to take plaster and lathe down and get the drywall up before the boys get home. That way it's less people tracking through the mess. We have until Friday.

On the snake front, I've given up. Okay, not really, but life has gotten really busy so I've left them alone. P did kill two of the big ones last weekend which was great. I also talked to my dad and found out there is such a thing as snake repellent! Yay! I went out and bought some, but the instructions say to use it when it won't rain for a day or two. We've had rain every night for over a week. :( The rain is great, I just can't get rid of my snakes. The plan is to put it around the back of the house so they don't run there and then out around their favorite spots. I'm hoping it works.

Why am I so crazy about the snakes? I think there just got to be more of them and when you can't go outside without having a heart attack, it gets tiresome. It's just the startle factor. Thanks to my dad, I'm now scared to go into my garage or basement too. There are just too many hidey holes for them. But, if we get the upstairs project done a lot of the stuff in the garage can go bye-bye which is another reason to work like mad this week!

I'm off to spy on A at camp. They have a webcam set up in the dining room!

*SIGH*

Day 4

I was standing at the window tonight staring into the backyard and thought, "I know you're out there, just waiting for me." I was hoping P would get home early enough to go out and take a look around tonight, but as I stood there, the demon dog came trotting through the fence line and weaved his way in and out of the rhubarb. He then perused his way over to the strawberries, making sure to leave his mark along the way. I figure if there were snakes out there, they're gone now. Bummer.

Rain, rain, go away

Day 3

Foul weather today. According to my research, the enemy is unlikely to venture out in 60 degree weather. Troops were disappointed no battle today.

Troops were also very tired. Two youngest took naps! Actually told me they were going upstairs to sleep. Two baseball games this week and basketball camp every morning. Monday, we thought we would melt from the heat at baseball, last night we needed jeans and a sweatshirt! Crazy. A hit a grand slam last night! Very exciting for him. We played the other team from town. This team has most of B's classmates and other younger ones. The first inning took 45 minutes and we were up by 14 after we batted. Final score was 34-4 and we only played 4 innings that took 2 hours. Long night.

I also had a lady tell me her son is very impressed with D's BB skills. Reverse lay-ups, shots, moves, etc. Impressive. We never see that side of him here. He is still going to weight-lifting. He's not sore anymore every day so that helps.

D asked me last night if we were really going to get the upstairs done while they were gone. I told him my hope was to at least have drywall up and mudded. Painted, woodwork back up, and decorated? No. He thought that sounded much more realistic. :)

Success!

Day 2-cont.

After my heart wrenching defeat by the enemy this morning, the boys came home from BB camp ready to snake hunt! I, being more interested in the ripe strawberries out there, persuaded D to come pick them for me. He just sticks his hand right down there!

As B, A, and I were standing there talking, our neighbors dog barked once, really loud and scared the bejeezus out of us. As I turned back to the strawberry patch I saw a snake slithering toward the bushes and I lunged with the shovel. Boy, they are fast. Thankfully, the boys all saw the snake and were able to track it going west in the bushes. I scrambled to the end of the bushes and slammed the shovel down on the back half of it's body. Yes! B and A then fought over who could chop the head. After several misses, in disgust I had A grab the shovel handle and took his hoe. I told them they didn't know what they were doing and then gave them an impressive display of how to hack a snake to death.

Triumphantly, we trooped back to the house. Unfortunately, we all had to agree, this was not the grandaddy one. He was a lighter color of black and just not big enough. We do believe we have discovered the enemy hideout though and figured out their escape plan. This may prove fruitful in future operations.

Solo Reconnaissance

Day 2

Today, I decided to try a little solo reconnaissance, employing stealth as my major weapon. I learned three things last night. #1 D was wrong, since the garter snake is cold-blooded, he is the temperature of the air. So, he is more active when warm. Great.

#2 Not only did I go into this with no clear knowledge of my enemy, I also went into battle unprepared. This hit me last night as I watched my husband go after the cold-blooded varmint. As P bravely trudged right through the rhubarb into the bushes in search of the little devil, he had no fear. Now, this might have to do with him being male and not female, but what hit me was, "Maybe if I were wearing boots and jeans, I wouldn't be so worried about stepping on him!" See, I wasn't wearing the proper battle dress. In pursuing the enemy, flip flops and shorts weren't going to do it. (For a devotion that came out of this revelation click here.)

#3 Most of you probably figured this one out all ready. I know I am in pursuit of one HUGE garter snake, but after yesterday, I'm pretty sure he's the Grandaddy and I have more of his family to deal with. Ick. I was thinking about how the he didn't seem so large the second time around yesterday, thinner for sure (I'm always astounded by how FAT the original is) and then it hit me, we were chasing two garters yesterdays. Lesson number three, don't underestimate the enemy.

This morning I was all hyped up by my new knowledge and armed with boots, jeans, and bug spray, I headed out. I did some silent reconnaissance and didn't spot anything. I lifted foliage off the ground with my shovel and nothing moved. Hunted around the strawberries, nothing.

The strawberry patch proved to be a distraction. Ripe berries were scattered around the patch and the robins were hovering even as I stood there. How could I let them have them? The temptation proved to be too much so I retreated to the house for a bowl. I picked a couple on the outer edges and moved to the east where there is less ground cover. As I bent to pick the first berry, shoosh! there he went! How?! I knew before I ever stood up he was gone, (and believe me I stood up fast!) and this battle had gone to him again. How does he do that? I didn't even see him, right there in the open! If this had been real war, I'd be dead.

In great defeat, I trudged back to the house.

All Because of Eve....

Day 1
This year I have declared war on the snake in the strawberries. He has tormented me and other innocents enough. I was hopeful we had eliminated previously when we killed three in our yard. False hope, I knew, as none of them were as large or as black as the perpetrator of fear. The boys told me this morning he had slithered out of the rhubarb yesterday when they were picking it for me. To quote B, "He was HUGE". Yes, I know, he's lived a little a too long.

Today, being the brave woman that I am, I sent D out to pick strawberries. He wasn't doing a very thorough job, so I grabbed the shovel, (just in case) and very helpfully pointed out ripe strawberries to him. :) Now that I knew the enemy had made an appearance, I was not sticking my hands down there. A came out to work on the rhubarb. We picked all the strawberries and no rustling of the leaves but our own. Whew.

On to rhubarb. Even though D had tromped through the rhubarb area once, I was being cautious and used the shovel to move a leaf before sticking my hand down to pull a stalk. {Shiver} Thank goodness I did. I heard just the slightest movement of dead leaves and spotted a FAT line of black with an orange stripe slithering toward the bushes. I took aim, but could tell he'd already gotten too far, I thrust the tip of the shovel down anyway and score! But, blast, the hard ground caused the shovel to jump and he disappeared. All I could think was, "Where is that demon dog, Gary, when you need him?"

Spurred on by my bravery I called for D to come running. A and I stayed on one side of the bushes while he ran into the neighbors yard to cut the opponent off. Alas, he was gone. No sign of him. The brave lad that D is, he pulled weeds and rhubarb to make the line of sight better, but it was for naught. The slimy invertebrate had disappeared. I wasn't ready to give up so we continued to peer into the bushes and pull rhubarb when suddenly, there was a triumphant shout from A, "I found him!" Praise the heavens!

I ran to A and spotted the creature. He began to make a break back to the other side, so D ran into the neighbors yard again. We worked him back and forth between us down the line of bushes, (he even tried to make a run for it past me, I've decided screaming and whimpering only attract the enemy, I must remain silent from now on) until he escaped into the neighbors rock garden. Drat.

At this point, I feel I should explain the inexperience of my fellow soldiers. We haven't had a snake, other than the sneaky snake that enjoys the strawberries, in our yard in the eight years we've lived in this house. That would make A four at the time, B practically a baby, and D a whopping 7. They really have no clue how to do this. I've endured this nemesis for three years because he seemed harmless, but last year I noticed how large he was getting and he startled me one too many times.

We tried to spook him out, rattled a few rocks and branches, but to no avail. I declared a siege. No one was going anywhere until that snake lie dead on a shovel. We continued surveillance on the bushes until D decided he'd had enough of the mosquitoes and deserted to the house. A and I retreated to the picnic table to stand watch. Determined to keep my hands busy I lopped the ends off the rhubarb while I watched. As the sweat ran down the back of my legs, I watched. As the mosquitoes continued to search for my blood, I watched. A, ever faithful, stood guard beside me. Eventually, the heat, boredom, and sheer ridiculousness of the moment forced me to call it a truce, for now.

Thanks to my brave and true husband who loves me in spite of all my neurosis, we attempted a night raid. According to D, because the enemy is cold-blooded, the heat makes him sluggish and he would be more active in the evening. Really? I thought it was the other way around? At that moment I realized I had failed to follow basic battle strategy, know your enemy. Time to hit Google and arm myself with ammunition for tomorrow. Hmm, ammunition......