Originally Posted by braingonebad

Originally Posted by MelodyL

I have a very funny story about bugs. That will come after my first story.

When I was 24, my parents upped and moved to Florida. I was told the following: "if you want to come, come"

I didn't go. I had a job and a boyfriend so I got my own apartment.

Well, I will never, in all my life, forget the first time I arrived at Tampa Airport in sunny Florida.

My parents pick me up, And it's hot. HOT!!!

We get in the car and it starts to rain. But it's not raining on the other side of the street. I look at my father and said: "how the heck can it be raining on one side of the street and not the other side?? He said "if you think that's amazing, you haven't seen anything yet".

We land in the driveway of their home, and I'm going oooh, and aaah, it's a nice Florida house.

As I get out of the car, THIS FLYING THING LANDS ON MY HAND. It looked like a giant waterbug (you know me and waterbugs, right??).

I start screaming and my father burst out laughing and says: 'oh, these are palmettos, they are flying waterbugs". FLYING WATERBUGS???? JEEEEZ.

So I run into the house, and get all settled in. They then say "let's take the other car and go for a drive, we'll show you around Florida.

I get in the car and notice these screens on the front of the windshield I ask my father and he says: 'Oh, these are for the love bugs'. I said 'What??"

And he says "you'll see". and BAM. A thousand bugs hit the windshield (they are called love bugs because they are always mating, and they come two times a year in Florida), wasn't I lucky??

I'm screaming, and he's laughing, and we go through the swarm, and he's showing me Palm Trees, and all I want to do is get out of the car and go take a shower.

We get home, and I get out of the car and there's a gazillion of these love bugs all over the car and windshield. He had to get the hose and wash off the car.

So he goes into the back of the house where he was laying down a patio. All kind of square tiles.

So I lay down in a beach chair, trying to relax in the Florida sun, when this THING hops over me.

I raise my eyes, and (try and imagine this). My father is picking up squares of concrete and there are these lizards jumping out of the ground (hundreds and hundreds of little green lizard things), and my father is picking them up with his right hand and he's saying out loud "oh, get out of here", (to the lizards).

I look at my father like he has lost his mind. I said 'are you serious, you are talking to lizards, you HAVE LIZARDS, in the ground???

He said "oh these little things, they are nothing. And they decide to jump on me. Well, I run screaming into the Florida Room (they call the tv rooms in Florida,..Florida Rooms). One of the lizards follows me and my mother starts chasing him around with her broom.

I'm watching this whole scene unfold and all I could think was 7 DAYS UNTIL I FLY BACK HOME.

Oh, I went back over the years, every few months. I got used to the bugs, and whatever else was flying around. I loved the heat. I remember News Years Day, waking up, and it was 89 degrees and we slept at a friend's house and she had a boat and a dock and she had grapefruit trees in her back yard.

I remember thinking. "Oh my god, grapefruit trees, I'm sitting in the sun and it's New Years Day", and it's 89 degrees.

I remember this like it was yesterday and it was almost 40 years ago.

memories!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Carolina

How do you trim back tomatoes and not lose the fruit? Every year, ours are so big that my husband has guide wires attached to the cages with stakes in the ground. Then he runs them over with the mower!

Originally Posted by braingonebad

Whenever you're ready, I'm there!

Hey, my BFF just bought a new house. Her dh will have to landscape this spring - his first time. I may be asking for your expert advice.

Originally Posted by MelodyL

Hi. Move out to the country?? That's all I would need. My friend lives out in the woods in New Jersy, and she has raccoons and animals coming up to her back porch. THAT IS NOT FOR ME. I'm a city girl. I do not like bugs. I don't think I can grow lettuce in two flower pots, but something like basil or rosemary. We have those type of little plants (available in May), I think I'll plant them. I use basil all the time in my salads, and I use rosemary on my chicken. The only problem is during the night, people come and cut thinks off of your garden.

Now picture this. I live in an italian neighborhood. Everybody has a backyard. The people who own the homes use their backyard to grow grapes off of vines. and one guy has this TREMENDOUS backyard with trees that bear fruit, vines that grow strawberries, blackberries (you have NEVER TASTED ANYTHING SO DELICIOUS), well, he grows everything. So once a year I take a walk around the corner, and when I run into him, I say: "what'd you grow this year? and he goes, oh oh , come and look. and I leave with zucchinis, peppers, blackberries (enough food for the week). My landlord then taps on my back window and gives me bunches of grapes and these green 6 feet long zucchini things that are growing from the ceiling of these viines.

See, I get the goodies, and I didn't do a thing.

I can just imagine me planting and weeding, and pushing away bugs. I think I would die. I'm such a wuss lol