Fogger?

I hear you ask what is a ‘fogger’. After a while one gets so used to the technologies available that you use jargon without even thinking about it.

We have found that there are at least 4 different ways to get rid of bugs etc.

First what sort of bugs are there?

• Fire ants – medium sized, but very nippy (literally), live in a hole in the ground and you don’t want to step on the nest.
• Sweet Ants – almost microscopic, seem to be mostly harmless (though someone said that about The Earth once), but annoying because they are there in strange places.
• Grease Ants – don’t know (don't want to know) what they are, but I’ve now got the poison to get rid of them.
• Cockroaches – Don’t bite, but they are ……. Well, cockroaches. Yuk!
• Fruit fly type things that get in and produce loads of little fruit flies and eggs and things.
• Fleas – quite common, but we haven’t had them…. Yet.
• Chiggers (pron. Jiggers) little tiny beasties that bite and hold and then lose their head – in you.
• Moths – they just reproduce and caterpillars eat anything.
• Hornets – really nasty, huge, waspy things with dangly legs, that make you duck as they come flying by. They build paper nests anywhere.

Well that will do for the moment.

Getting rid of them.

1. Long term: Bait stations, little plastic boxes with poison bait in them, the bugs come and take the food back to their nest and it kills the bugs, including the queen.
2. Short term – Raid spray, or Go Bug spray – shoot and kill, spray and they die – they can kill a hornet at up to 30ft!
3. Drastic – The Fogger. Sometimes called a bomb. An aerosol spray tht you place in a room, seal it up, pull the pin and retire quickly. Leave it alone for 6 hours and then flush away the gas. Kills almost anything in the room, under carpets, in crannies, or cushions. Seems very effective (at least on the ants in our truck.
4. The Final solution – The Rolled Up Newspaper.

Sunday

The plan is to chill out a bit today. Carol is off to a local church this morning, she is really interested to see how it is different to the church back home.

Carol has been a bit upset as we found a creepy crawly in the trailer, but she was the only one to be bitten by it (privilege I would of thought).

On Friday night we put a ‘Fogger’ in the truck to finally eradicate the ants. It seems to have done the job. Even out here people have been surprised that we had a colony of ants in the car, as they seem to think that ants don’t drive.

Ron and Carol chilling by the pool

Bluegrass Part 2 - Saturday

We planned to return for the second part the next day. First we had a look for a guitar for me (Terry) to keep in the States, we had time to look in one hop, saw a couple of guitars, but nothing that was right. Then we travelled back to Largo to enjoy the Bluegrass and crafts. The music was good. Sally and Carol bought a couple of bits from the craft stands and we all went to Denny’s for tea. Carol and I managed a swim in the pool, nice and cool.

This picture shows Ron watching the Bluegrass band 'Bits of Grass'

Bluegrass Event. – Part 1 – Friday evening

This afternoon we travelled across to Largo where the city had put on a bluegrass event. The evening was a bit hit and miss, it was an outside event and rain constantly threatened, every few minutes it would start, then stop. We did not want to get Sally’s wheelchair wet, so we were going backwards and forwards trying to make sure we were dry. The music was provided by some local bands and were mixed in their quality. The other problem was that the sound mixing was very poor. By the time we got to the last act the audience were down to about 20. Half way through the act the accordionist decide that he was not loud enough and after complaining to the rest of the band, then the sound man, then the event manager, and probably the park keeper as well, he threw equipment off the stage and proceeded to pack up and go a away. This made for a big finish for the evening.

Power Chair Search

Sally and I continued our search for a Power Chair, while Carol and Ron relaxed by the pool. Sally and I had a look at a shop which I had found, it had several used chairs, but at silly prices. So we took a deep breath and phoned a local distributor for Pride and got an extremely good deal on a new chair, with a second year warranty and a set of ramps for about 1/3 of the price of a new one in the UK – she even had the choice of colour, as long as it was red. We collect it on Tuesday, so I have to keep pushing at the moment.

Will everything else be an ANTiclimax?

Taking the hire car back gave us our first problem – ants!

We left ourselves plenty of time for me to return the hire car to Tampa Airport and for Sally to follow with the truck to pick me up. I had even had time to get Mary back to work (the Sat Nav). We got some chairs out of the truck for Carol and Ron to relax in and found a colony of big red ants, each about a centimetre long. We ran round with a can of Raid and shoes and mallets and hammers and AK47’s, and howitzers, bashing and blowing up as many as we could, but the time for returning the car was approaching fast. Only one thing for it, Sally would have to drive the truck, with ants still in it, while Ron sat behind her riding shotgun with a can of Raid and a slipper! A journey fraught with danger, during which Sally had to just drive, trusting Ron to keep the ants off her! Added to which we now had to drive through rush hour traffic to get the car back in time. Needless to say we managed it and saved an- extra days hire car charges. Well done Sally and Ron. As we had used up so much nervous energy we were forced to go and eat at Buddy Freddy’s, for our favourite country buffet meal – the Beef Hotpot was voted dish of the day, certainly by me. We did a bit of late night shopping and all came home to bed, reflecting on our adventures today.

New Power Chair for Sally

We eventually went in search of a power chair for Sally, we revisited our friend Beau at Randy’s Mobility in Lake Wales, but nothing impressed us. Still it gave us a run out in the Florida countryside, and enabled me to use up some of the petrol that the hire car had provided (we had to take it back empty).

In which Ron does not get to win the hand of a handsome prince.

Up bright and early (matchsticks at the ready on the eyelids). Ron and Terry went out to explore what early morning Florida looked like. It was very steamy , in particular my glasses instantly fogged up. Quite pleasant though. We walked over to the pool area, noticing a number of frogs, lizards and snails all happy in the moist conditions. After using the loo we settled by the pool for a bit, as you do (see almost any episode of Last of the Summer Wine). One little tiny frog caught our eye (and something else later on), it was crawling up and then along the top of the railings. We went closer to investigate, it was quite a slim little frog, about 2cm long. Ron took an even closer look. He put out his hand to guide the frog even closer, and …….. the frog took a flying leap towards Ron and hit him on the lips. Now we don’t know whether that constitutes a kiss, but Ron certainly reacted smartly, with a bit of a jump around (don’t think it was joy). But the frog by this time had gone, never to be seen again, although there is now a very good looking pool cleaner who turns up early in the morning ………

So here we are

We have now arrived. We are in one piece (well 4 pieces actually,: Terry, Sally, Carol and Ron).

We flew in on time, picked up the car very quickly, and drove down to the trailer, stopping at Publix to pick up some essential foodstuff (like some donuts, mmm). We were here just after 6.00. We had been on the road 18 hours. We were worried about the state we would find the trailer in, as we had been told allsorts of things about what the Florida summer can do. We were very relieved to find that BatesRV had set up the trailer on our pitch and that almost everything was clean and in working order. We unpacked all the bedding from the vacuum packs and they were fresh and dry – great. We found spaces for all our clothes and bits. I had trouble remembering where we had put things. To tell the truth I had trouble remembering what we had put away, let alone where they were. Ron and I collected the truck from the storage – it started first time – Yeah!

First stop was something to eat. We tried Applebee’s for the first time, we all enjoyed it.

Back home for a well earned nights rest.

Last night at home for Terry and Sally

We are travelling to Manchester tomorrow and staying in a motel overnight before meeting Ron and Carol at the check- in desk early on Wednesday morning. The flight is at 10.30 so we have to be at the airport before 7.30.
Today has been quite busy doing last minute washing, buying forgotten items, cutting the lawns, sorting out the fallen apples (we've had a bumper crop this year - been having difficulty giving them away!), packing and leaving lists for Helen for jobs to do when we are away. Why is there so much to do when going on holiday? One needs the holiday to recover from the preparations!
Terry made a lovely 'Sunday Dinner' followed by his wonderful plum and apple crumble for our last meal with Helen. Very nice it was too. Helen has been called into Ormesby School tomorrow to work in the unit for children with special educational needs, so we will only have a few minutes with her in the morning. Lets hope this will give her some much needed money to help fund her trip to Colorado - she is returning to work in the Children's Centre in Breckenridge over the ski season.
I can't believe that we are off to Florida again - doesn't seem two minutes since we came back, even though it's been four months. Looking forward to the warmth, the food, the people and the wonderful countryside with the beautiful vegetation and the marvellous wildlife.