Let them hate me, so long as they fear me!

[ebonlock]

This quote's a bit trickier unless you're a bit of a perv like me.

It is also my motto for the snails in my backyard. Apparently their population has exploded without any kind of natural predation to keep them in check. A cursory glance at a 5' span of my yard showed over 20 of the brazen little beasts turning their stalk-like eyes to my new plants. Grabbing my spade I scooped each one up and tossed them into my compost bucket and then spread some snail killer over as much of the yard as possible. I know they're hiding in the vinca, I can sense their presence, and they will die.

I know this sudden surge of bloodthirst is rather odd for those of you who know me. A tree-hugging liberal vegetarian who won't even wear leather has to draw the line somewhere, dammit, and I draw it at the destructive little varmints attempting to devour my plants. Once their numbers have been reduced to reasonable levels I'll go back to live and let live. But for now I'm enjoying playing wrathful goddess.

But on to other topics, Friday a blackberry and raspberry bush were acquired and are now happily growing in larger pots out in the backyard. I'm going to have to buy a nice tall wooden frame for them to climb on soon as the raspberries have really taken off. Neither one will produce this year, of course, but I look forward to having a reasonable amount next year. I also picked up some mints and tersa returned to me the strawberries that resided over at SWM, along with the begonia and scented geranium that are freakishly large. She then made me her ridiculously addictive cream of broccoli soup which I simply cannot get enough of. I'm certain she laces the stuff with crack, it's the only explanation. I trimmed the geranium and catmint, lavendar, and lemon thyme and dried them, then put them in a basket in my room. Combined with the candles I dug out when setting up my altar, it makes my room smell delightful. Even more so once I get my screen replaced next weekend, hopefully. For now, no air for me.

Very much enjoyed seeing "The Importance of Being Earnest" with the ladies on Saturday, it was very funny, and the Colin/Rupert duet was well worth the price of admission. "Lady Come Down" was playing in my head all evening long afterwards. I spent the rest of the evening puttering about the place and decided that the computer desk had to go into the office, then centered the t.v. I was much happier afterwards with the whole set up and use of space. I'm now pretty much finished unpacking, and now it's mostly a matter of organizing leftover stuff into the remaining boxes and then stacking them out in the garage.

Sunday was filled with stuff at the beginning and end, with just enough time in between for me to be slackful and take a nap. The farmer's market was disappointing as the lavendar lady was not there. Perhaps that's for the best, as she would only have convinced me to spend far too much money on her goods. windrose managed to score some very fine strawberries and delightfully helped me load up my car with even more of my crap. Where does it all keep coming from? I swear I didn't leave that much behind. A quick trip to Albertson's and then zoomed home to unload the car, unpack some final stuff, and organize a bit. Afterwards I allowed myself time to collapse (much needed), then aelfsciene and I were off to dinner at Afghani House. Challaw Gulpi is the most wonderful dish, though I must talk someone into sharing some of the veggie kadu with me next time. I think a good time was had by all, and we managed to fill about four tables with happy, rowdy, laughing folks. Good food and good company made it a memorable and lovely evening. Then we got home in time to take care of a few little odds and ends and I got to watch Dead Zone, yay cable! Then off to bed so I could get up early enough to water the plants and yard before leaving for work. Go me!

Crunches: 85
Snails massacred: 20-30

Comments

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Snails rank right behind ants in the MUST DIE scale.

Good weekend! I had tons of fun getting to spend time over at the new place and going to the movies. We need to do that more often.

She then made me her ridiculously addictive cream of broccoli soup which I simply cannot get enough of. I'm certain she laces the stuff with crack, it's the only explanation.

I've stolen the secret crack formula from Janat and slipped it into the soup. Yep, that's it. :)

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

And the brazen hussy even admits she laces the soup with crack, well all I've got to say is...keep up the good work! }:)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

"Oderint, dum metuant!" Caligula of course.
And kadu is all sorts of yummy. You'd have to twist my arm most fiercely to get me to share it.
I must come visit and admire your new snail-less plants soon. (Apparently the damn things have no natural predators--some Alcalde imported them from Spain because he wanted to have them nearby to snack on. This has no accredation and is likely to be, like most anecdotals, completely false.)

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Hey, gold smiley face with devil horns for recognizing this one, and for quoting it in the original Lating }:)

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't just compost them. Be cruel to the bastards.

Buy yourself a nice economy-sized bucket of salt, next time you're at Costco. Spread liberally on any of the fuckers you catch. :)

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

LOL, oh c'mon, you've got to let me work up to that level of brutality. At the moment tossing them in a bucket and throwing about 5 pounds of dirt on the little bastards is the height of my cruelty. Give me a few more weeks of them nibbling on my plants and I might just take to this salt idea of yours. I did get a big one with the snail bait/killer stuff, one down, thousands to go...

Another tactic for when you get really fed up...

[eilonwey.livejournal.com]

Beer traps also work really well. The snails are attracted to the beer, and drown themselves in it.

Re: Another tactic for when you get really fed up...

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a workable solution once the population has been reduced a bit. At the moment I think little short of napalming the backyard is going to cut down their numbers significantly.

ooh ooh

[aelfsciene.livejournal.com]

But I'm that vindictive, can I use the salt on them? ^_^

Re: ooh ooh

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

In small amounts, I don't want the soil damaged just so I can kill the little bastards. Might just as well use napalm at that point.

Nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

[aelfsciene.livejournal.com]

I'm actually more likely to take them as you find them, and slowly sprinkle salt onto their slimy little bodies, one by one. Then they won't get mulched, but tossing them into the garbage after a particularly painful death sounds quite nice to me.

Re: Nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

I'll happily leave the torture to you then, I'll stick with a quick, clean death myself.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Alas, the problem with salt is that it often ruins whatever it's applied to for future growth. So unless she wanted to litter her back porch with dessicated snail carcasses, salt is a bad option. Except for example purposes. DIE SNAILS DIE.

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

Well, you know.

I'm sort of a Scipio Africanus kind of guy. After chasing Hannibal out of Italy, I want to put Carthage to the sword and salt the earth so that nothing will grow there, as a lesson to other civilizations that might think to challenge Rome's might.

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

And I've got nothing against such a policy myself, as long as it isn't being enacted in my garden. Remember, I'll grow fruits and berries that can be shared there....

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I bet you win at Civ a lot, don't you. :)

And buy all your food at the store. ;)

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

Yes, and, well. Where the heck else would you get it?

Food comes from the supermarket. I keep hearing about these things called farms, but I think it's all urban legend.

ah hahahaha

[aelfsciene.livejournal.com]

Farms are where the terminally bored grow up. We get to have 20 cats, though, so it's not all bad. And bovine-free farms don't even smell bad.

[mallen.livejournal.com]

I wasn't good company!

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

You were too, dear, you just needed to relax and start enjoying yourself, which you did. I seem to recall you laughing and smiling by the end of the meal and that's the important thing.

[mallen.livejournal.com]

Humbug.

I'm glad that your killing snails. You're on a slippery slope now. It's only a matter of time before we get you into some sleek black leather pants and you're chomping down In n' Out with the rest of us slobs.

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Don't count on it, I've been a vegetarian for about 13 years now and have no desire to return to my old omniverous days. And I think vinyl is much more attractive, and less stinky than leather.

[esmerel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but having to grease the inside of it to get into the pants is kinda obnoxious. :)

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Why, my dear, that's half the fun! }:)

[mallen.livejournal.com]

Pictures?

Re:

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

LOL, sorry, that particular process goes undocumented }:)

[aelfsciene.livejournal.com]

Vinyl isn't that bad--it's latex that's the bitch, though most of the time you start sweating immediately and don't even need the oil. Oog, that would be very slippery indeed.

killing snails

[wildpaletz.livejournal.com]

A Bay Area woman was on NPR about a month ago. Evidently Berkeley puts out information on how to get snails so you can kill them and eat them. I gather you're a vegetarian, but maybe your roommate would be ok with it? :) I don't know the details, but I think you capture them, put them in some sort of space with a certain type of food which makes them purge out everything that would be bad for humans, then there's the killing and the cooking and the garlic butter with champagne.

The woman who was on NPR had a "if you can't beat them, eat them" motto, I think. And evidently when she decided to harvest them, they disappeared from her yard for the next week so she couldn't catch them. So you could at least try that :). They did evidently come over with Europeans who kept them for food.

[ex-lucianus799.livejournal.com]

I must talk someone into sharing some of the veggie kadu with me next time

That must have been before me and the missus showed up. Consider me at the head of the line, next time.