Insecticide

Now that the weather is really warm (mid 20s), ants can be constantly seen scuttling about. What is interesting is the sheer size of these guys; they are about the size of an average house fly. As you can imagine, they can be pretty agressive.
The first photo shows an ant with his unfortunate prey- a grub of some sort. I'm not quite sure what the other thing is. I mean, the creature/object in the photo that is not the ant or the grub. He (the ant) was also holding it in his mouth though, so I suppose it was edible. And also heavy. The combined weight of grub + other thing meant that the ant had to seriously weave and stagger in order to procede. Didn't stop him attacking the camera though, when I put it on the deck to steady it.














On a more cheerful note, here's a jolly caterpillar out for his evening constitutional a few hours ago. I'm afraid I don't know what kind of butterfly/moth he'll turn into, but I like his blue stripe (which, I notice, you can't really see in this photo). Infinitely nicer characters than tham thar ants.
(By the way, Alan is convinced the ants have overrun the house and is waging a silent battle. I alone stand between the ants and Alan placing the Exterminator on speed dial. Frankly, I think he has lost it. Two ants do not an army make....)














Finally then, the Lily of the Valley are out/is out(??) and looking/looks gorgeous. The last owner of the house planted them (hurrah!) but only planted one or two out the back, where the garden is in shade. A LOT were planted out the front (boo!) which is way, way too hot for them. The batch in front all died back almost instantly but the others are holding nicely, don't you think?