Weird, Freaky-Looking Bugs are Fornicating in My Strawberry Plants!

When I went out to check my garden today, this is what I saw. A bug orgy. Note both couples of icky shiny insects. I am disturbed and disappointed. They are eating all of my strawberry plants, and I don't know what to do. This is what many of the strawberry plant leaves now look like.

I am ashamed to say I threw a miniature hissy fit. I said some not very nice words to these bugs, and then I flicked them off of my plants (none too gently, either) and stomped into the house.

I came out again later for some better news. I do have raspberries. Six, to be exact. All of them on the middle plant. They are hard as a rock, however. Are raspberries supposed to be that hard? When do I know it's time to pick them?

I am a frustrated gardener right now. But I found a cool book about plants. It's called "Wicked Plants," by Amy Stewart, and I ordered it through interlibrary loan from Bettendorf. I don't even know where Bettendorf is; I've certainly never heard of it. Great book, though. This is a botanical guide to dangerous plants.

Why, you ask, am I reading a botanical guide for fun? No, I'm certainly not interested in poisoning anyone. . . unless it is those freaky-looking bugs. This book talks about the history behind these dangerous plants. For example, did you know that deadly nightshade is also called belladonna, which means beautiful woman? They think it has this nickname because Italian women (in the middle ages) used to drop a mild mixture of belladonna into their eyes so that they would dialate. I guess they thought it made them more attractive.

I'd recommend the book, even if you're not into plants. The background stories are fascinating. In Africa, when someone was accused of a crime, they would make them swallow an "ordeal bean." If they vomited up the bean, they were innocent, but if they died, they were guilty. I guess they thought the bean didn't lie.

I have been trying for the last two days to get a picture of Nick's new tooth. Do you know how difficult it is to get a baby to hold his mouth open for the camera? I think I finally got it, or at least you can kind of see a smear of white in the picture.

He has been getting a lot of use out of those new teeth. Today he was eating ritz crackers again and scraping them against his tooth. It must feel good. So far today he has bitten: me, crackers, a book, my flip flop, the carpet, Mollycat, my mail, and his stuffed turtle.

We're in trouble when he gets more of those little white smears in his mouth.

First Tooth!

It finally popped through today! Nick has his first tooth. It is on the bottom on his right. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but it's definitely there. My baby is growing up!

Greg was actually the one to find it first. Nick bit him. Then I verified by getting bitten myself. There is definitely a white little tooth in there. The other one is still bothering him quite a bit. Teething rings and teething cookies only help a little bit.

Nick spent his day trying to pull up on everything in sight. He can only do it when I'm standing by him and he grabs my hands. But, boy does he try.

Here, you can see him trying to pull up on the side of the stairs. I spent much of my day chasing Nick around and helping him to stand. He promptly starts dancing when I hold his little hands. Maybe I should sign him up for lessons when he gets a little older.

I went to the library today and got another whole bag of books to read. I really love the way I can read a book or two every day in the summer. It's something I miss during the school year. For me, it's not the same thing to read a book in little bits. I want to sit down and finish the whole darned thing, while sipping on a nice cup of tea. During the school year, I sometimes have to read a book over two or even three days. This reading thing has always been an addiction with me. there was point when I used to read at stoplights, but that was years ago. I miss having my own classroom, simply because I could have D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) time every day for 20 or 30 minutes. (I read, too, of course.) When I worked as an administrative assistant some years ago, I'm ashamed to say I read multiple books under my desk while looking busy. In my own defense, though, I type 90+ words per minute, so they didn't give me enough work to do.

Today I read "The Bean Trees," By Barbara Kingsolver. I really enjoyed it. It's about a young woman who decides she doesn't like her life in Kentucky, so she takes off for parts unknown in an old beat-up car with no starter. In a parking lot in Oklahoma, someone hands her a toddler and begs her to take her. I won't ruin the story, but all I will say is that she meets some great people. Actually, it's my favorite novel by her so far, thanks to the likeable characters. I have always enjoyed novels about women who make their own destinies. I find something irresistable about people who actually DO something to effect change in their lives.

Below you can see some video I took today of Nick with his tool bench and hammer. My stepfather was over today working on Nick's bathroom, and he could hear the banging. So Nick decided to do some banging of his own. I thought it was pretty cute. At 8 months, I'm not sure if he was trying to copy his grandpa or not, but it sure seemed like it.