SPIDERS!!!

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I note that "Men are now good for nothing"


Why, then, are we pursued by Women ?

And don't tell me that this isn't so ----- they always insist on assuming the Virginal Attitude, when, in fact, they have already selected you !

I await heated and fictitious denials ------- Wake up, Fellers !

[lonelymom]

Why, then, are we pursued by Women ?

Neill, are you being pursued by women? How many, to be precise?

Or are you being pursued like this?

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Alas !---- Either way, I speak from a fast-fading memory ---- but it were fun, it were !!

On Spiders --- today TBA asked me to remove a spider, from the downstairs Bath ,I enquired "Can't you do it ?" and she said "Firstly I'm busy -- and secondly, its big and hairy -- and so are you !"

I duly rescued it, (Which was as described,) and transferred it, gently, to the Greenhouse, to continue it's duties, in removing unwanted insects.

What was it you were saying about us being Useless ?????

[Fjgrogan]

I thought the trick was for the woman to select her potential man and then allow him to pursue her until she catches him? And (to pay lipservice to the topic) then discard, or even eat him once he has fulfilled his purpose in her life!

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Exactly ----- I rest my case --- !

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I advise Lonelymom not to visit the latest exhibition at, I believe, the new Tate ----

which has an enormous spider, spanning the hall === under which, visitors must walk !


Sorry if I ruined your day !

[lonelymom]

Why would they do that??? A spider isn't a thing of beauty, not like a butterfly or something (I admit their wings are pretty, their bodies are horrid though, and they frighten me when they flutter like that!) Who in their right mind would want to walk underneath a dirty-great-big hanging spider? YUK YUK YUK!!!!!

[Fjgrogan]

I have just returned from spending time in Aylesbury, getting to know my latest grandchild - Millie, she is almost three weeks old and adorable. Wouldn't you just know it? - all the time at home since I bought the Betta Bug Katcha I have not encountered a single spider, but there were about half a dozen at Kirri's - including the same one twice, I swear, which was huge and hairy - just when I hadn't thought to pack the Katcha! Fortunately Steve (sin-in-law - no not a typo!) was there to rescue me! He also rescued me from a number of HUGE moths! OFF TOPIC, but the other thing I didn't think to pack was my spare glasses, and I managed somehow to break my glasses; since I am extremely short-sighted I was totally lost without them,and the local optician couldn't replace the broken arm, so the best we could do was to invest in daily disposable contact lenses of not quite the right prescription, which I haven't worn for years - sounds fine at first until I had to wear them continuously for 12 hours or more, which got very uncomfortable. Also my glasses are photochromic and I didn't have any sunglasses. On arriving home, I still couldn't find the spare pair of glasses for quite a while, until eventually I discovered them ........... in the handbag I had with me all the time! Definitely an expensive 'senior moment'!

[lonelymom]

He also rescued me from a number of HUGE moths!

Your moths must be related to the mutant moth that was in my bedroom a few weeks ago! I decided it was a cross-breed. the mum being a moth, the dad being a bird! Aren't they the most disgusting things ever? With the exception, maybe, of spiders!

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I realise that I shall never convince you, of the beauty of some of the insects,
This afternoon, sitting on an ancient Swing, I observed a "Ruddy Darter" Dragonfly --- blood red body, diaphanous wings outspread, with little black tips.

We admired each other for about ten minutes, while he (She ? difficult to tell apart, thickness of body ) soaked up the warm Dorset sunshine.

I don't know how the Darter felt --- but it made my day !

[Fjgrogan]

Neill - I agree that a lot of insects are beautiful, but in the right environment, which is not buzzing round my head late at night. I have spent happy times with my granddaughter Hanna following a butterfly from one blade of grass to another around the garden (gently - we weren't chasing it) - she was absolutely fascinated by any form of 'bug' - I don't know if she still is - and I was careful never to reveal that any of them bothered me because I didn't want her to pick up my reaction (rather like children and dentists!). My reaction to spiders is directly related to the size and hairiness of the spider in question, and I love their webs, especially with dew on them. However, the other thing that really gives me the creeps is flying beetles, again the bigger they are the worse I feel, and part of that is the clicking noise as they fly. Oddly bees and wasps don't bother me. Can anyone enlighten me - what is the difference between a butterfly and a moth?

[lonelymom]

My answer - butterflies are pretty, moths are UGLY!

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Sorry -- Lonelymom --- Not True !!

There are some beautiful Moths --I give you but three ---- The Emperor Moth (Male and Female) the Privet Hawk Moth and the Humming Bird Hawk Moth (Small but lovely)

I know I shall never covince you, but I , also, as fjgrogan, think that we must encourage children to appreciate all God's creatures ------- each, of course, in their own place !

At CH there used to be a fence running up the path from the Station across Little Side, I don't know if it iis still there, In the Autumn there would be beautiful single streamers of Cobweb, trailed out with the wind. Each one, of course, attached to a baby spider, looking for a new home. I remember it as a wonderful sight (Whether you like Spiders -- or not ! )

I won't bore you with the multitude of species ---- eg : Hawks , Prominents,Thyatirids,Hook Tips, Noctuas --- to name but a few.
The answer to what is the difference between say, a Red Admiral Butterfly and an Emperor Hawk Moth, is that 1.They are different Species and 2. They don't look the same !!

End of Entomological Lecture --- relax !

[Fjgrogan]

'All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all' ................... but in the case of some, one wonders why?

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I'm in "Defence" again ---- some of the most revolting-looking insects, beetles, and the like, save us from being swamped by even nastier plagues !

Up close, the larva of a Ladybird is most unattractive ---- but it don't half get rid of Greenfly !!