A little dirt and a few bugs...

My yardwork bone was a little itchy today.  So when Valentine dragged me outside I got right to work excavating an old walkway.  It was entirely over grown with dirt and grass with just a short narrow strip showing. I was hoping it would stetch all the way to the front step which you can see at the very bottom of the picture. But instead it just stops a couple of feet short. Now what? And it was burried so deep it looks like I'll have to roll back the grass and dig out some dirt to make it level with the walkway. I'm going need a wheelbarrow and a pair of sturdy gloves.  I already have red lipstick.

 

When I was done making a mess of the walkway I started playing in the garden.  As you can see it's quite huge.  The short side is 25'!  We have only tilled half of it because it's all we need.  I haven't had a chance to plant anything.  I may pick up some vegetables this week.  It will be my first time doing a vegetable garden this size so I'm going to take it slow - keep it stupid.  I found some fire ants in one of the corners of the garden.  At least I think they were fire ants; I mean I didn't stick my finger in there to see if they would sting me. I tried to take pictures but they were so tiny and so busy. They looked like yellow blurs in a mound of dirt. Planting and harvesting my vegetables will be interesting that's for sure! I'm apprehensive about using ant poison in my veggie garden. I may try the boiling water method  

.  I also found this little beauty.  It's a beetle pupa; I'm guessing a june bug.  We have TONS of them.  It took a while to get used to.  At night we can hear them flying into our screens.  WHACK!  They try to fly away but our lights have them in a trance and we keep hearing their wings whirring against our windows and screens.  Isn't this the most beautiful shade of yellow you have every seen?  It is both warm and slightly transparent.  Plus she's just so cute...I'll call her Betty the Beetle.  I think I'm going to have to make a dress in this colour.

 

I also found this considerably less attractive fellow.  This one is a beetle grub, probably a junebug also.  He will eventually turn into a pupa.

And here are my poppies.