Not really all that psycho:
On Saturday, I called over the whole family to check out the spider nurseries. Oh, so cute - baby spiders all over the hedge. There were three big nests like these. While the abundance of spiders in our garden does regularly freak me out, there is no way I'm bothering these animals.Then... I got a bamboo branch, removed all spider's webs and trimmed the hedge.
Well, my garden was looking messy.
Actually the baby spiders weren't all that bothered. When I used the bamboo branch, they scooted down into the centre of the bush, then after I cut the hedge they came back up again, sunning themselves.
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Slightly psycho:
I have a slug and snail problem in the garden. I don't like to bother/kill living organisms other than mosquitoes (they started it), but these bastards are ruining my hostas.Just look at the poor thing! Have you ever seen a sorrier looking hosta?
Every summer, I crack in the end and toss any slimy buggers I find in a bucket with lemonade. Which they drown in. And it makes me feel like a mass murderer. I mean, it's not like these beasts are trying to suck my blood, attacking my children or eating our vegetable patch. No, they are simply punching holes in my decorative plants. Not really such a big deal. But look at my hostas! How pretty would they be if they weren't full of holes?
I do come from a long line of psycho killers. My grandfather used to shoot birds in his garden, and my mother taught me to kill snails by covering them in salt and exterminate flying ants by pouring boiling water into their nest. Somehow lemonade seems like the more humane way to dispose of snails. I mean, I like lemonade - why shouldn't they? Fair enough, they drown - but that has to be better than slowly drying out in a bath of salt, right? Right?
In our last house, I didn't have this problem. We had horrible neighbours, so I used to just throw all slugs and snails over the garden wall. Now we have lovely neighbours, so that solution is no longer an option. Damn those lovely neighbours. Why can't they heckle us in the street?
Okay, I admit it - I'm evil. However, I haven't actually started my massacre yet. I'm still dithering. I'll probably wait until they've completely finished off my hostas and then I'll go in and kill them in pointless revenge. Because that would be less bad.
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Completely psycho:
We are looking for a good name for our baby boy. This is an extremely difficult process, as we both want a name which "works" in our own language. It has to be pronouncable to both populations in any case.As a lot of friends have pointed out, we are now basically down to the names Tom and Ben. (We aren't really - but this gets them off my back, so I just nod and agree with them.) The problem is, I don't like the name Ben enough, probably due to some Bens I know, and the name Tom has already been taken in our household. One of darling cats is called Tom. Actually, I fucking hate those beasts. I tolerate them, even feed them sometimes, but I do regret being seduced by the lovely cuteness that was kittens so that we are now stuck with the vomiting, flea-attracting, hair-shedding horror that is cats.
So - last week I found the solution to all our problems and proposed to Babes that I get a gun, shoot the cat, and then we can recycle the name for baby. This is so wrong on so many levels that it has been making me laugh for days now. But it would solve all our problems. I just have to "accidentally" get the other cat with the same bullet because there is no way this child is getting Rufus as a second name.
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I'm entering this post for Josie's writing workshop today, for prompt 3: Take a walk around your garden. What do you see there? Or tell us what you dream of seeing when you step out of your back door.
Yay! So glad I finally managed to take part!

Those hostas have lots of character! ;)
ReplyDeleteIs it really that hard to find a name that works in Dutch/English?! My man is so picky about names, I know he'll be a nightmare when we start to have bubbas... we want something that will work in English and Dutch too. Good luck with finding your name :0)
fatbrideslim.
we too are struggling for a boy's name. That baby better be a girl. Easier for knitting projects as well. Thing is, I've got a feeling it's a boy. How hard can it be?
ReplyDelete1. I have no recommendations for boys' names.
ReplyDelete2. Kill the fucking slugs and snails.
3. Shoot the cat(s).
Love...Ms. Moon
i have a lovely list of names for boys and girls..but..as every resonable latin i keep them in a secret place for the next of my kids..and the ones i will not use i ll hand later to my kids for their own kids...
ReplyDeletebut..i have a wonderful resolution for the slug...get a pineapple..cut of the top..hollow it out..eat it..the hollow pinepale you burrie in ur garden where the slugs are the most..burrie it so you still can see the open hole...they all will wander in and die..they can not stay away from its sweet smell...and later you just poor earth over it..it will be greta organic.."duenger"....
Benjamin is my baby brother's name and one of my favorite names ever.
ReplyDeleteJoshua is my other brother's name and my other favorite.
I also like Henry and Micah. Or Oliver...Theodore? Harrison! Augustus! You could call him Baby Gus.
You should have never got me started with the baby names...
Snort - love the idea of accidentally killing the cat so you can recycle its name!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the name - we spent a long time disagreeing and in fact Mr named Toddlergirl with a name I wasn't totally happy with whilst I was unconscious post birth...
I love the pineapple ditch-of-death trap!!
ReplyDeleteYou should do like the Italians and just eat the snails. They (Italians) eat everything. Even stinging nettles!
http://escargot.free.fr/eng/cooking.htm
We had the same problem with finding a name that worked in English and Italian. I just skimmed thru "list of famous people" on the internet and picked out a dozen names that wouldn't be massacred.
When the baby was born we looked and then decided which name on the list fit. Like cats, I feel you can't give a name until you see the face!
@fatbrideslim - It is too hard, I find. The choice is just really restricted. I will settle for a name that both can pronounce, but for Babes it has to be a British name. He's pickier, I suppose.
ReplyDelete@cartside - Boys names are really tough. But you can knit really cute sweaters for them. Not that I ever would, but in theory. :-)
@Ms. Moon - I love you. And your comments.
@Danielle - Would the pineapple not start to smell after a bit? I like the fact that I wouldn't need to find them all myself.
@erin - Lovely names, all of them, but none of them very Flemish-friendly. But thanks!
@Muddling Along Mummy - Oh my god. And I thought Babes was bad for the way he messed me about with the name-issue while I was in labour. You win - you do. Oh that is awful.
@geeks in rome - Belgians eat snails too. And I was served a stinging nettle bake in England once by a friend of mine.
I like the thought of matching the name to the face, but I don't think I could deal with the stress of the fighting so soon after birth. Also - we have such trouble finding one name, we'd never get a LIST!
Paul works in many languages. So, I think do Alex, David, Dan, Neil, mark, Max, Luke, Peter
ReplyDeleteI have three boys, therefore I have used up my supply of Good Boy Names. Sorry, I suck at being helpful. If I were your neighbor I would be a lovely neighbor, and I would also probably heckle you from the street. After which I would poor you a glass of your killing lemonade and let you put your feet up and watch while I systematically massacred every bug in the garden. AND I would get rid of the cats for you as well.
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh, though I kind of wish I hadn't read it right before dinner. Good to know you're a psycho killer! Good luck with the name search - we never had many boy names on our list - it was a tough choice.
ReplyDeleteTeach the cats to hunt the slugs and snails? And then name the kid Pepe. I dunno. There is so many names I can think of but few that translate well into both languages!
ReplyDeleteI <3 Ben. x
ReplyDeleteI don't even have hostas any more. The snails have eaten them down to the ground.
ReplyDeleteGuilty secret - when I find snails, I chuck them over the wall into the garden of my neighbours who I don't particularly like. I'm doing them a favour really - the Spanish love eating snails, I'm just providing them with free food.
Get out of the way of the crazy preggo lady!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness... that does seem like a waste of good lemonade.
Might I suggest Cuthbert? And actually, I quite like Rufus.
ReplyDeleteOr keep the cat called Tom and call the baby Jerry?
The slugs used to massacre our hostas in London. Here, I've seen all kinds of beautiful hostas and not a slug hole. Which begs the question, are there no slugs in America, or does everyone douse their gardens with toxic slugkilling chemicals?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what names would work in Dutch/English. I once had a crush on a Belgian boy called Sam, though.
I have never had a slug problem here so they mustn't exist in the States. You could always put some cayenne pepper in water and spray the plants. It won't harm the plants at all but the snails will probably choke on it.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - Thank you. Noted.
ReplyDelete@Kori - I want you as a neighbour! I'm sure I'd be better than the one who moved away recently.
@Lady Mama - For all your psycho killer needs, this is the place to come.
@Mad Woman - Excellent! Maybe they will choke on the snail houses.
@An - Also noted. x
@Pueblo girl - See, I used to do that. Ah well. I'm glad I'm not the only evil person who thinks of things like that.
@Sophie - I know! I only use the stuff that's gone flat.
@The Dotterel - Cuthbert - uhuh. Funny thing - I was accused of being a Cuthbert recently by Tinman.
@nappy valley girl - Strange thing - must go look up the deal with slugs in the States.
Oh, and everyone has a crush on Sam. He's great.
@Expat mum - Cayenne pepper. Also noted. That might freak out the cats as well.
Haha.
ReplyDeleteHow about Ethan, Jackson, or Luca?
Oh... they must work in BOTH languages. Well then, I have no idea. Sorry!
Holy Shit look at that spider nest!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion for a baby name is Geronimo. It was the one I would have chosen for Kai given my way. And you just KNOW that baby Geronimo wouldn't let his big sister pound on him. In fact, he'd probably eat spiders and slugs too.
Doooooo it...
(P.S. Hello. I miss you. We should talk soon. Just surfacing briefly xxx)
I must've read this on my phone and couldn't comment. I LOVED this so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm not a huge cat fan either, but I had one roommate where I def. prefered her cat to her!
ReplyDeleteI read that if you wipe cucumber across tinfoil the slugs and snails hate the smell and run away?
ReplyDeleteI wanted Jed. My husband said no. Also to Shay. What about Elliot?