Loads of ladybirds about

[lizzieloo]

Anyone else noticing lots and lots? I'm having trouble avoiding then when I'm grubbing about in the garden. Makes me wonder if it's gonna be another 1976. 2 spot variety

 

[Geri]

I had one in my office today - weird looking one too, loads of spots.

 

[DotCommunist]

yeh was no end of them when I was weeding the patio last week. If they go exponential I am buying a beekeepers suit and wearing it all summer

 

[lizzieloo]

I had one in my office today - weird looking one too, loads of spots.

You're meant to squish them when you see them

http://www.harlequin-survey.org/

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

You're meant to squish them when you see them

http://www.harlequin-survey.org/

Kill them dead, the spotty fuckers

 

[lizzieloo]

yeh was no end of them when I was weeding the patio last week. If they go exponential I am buying a beekeepers suit and wearing it all summer

You're quite near me, maybe it's just here.

Ladybird Plagues are a bit creepy

 

[Greebo]

Anyone else noticing lots and lots? I'm having trouble avoiding then when I'm grubbing about in the garden. Makes me wonder if it's gonna be another 1976. 2 spot variety

Oh please no. Ladybirds in that quantity were bad enough, but there were also far more wasps around.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Anyone else noticing lots and lots? I'm having trouble avoiding then when I'm grubbing about in the garden. Makes me wonder if it's gonna be another 1976. 2 spot variety

1976 had the ants as well as the ladybirds

 

[lizzieloo]

a creepy crawley summer

 

[DotCommunist]

Shit gets biblical. Rain of toads next pls.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

1976 had the ants as well as the ladybirds

And, the greenfly! Remember the clouds of greenfly? So thick you had to breathe through a hanky. 6 Inch high piles of dead greenfly under every street lamp in the morning. That was on the East coast at least.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

And, the greenfly! Remember the clouds of greenfly? So thick you had to breathe through a hanky. 6 Inch high piles of dead greenfly under every street lamp in the morning. That was on the East coast at least.

I don't remember the greenfly. Maybe they didn't like Southend seafront Maybe the ladybirds ate them all?

 

[DotCommunist]

I'm getting the fear. Might invest in one of them electric swatters, for the smiter on the go.

 

[Greebo]

*makes note to stock up on basil oil and black clothing*

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

*makes note to stock up on basil oil and black clothing*

what's that do?

 

[DotCommunist]

repel unwanted suitors

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

repel unwanted suitors

not mossies though

 

[Greebo]

what's that do?

Basil oil seems to work as a wasp repellent. So I tend to add it to the last rinse of everything (hair, skin, clothes) come the summer months. Also, I've found that I don't get pestered by wasps quite as much when wearing black, even if I have to walk unpleasantly close to them.

not mossies though

Not certain humans either, but you can't have everything.

 

[lizzieloo]

repel unwanted suitors

 

[Greebo]

repel unwanted suitors

Such as your mum's old customers?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Basil oil seems to work as a wasp repellent. So I tend to add it to the last rinse of everything (hair, skin, clothes) come the summer months. Also, I've found that I don't get pestered by wasps quite as much when wearing black, even if I have to walk unpleasantly close to them.


Not certain humans either, but you can't have everything.

I wear black a lot, but never repels the mossies

Not sure how the basil oil thing works. Don't you end up with greasy hair? What about your clothes?

 

[Greebo]

Mossies, gnats and horse flies I can repel with DEET if I must, the basil oil is for the wasps.

BTW it isn't greasy because I use the essential oil. A couple of drops in the water, when swished around to disperse before washing in it (or added to unperfumed fabric conditioner). Apologies in advance if this means that I smell vaguely of pizza most of the summer.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Mossies, gnats and horse flies I can repel with DEET if I must, the basil oil is for the wasps.

BTW it isn't greasy because I use the essential oil. A couple of drops in the water, when swished around to disperse before washing in it (or added to unperfumed fabric conditioner). Apologies in advance if this mean that I smell vaguely of pizza most of the summer.

No need for apologies. I need all the help I can get as insects love me and there's no way I'm wearing mossie repellant in this country. It's one thing abroad, but I'm not wearing it here.

I've bought citronella candles and I have mossie coils though. Worried about wasps though in my garden

 

[lizzieloo]

Yarrow tea repels mozzies

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Yarrow tea repels mozzies

never heard that before

Marmite does as well apparently, but it didn't work for me

 

[lizzieloo]

Grows wild, used to use it when we were on the boat.

 

[TitanSound]

Slugs in my garden. Was out having a spliff last night and I stepped on one on the decking. I had a sock on but blurrrrrrrrrrggggh did I feel the squelch and wet ickyness.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

We've had a cluster at the end of our drive for about a week now. There's loads and they don't seem to move. I think they're plotting something.

 

[wayward bob]

BTW it isn't greasy because I use the essential oil. A couple of drops in the water, when swished around to disperse before washing in it (or added to unperfumed fabric conditioner). Apologies in advance if this means that I smell vaguely of pizza most of the summer.

mmm pizza

i loves the proper ladybirds we used to buy them for aphid control, getting a teeny little box in the post full of mini dinosaurs is about as much fun as gardening gets for grownups i reckon

 

[wayward bob]

I had a sock on but blurrrrrrrrrrggggh did I feel the squelch and wet ickyness.

i'd bin the sock. squashed slug never washes out of anything