Wednesday 2 September 2020

A Different Plague and Other Stuff

We have another plague down our lane - WASPS - everywhere. H who lives next door but one in the eco-house says the wasps are 'eating' the oak cladding on their house and here they are 'eating' the new gates, the greenhouse, the workshop and the fence. Wish we could find the nests they're building with all this wood they're nicking but they could be anywhere. I've tried watching to see where they go but no good. So many fallen damsons and the wind bringing down many apples has given them so much to feed from. Next door neighbours had a nest destroyed earlier in the year but that hasn't made any difference to numbers.

I don't usually go far on Bank Holiday Mondays but this week went 20 minutes up the road to Diss to meet Rachel-in-Norfolk for a coffee and natter. Goodness me the A140 was busy.....caravans and motorbikes by the dozen........... and so was Morrisons cafe - it was the last day of the Eat Out Half Price thing so there were several people ordering the BIG breakfast - a few looked as if they'd eaten too many BIG breakfasts! (not very PC but they were bigger than me!). On the way home I had to pull over twice for ambulances rushing by  and then by the petrol station not far from home came across a shunt accident in the other direction that had just happened............ Quite glad to get home in one piece.

My fruit cage For Sale ad went in the new Parish Magazine and the first person to ring up was  my next door neighbour! But after a bit of measuring they decided it was too big for covering their veg beds. Yesterday some people living ½ mile away rang and all the family walked round, paid for it and carried all the bits away! Good news indeed.

Yesterday was my once a month Pick-up-prescription tablets and get Pensioners  cheap Fish and Chips day. It always seems a treat for £3.50. I've promised Brother in Law that once he's retired I'll pick up some for both of us and take them over each month. Everyone is still having to queue outside before going in to get their prescription - it's not going to be much fun in winter, prescription reviews are being done by phone which means people are missing out on blood pressure checks and even people with Type 2 Diabetes are not able to go in for a meeting and checks with their nurses.

Thanks to everyone for comments over the last few days and apologies if I didn't get round to replying.  I don't have anything much to blog about at the moment so will take a couple of days off, which will give me a chance to think of something to write.

Back Saturday
Sue



42 comments:

  1. We've got 100s of wasps here too, our fruit trees are full of them, and they come indoors every time I open a door or window. Blooming things, what with them and the 100s of flies, it feels like we're under attack.

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    1. Luckily not too many flies here but fly swats are at the ready

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  2. I don't envy you the wasps at all. You are right, they could be anywhere. A few years ago we had one in a bush in the front garden, and had to get a chap from the council round to deal with it. Violet was only little and I was so scared they'd swarm on her.

    Yes, Monday's traffic was bad. It was fine early on, but on our return from Felixstowe traffic trying to get on the A12 from the Toys R Us roundabout was at a standstill, lots of caravans in it too I noticed, but no idea why things weren't moving. Luckily that wasn't our route so we drifted by, but things certainly seemed busy.

    Good news about the sale! Enjoy your days off from blogging, a break is always good from time to time. :O)

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    1. I've stood around for ages trying to see where they are heading but seems in all directions - must be several nests I think

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  3. I daren't go near the plum trees at the moment, there are so many wasps. I even had a nightmare about them last night, dreamt that they had invaded the house.

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    1. Thankfully the wasps haven't invaded my dreams yet!

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  4. I think surgeries are taking things too far with lack of clinics etc. Can hardly get to see a doctor. It’s as though they are enjoying having empty rooms and don’t want to go back to being busy. DB wonders how long it will be before someone sues them!

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    1. I can't understand the doctors surgery at all. If they were to reopen the small branch just for people to collect tablets say for just an hour a day it would save some people driving miles and lessen the queues at the main hub

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  5. We now have our medicines delivered via an apt on our phone from the Co-op, they are very quick and keeps us away from the queues.

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  6. I had wasps in a back door cupboard and cost me £49. luckily they have not come back. We have lots of Red Admiral Butterflies that are eating at the damsons.
    Had a lovely walk in Ascott house gardens yesterday with my D and GD lots of people about but lots of space so nice to get out.
    Your Fish and Chips is very reasonable.
    Hazel c uk 🌈🌈🌈
    Have a nice break from blogging but you will be missed.

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    1. Lots of Red Admirals here too.
      Only 2 days off blogging!

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  7. Oddly enough, I was thinking just yesterday how few wasps there seem to be around here. Not I know where they've all gone. :-)
    xx

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  8. We had our wasp problem dealt with in the nick of time. Apparently ours were a particularly nasty type that in two more weeks would have started stinging for no other reason than because they had stingers to sting with.
    Apparently, the queue for that Big Breakfast in Morrisons in H'west went across the shop, past the newspaper counter, and out into the car park, with no social distancing at all. I despair.
    Enjoy your days off.

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    1. I've only been stung once so far this year.

      Thank goodness Morrisons in Diss wasn't as busy as your one

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  9. We've had an increase in wasps too and that's because a neighbour had a large tree cut down in his garden. Thankfully the wasps seem to have now gone. I was stung on a toe by one last year and it was b----y painful.

    I can't complain about our surgery or pharmacy as I have had three home visits from my GP, BP and blood tests taken outside the surgery and no problem at all with receiving medication.

    Enjoy your break, whether you are doing something exciting, relaxing or mundane.


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    1. Wasp stings are Very painful. I've always got anti histamine cream here right ready

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  10. Wasps everywhere here too . It seems to be a bad year. All over the apples, plums etc. I have been picking up fallers with a long handled prong thing and dropping them in a bucket of water.

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    1. My one sting was from picking up windfall pears!

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  11. Replies
    1. I've just chopped a few up with the lawn mower!

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  12. Some Wasps build huge nests underground, others build tiny ones under the house tiles. They are not easy to find. I shall be picking all our grapes quite soon, I don't want to tempt them; or the Hornets.

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    1. Haven't seen any hornets this year here
      Hope you get the grapes in soon

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  13. Wasps have taken the surface off the handrails of my garden steps Sue and a naturalist tells me they will be woodwasps who strip the surface off the wood to line their nests.

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    1. It's very clever the way they can turn wood into their "paper" nests but I wish they wouldn't

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  14. It makes me wonder what Island NHS staff are doing as we have had no Covid cases and yet we still do not have access to any services.

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  15. I steer far away from wasps. After being stung twice, not in the same year, I am considered allergic. I carry the EPI pen when I hike but hope I never have to use it.

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  16. Our village chemist, only a very tiny shop, has been open to customers for quite a while now, before that it was queuing outside. Now it’s no more than two customers at a time and must wear masks.
    Have a little break from blogging Sue, you sound a bit weary, I know you have been very busy recently.

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    1. The pharmacy I use is at the doctors surgery - I hope the waiting outside doesn't go on all winter.
      I'm fine, just short of ideas and time

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  17. Brilliant news re selling your fruit cage, it's always good when something gets sold and picked up so quickly.

    We have had hardly any wasps here this Summer, but the rat-catcher that I was chatting to yesterday said he had dealt with two huge wasps nest in the next town earlier in the day, so it does seem that they are still pretty active this year. Do they hunker down for Winter ... I have no idea, but the nests must be quite sturdy if they are lined with wood.

    Fish and chips for £3.50 is a brilliant price and a nice treat too, no cooking for the day :-)

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    1. I was pleased the fruit cage went quickly with no hassle.
      I think the queen wasps hibernate and lots of the others are chucked out to die...............soon I hope

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  18. Wasps were building a nest in my bird box. I would have left them to it but apparently they would have continued the build outside of the box and goodness knows how big it would get. I destroyed the nest and blocked up the nest box holes.

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  19. In the past I've seen nests in a compost bin, hole in the ground, garden shed and just in a bush - they can build anywhere

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  20. My son has a wasps' nest in the compost heap. Well, he DID have one, but after being chased by a little posse of them he decided action was necessary. He looked online, discovered that the compost heap was probably nice & dry. he turned the hose on it - from a very safe distance - and throughly soaked it. The wasps appear to have gone!

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  21. That's wonderful that you and Rachel are able to get together. We have a holiday weekend next weekend - Labor Day. We won't do anything but stay in and avoid traffic. Good luck with the wasps!

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  22. Wasps are a plague for sure. We do not get along at all and if I see one when sitting on the deck, I am up and in the house immediately.

    Glad that you got together with Rachel.

    God bless.

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  23. With my GP surgery you can nominate a local chemist. I request my prescriptions online and they go straight to that chemist a couple of days later, where I pick them up.

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  24. We were only saying today there don't seem to have been so many wasps this year, and even the plum trees have so few we haven't bothered with the wasp traps.

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  25. You have reminded me why I dislike driving anywhere on public holidays!
    Hope you get to find the wasp nest/s soon, they are a real nuisance to have around.

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