Thursday 1 October 2020

Last Night's Drama and Today's Doings.

 Last night's drama first.   Remember I live alone; remember also that I have had two super husbands who were practical, sensible and straight forward (all things I am not).   There am I, about half past nine yesterday evening watching the programme on Channel 5 about Lawrence of Arabia (a programme I had been looking forward to and which I found a bit of a disappointment) when what should emerge from under the settee   where I am sitting but an absolute giant spider - large, fat body, very long legs, scuttling towards the rug over my knees at a rapid  rate!  Flinging the rug aside I dashed (well hobbled) into the kitchen to get a glass and then into the study to get a postcard.   When I returned to the sitting room it had not moved an inch.   But when I approached it with the glass it set off in another direction.   And so the 'chase' was on.  After a couple of minutes I gave up, in spite of my father's maxim:

                        If you want to live and thrive

                        Let all spiders run alive.

I fetched the vacuum cleaner from the kitchen and 'chased' the spider round the sitting room, finally hoovering it up after giving the carpet in the sitting room the best clean it has had in quite a while.   Well I think I got it.   Tonight may very well tell.

Early this morning my friend and neighbour brought me round a lovely bunch of sweet peas from her garden.   Sadly H has lost her sense of smell - a shame because they beautiful.   Then Percy and I went on a nice walk round a different part of the estate.   It is a lovely day today - brilliant warm sunshine, light breeze and few clouds in the sky.  I came home and made lunch - a Tesco Cottage Pie which I cooked in the oven and served with some delicious locally grown Tender Stem Broccoli and I followed that with a bowl of green grapes and a tangerine orange served with a nice dollop of half fat Creme Fraiche - that was good too.

Finally I must tell you about the book I am reading and enjoying very much.   It is Pat Barker's 'The Silence of the Girls', about the fate of the women in the Trojan Wars.   It is brilliantly written  and holds the attention from page one.   I do recommend it.

21 comments:

Traveller said...

I love Pat Barker , first cake across her with The Ghist Road. I will put this one towards the top of my to read list. Too many books too little time.

the veg artist said...

I read something a few weeks ago which said that we are in for a season of large spiders. We've had one which got itself stuck in a bucket thankfully - the sides were too slippery for it to get out, so easier to deal with. My cat goes spare if there's one on the carpet though!

JayCee said...

We seem to have large spiders running across the carpet every evening now. I know they are harmless but still... <>

Mary said...

I'm not really scared of most spiders however we do have the poisonous Brown Recluse here which can really make one extremely ill with its bite! If it becomes infected - like the Black Widow's bite - it can cause severe tissue damage and even be life-threatening. Your big fellow was probably harmless, but I know it's always disturbing when a creature gets into the house and upsets the daily calm.

That book sounds very interesting! Enjoy your reading hours.
Hugs - Mary

justjill said...

Apparently they do not like Conkers. See if you can get hold of some. Put them on a windowsill. We have loads of Daddy Longlegs.

Heather said...

My father rescued me from large spiders until I got married. Not long after we were married my husband worked away from home a lot so I had to be brave and deal with them myself. I still don't like big ones.
I am lunching out tomorrow to celebrate my birthday back in March. It was booked for 20th March - lock down day! Masks will be worn (not while eating!) and only 5 at the table, social distancing will be observed. I do hope we wont be in for a second lock down.

Jack Lucas said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jane said...

I really enjoyed Pat Barkers book Silence of the Girls , you might enjoy Circe by Madeline Miller!

Jules said...

I read somewhere that we see more spiders at this time of year, as they are looking for a mate. I'm not a fan of the fast scurrying ones. X

Anonymous said...

So is the spider still inside your vacuum cleaner? To die a dusty suffocating death? Or did you empty it to give the spider it's freedom outside?

Tink said...

The book sounds very interesting and I have just ordered a copy. Not familiar with this author although she has written a lot. Spiders are not as scary as moths!!

Cro Magnon said...

Living in a very old house, with nooks and crannies everywhere, we naturally have a very large spider population living with us. Throughout the house there are handy fly-swats which help get rid of the bigger ones. The tiny ones just continue with their web making.

Frances said...

The spider story gave me goosebumps. I have never vacuumed them up on the basis that they could easily get out again the way they got in!! Husband is the first resort, then the dog, and then me with a glass and card!

The Weaver of Grass said...

I hope you enjoyed your meal Heather. And happy belated birthday.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Librarian said...

Uuuh! I would have screamed - I am not much of a screamer, but when a large spider appears unexpectedly and moves in my direction, I can not help it, even though I know fully well that it does not make a difference, and that most spiders are harmless, even useful in that they keep mozzie population down.
Thankfully, I do not get many spiders in my upstairs flat, in spite of the mulberry tree next to the bedroom window and the cherry tree near the kitchen windows.
A cottage pie sounds like the right kind of food on an autumn evening. Glad you had a nice walk in the sun with Percy!

thelma said...

It is just the time of the year for spiders, each evening I have one that scuttles across the carpet, presumably in search of food. I just bring up the foot rest of my chair, it is cold outside after all!

Poppy Q said...

I was heading to bed the other night and saw something scurry across the floor. It was a weta the size of my hand. I wasn't going to sleep with it in the house. I'm afraid the insect spray came out. I didn't kill it, and got it out into the garden. All bets are off if you come into my house or touch me.

Gerry Snape said...

I think that would make a brilliant cartoon Pat....

Tom Stephenson said...

We have eight spiders living in the kitchen, catching flies on the webs and generally doing very well. I will wait until they go wherever they go in Winter before I clear away the webs.

Beverley said...

Weave, your neighbour doesn't have covid does she? No smell? Or is it a permanent thing.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Beverley - permanent thing - she has been like it for years.
Tom - If you know about eight then you probably have twice that number.
Gerry = Anything involving me these days falls into that category I think.
Poppy - Not sure what a weta is but doesn't sound very nice.
Thelma - Braver than me!
Librarian - a good scream never did any harm.