Clematis Posted September 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 There they are, finally - my camping pictures! You can see my tent, my kitchen in the screen house, and "Mister Cello" my cello in his case lying on the cot. The roses are the last blooms of the summer from my dad's rosebush. They seem to have appreciated the cool nights more than I did... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 Pretty nice camp! Even flowers! Is that a hammock I see? I love Mr. Cello's case! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted September 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 Yes - it's a hammock. It was pretty cush aside from the cold - hammock, cot, air bed, bike and deluxe kitchen. And all that stuff fit in my Corolla! I also had some potted mosquito plants - they are in front of the bike. I didn't see any mosquitos, but I thought they were a nice touch. I loved having my dad's roses there with me - like having a little piece of him with me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 I've never heard of a mosquito plant! Does it really keep mosquitoes away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 18 hours ago, kayc said: I've never heard of a mosquito plant! Does it really keep mosquitoes away? It's a kind of geranium and it smells like citronella but actually is not. I think the best way to deal with mosquitos - other than slathering yourself with poison - is to make a mosquito trap out of plastic soda bottles. I don't know if the plants do anything - and it was actually too cold already in Flagstaff to have any mosquitoes (7000 ft) - but I like the idea of them and they smell nice and are pretty, albeit with no flowers. They were fun to have at my campsite because a lot of people walking by recognized them and greeted them with enthusiasm..."Hey - mosquito plants!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 10 minutes ago, Clematis said: make a mosquito trap out of plastic soda bottles. I did that for bees, but out of the hundreds of bees flying around, I'd get maybe one or two in the bottle, if I was lucky. They love my hummingbird feeder and that's probably why their population is so healthy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 I don't know about bees - other than they like sweet stuff. Do you use a sweet bait for that? My sister - the one who used to love me - made traps for mosquitoes the last time we went camping together and it seemed to work. She made three and put them in a triangle around our tent & kitchen, and they seemed to keep the mosquitoes away. She made them ahead of time and wouldn't tell me what was in them. I built a gnat trap from directions on the internet last summer for inside because I was being eaten alive by biting gnats.The traps had cider vinegar and dish soap in a jar with plastic wrap on the top secured wit ha rubber band and with some holes punched in it. I collected hundreds of them. My dad built his career on work with pesticides, in the lab, selling them, patenting them, and using them with abandon at home. He thought DDT was about the greatest thing ever and would rave about how it had changed the world. I think his exposure to pesticides was probably related to his developing Parkinson's. I thought pesticides were dangerous from a young age; I remember telling my parents there was no need to spray my closet for spiders because I had smashed them all and none were left. I don't think they believed me, but I was trying. I have made it a habit to research any pest I wanted to get rid of, and find the most effective but least toxic (to me) method. My favorite personal invention for bugs is for black widows I find close to the house. Inside a vacuum is good, but outside I hunt them down by spotting their tough ugly webs in the day time and going back to the web at night, armed with a flashlight and can of spray adhesive or some other sticky stuff like hair spray. I spray them with the sticky stuff so they can't move while I stomp them. They are pretty fast and can escape otherwise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayc Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 I cleaned my hummingbird feeder yesterday, I think I found my bee trap! I must have found 20 dead bees inside it (the flowers broke off so they're getting inside). I'm going to invest in a new hummingbird feeder for the hummingbirds and then I'll try putting some of their food in a bottle to see if the bees will imbibe in there. No wonder I have so many bees this year! They're eating my hummingbird nectar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clematis Posted September 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 That sounds like a great idea - use the hummingbird food as bait in a bee trap! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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