Ladybugs

[First, an update: In-Law Watch, Day 3]
So far, so good. At least, I think so. You never know what’s going to set them off. I was unable to say, “good-bye” to them this morning when I left for work: FIL was in the shower and MIL was in her room with the door closed (getting dressed, probably). I piddled around for a little while, in case either of them emerged; but I ran out of time. I can guarantee that although they may say nothing today or tomorrow, this will be added to my rap-sheet.

Luckily, I have my blog where I can secretly say:

“FIL! If you sit down to breakfast and there is a large bowl of fruit on the table, it is not necessary to stare at the bowl for a minute, then ask, ‘Would it possibly be all right if I have a banana?’ Just take one, Honey.”

“MIL! Thank you so much for bringing Sara the t-shirt with the ponies on it. She loves it. She has worn it two days in a row. And so if, at any point, you would like to stop telling us over and over about the shop where you saw it, your decision to purchase it, and your certainty that Sara would like it, I’d be OK. Five times is enough.”

*****

There are aphids on my roses. To be honest, I find roses beautiful but more trouble than they are worth. It seems to me that the best roses are in the yards of abandoned homes. As I drive through depressed parts of town and look at the boarded-up houses, the roses are going NUTS! And I think, “Why can’t my roses look like that?!” Probably the previous owners of the house put in some fussy variety.

At any rate, we try to stay away from chemicals if we can help it. Sara suggested that I get a bag of ladybugs at Home Depot. I readily agreed, in spite of hearing my MIL tell (8 times, now) the story of how she was bitten 5 times by a ladybug on the finger and had to have her wedding ring cut off. I am enthralled by those bags of ladybugs. They’re so…swarmy. I bought them and as I drove along, they got very excited. Maybe from the warmth of the car – maybe because they knew that freedom was in the offing. I carried them over to the rose bushes. They were frenzied. I snipped the corner off the bag. They rushed out and proceeded to totally ignore the aphids. I watched one walk right over a clump of them, like he didn’t know what they were. OI! EAT THE APHIDS! I picked up ladybugs and aphids on the tips of opposing fingers and introduced them. Mr. Aphid, meet Mr. Ladybug. Mr. Ladybug, meet Mr. Aphid. OK, now, kill. The kids had come running to watch the bloodbath, but soon wandered away, bored. This morning, I spent some more time out there while I waited to spot my in-laws and say, “Good-bye” to them. I found three ladybugs remaining on the rose bushes, and the same 4,000,000 aphids that had been here yesterday.