Beautiful Pest

I need to get rid of these colourful visitors. Death will come via a small paintbrush loaded with white spirit. I don't mind doing it this way because a chemical spray will kill beneficial insects. The Scarlet Lily Beetle is very destructive to lilies and fritillaries. It is about 8 - 10 mm long and is a native of Eurasia. Lily beetles came into the UK on imported lilies at the start of the 1900's. Now they are commonly found in the South East of England, but are spreading all over the UK. The adult lily beetles feed on the flowers, leaves and stems of the lily, spends the winter in sheltered places in the garden - not necessarily near lilies. They come out of hibernation in late March - May then from late April -September they feed on the lilies and lay eggs on the underneath of leaves of lily plants. The eggs take about a week to hatch - producing beetle larvae which feed on lily foliage. The lily beetle larvae are fully grown in about 2 weeks - they then pupate in the ground and in 2 -3 weeks emerge as adult lily beetles.

So Now I Know What It Feels Like

Being the victim of credit card fraud is most unpleasant especially when there's no one around to give you moral support by saying 'There there!'

But all is not lost. I immediately phoned Halifax customer services. The person I spoke to was most understanding, they've cancelled the transaction & card and given me a new account number.

Someone called Ernestas Gustaitis bought tickets in Austria through Ryanair to the tune of £285.59.

Halifax has an extra layer of security for online transactions so I don't understand how it happened.

The name is Lithuanian. Thieving bastard, I hope he rots in hell.

Green Fingers

My elderly friend Joan pays the 'Shaw Trust' to cut both the front & back lawns. They recently let her down and can't return for another 6 weeks. So muggins here took pity and helped out. Last week I did the front, which is small and wasn't too bad. Yesterday I tackled the much bigger back garden. The trouble with me is that I have to do everything properly & don't know when to stop. I didn't realise until afterwards just how tired I was. I was asleep by 9pm. Today I feel a bit lethargic but that will soon pass. But that's not the end of it. I have elderly neighbours, their front garden is paved but weeds are growing in the cracks. They hate not being able to tackle the job and worry that it looks bad. When I get a spare few moments I will deal with it.

Emperor Dragonfly

Around lunchtime I saw the female ovipositing eggs in the floating vegetation of my pond. It is probably the UK's most powerful dragonfly, a true predator, more than capable of taking other large dragonflies, small butterflies and other flying insects. The emperor is one of the largest dragonflies in Europe and also one of the fastest fliers. It tends to hover, high above the water in a very regal fashion, before launching itself, like an arrow, at its prey. I was really chuffed, my plans to have a wildlife garden are slowly falling into place. More on Dragonflies & Damselflies here

Ploddishness & Cluelessness

Tired of receiving emergency 999 calls from the chronically clueless about "good stain removers" or "rats in the kitchen" the Met recently launched an alternative phone line for non-emergency situations. It is hoped the number, 0300 1231212, will help cut down the 50,000 monthly calls - a quarter in all - that do not require an emergency response. A laudable effort, though when people are calling 999 because they "can't turn their tap off", one wonders if dialing an eleven-digit number might be beyond their skill. But the Police can also be chronically clueless. Fancy leaving two dogs locked up in a vehicle on the hottest day of the year. Needless to say those poor doggies died.