BUGS, bugs and more bugs

Where do all these bugs come from?  And I'm not talking about the ones that are outside my house!  Every morning when I get up and come downstairs it amazes me how many box elder bugs and bean beetles are laying upside down in the 'I'm dead, vacuum me up' pose.  And I never can find where they are coming in so I can plug the hole.  I just keep my little Craftsman 4 gal. vac (r2d2 as I very lovingly call it) plugged in and sitting next to the kitchen table.  Throughout the day I vacuum a dozen or so as well, including the living ones which haven't succumbed to the residual Raid bombing that we did a few months ago (at least this is the only reason that I can think of that these little buggers are dead within a short amount of time of making their way inside.  If they only knew what awaited them inside, they would stay outside!).  And did I mention those little mexican bean beetles are stinky??  They are not at all like the cute little red with black spotted ladybug.  These bugs are a dark burnt orange color with black dots.  I suck up one with my vacuum and my vacuum stinks every time I use it until I empty it then.  pew!

Our kitchen is in the southeast corner of our 100+ year old farmhouse.  It is white - with that less-than-desirable slate siding stuff.  The foundation, for this particular part of the house, is those brown hollow bricks (I'm sure there's a 'name' for them - I'll have to ask my Dad).  So the bugs love this corner of the house and they are thick on the foundation blocks on the warm, sunny days.  And since the basement is not what I'd call air-tight, they make their way in.  In the basement, directly under the kitchen, is where I find most of them in their upside-down position.  I have a bigger version of my little R2D2 down there for just them.

Box elder bug infestation

I could go on about several other things as well.  It's a rather chilly, drippy day here in central Iowa.  The past several days have been very nice, being in the 70s, with rather high humidity, but still nice for nearing the end of October.  Today the expected high is in the high-50s.  Rain gutters - why is it when a hole develops it is always above the door or sidewalk?  I'm sure these rain gutters haven't been replaced for decades.  There is more rust than non-rust on them, so they are pretty useless.  We would probably be better off just taking them off and let the water drip where it may, at least it wouldn't be funneled to the hole right above the door!

It's our 10 year anniversary today and I've decided to make Terry a chocolate pie.  Chocolate is his favorite.  2 years ago at Thanksgiving I told him I was going to make a chocolate pie.  Well, I still haven't gotten that pie made.  So, figure I'll really surprise him with it today.  Hopefully it turns out to be edible.  I'm even making a home-made lard crust, compliments of my cousins's blog.

Later as I get around to it I will probably try and post 'past' events so everyone knows what we've been up to since moving back to the country nearly 5 months ago.  We have been up to a lot and somethings are pretty amusing.  But for now, it's time to get my work computer fired up and earn that paycheck.