Tick Tock

We have been fighting ticks all week. We had none, then we got the bamboo and suddenly we have ticks! The dogs have been treated and I've vacuumed all over the house, the couch, etc., and we haven't seen any since about Sunday so maybe we have won. I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath because I know how those bugs are. But we are certain that they came with the bamboo. We are still vigilant about them.

However, we are also thinking that there is a possibility that the next door neighbor's dogs might also have contributed a tick or two. The same neighbors who put large, rusty nails through the fence just at dog height. The same neighbor who would have been content to let her dogs tear up the fence if we hadn't brought it to her attention - more than once. The same neighbor who.... The list goes on and on!

Anyway, back to the bamboo. It seems to be alive still, which is good. Bill is in the process of installing blocking sheets to keep the roots from spreading. It has to be put to a certain depth, I can't remember the measurement right now but it's pretty deep. It also has to be installed before the stuff starts to spread so he's been working on it this week. Frasier helped him dig. Of course, Frasier's digging involved unearthing a mole trail but it was in the right spot so Bill just let him go.

It's been raining almost non-stop for days. It has quit for brief periods, but we haven't had a day without rain since sometime towards the end of April. Like the 24th or so, I heard it on the news this morning but I didn't hear the exact date. I'm pretty sure that today's rain storms (there were several) had hail in them. I watched the news at noon today while I ate lunch, the forecasters have just about run out of ways to describe hail. Today's was penny sized in some places, and maybe up to quarter sized. This summer is shaping up to be like the one before last - wet!

We are still aiming for Memorial Day to put the pool up. Hopefully, we'll be able to use it some this summer. Between rain storms!