I'M AT WAR!!!!!

There I was, sitting on the couch sewing the binding on my favorite Texas Star quilt when there was a movement at the window that caught my eye.  HOLY CRAP!!  I stabbed myself with the needle as I jumped up and ran for the kitchen, dripping blood all the way.

I grabbed my swiffer floor sweeper from the closet and snuck back to the window ready to SMACK him!!!  Wasn't I surprised when I discovered he was on the outside of the window.  Wait ... there's a screen on that window and he's between the glass and the screen.  That can't be!!

I carefully got close enough to take this picture, then headed outside to make double sure he wasn't INSIDE the house.  Sure enough, he was caught in between.  How could that possibly happen?  There wasn't a fraction of an inch around that screen where he could crawl behind it.

SAY GOODBYE HONEY!!  SMASH!!  The Great White Hunter strikes again!!!  He dropped like a rock as I jumped back six feet!!  Oh wait ... he's behind the screen.

Yup ... he's BIG ... BIGGER than the scorpion by far!!  WELL over three inches wide.  Just to be sure he was a goner, I pried the screen off with great difficulty and dropped him to the concrete.  I do believe he's dead.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief, then panicked when I realized I was barefoot on the walkway where things like bugs and scorpions crawl.  

I tried to do some research and find out what kind it was, but the only thing that looked even close was a brown recluse, which scared me even more.  Maybe it's because something like these were in that Arizona Highways Magazine my Mom used to scare me away from snakes.  It worked really well.

This morning I saw a cricket as big as godzilla crawling across the patio.  I am not ONE with the creepy crawlies .... I may have to stay elsewhere during July and August.  At any rate, I did find my roses blooming even more.  Apparently they really like the systemic food I gave them in March because they are growing like gangbusters.  They really need to be pruned, but I'm becoming afraid of what might lurk beneath them.

As I wandered around I discovered Daddy dove came to visit Mom.  She leaves the nest once a day for water down at my station below the yard.  I've been trying to catch her off the nest to get a picture of the eggs, but no luck so far.

After all the drama with the spiders and scorpions, I needed something to sooth my ragged nerves.  What better than tiramisu?  It's an Italian coffee flavored creamy desert without too much sweet to make me even MORE nervous.

The problem was finding ladyfingers to make it with.  In my neighborhood in California, they are fairly easy to find.  I found some at Safeway that I can truly say are NOT ladyfingers.  The hunt was on!  I did finally find some and will give you the recipe tomorrow, along with pictures.  It's super simple and mighty tasty.  Perfect for that RV rally potluck or the poker game you are going to or to sooth your frazzled nerves from fighting spiders and scorpions.  

I'm going to go outside now and sit on the patio with my first cup of morning coffee ... shovel and swiffer in hand.