Spiders

Flies spread infection; spiders control flies.

I have recently met a delightful young couple from Denmark who have to come to live in our town. I invited them for dinner a short while ago and, with great courtesy, they arrived with flowers, something to drink and little coloured balls and a spider on a a piece of elastic for our cats. One cat loves to beat hell out of the spider and another likes to sit and cuddle it. Today, having sought help from a Danish-speaking friend, I said, with my best possible pronunciation, "Thank you fort the spider". I doubt if that is ever going to be a useful phrase if I have a holiday in Copenhagen. (Apparently, if you use the word spejderen rather than edderkopen, it means "Thank you for the boy scout – an all together different matter!)

Absentgrana - I have a vision now of a boy scout wrapped in tissue paper arriving as a 'come to dinner' gift - and I'd give it to the dog who would beat hell of it! Even more worrying the thought of it being cuddled. I don't think I've ever met anyone from Denmark ......

*Good news*: the spider catcher is really good for those tiny bodied spiders with long legs. DH tried it out [I was NOT prepared to do the first eviction!] and released the enemy with no problems at all - s/he scuttled off with all legs intact.
*Bad news*: the spider catcher was TOO SMALL for the monster on our bedroom wall and DH, bless him, reverted to the glass and card method and took her/him right down to the bottom of the garden where there are plenty of more exciting places to explore than our bedroom. Phew!

Laid in bed, last night, watching a humungous one struggle up the wall in the corner. Returned to book ...to realise it was now heading in my direction ...when, it fell off the wall!! Obviously too heavy for its thread ... and no, I didn't get up to find it!! But will take a glass and card up with me tonight.

Spiders seem to be getting larger and larger whilst police officers are getting younger and younger. Is this something to do with the ageing process???

No I'm sure it's all to do with the increase in background radiation, they are mutant spiders.

And police officers, pompa ?????

A feather duster held close to the spider gently urging it to climb aboard works well with removing large specimens.

Enormous specimen in the Bath, nothing to hand except loo paper, so spider encased in loo paper sent hurtling thro bathroom window. Hope the neighbours don't think I've changed my toilet routine!

P.S. Sorry about the unnecessary capital! Time for a

Oldgreymare - Thinking about the lavvie paper floating through the air!

Just happily sat here on another thread (if you know what I mean) when a great big spider on a mission came yomping across the floor! Well...half way across!!

I hate spiders and earwigs...with good reason I think, when I was 7 mths pregnant with my eldest. I awoke in the middle of the night and could feel and hear something deep inside my ear! I woke my husband and asked him to look in my ear, and he just told me that I was dreaming and to go back to sleep!! I was getting quite frantic by now and was banging my head to try and get whatever it was out, then out of my ear fell a huge earwig which then ran across the bed. It took me a long time to get over that, I used to go to bed with big tufts of cotton wool in my ears! My son hates creepy crawlies and he's a big ruffy-tuffy firefighter, but he can't deal with spiders or earwigs, he gets his girlfriend to get rid of them!

Been off to visit with a friend - stayed one night there and then elsewhere for a week - passed through again on our return and Lo, she had a bag full of conkers ready to go!!!!! Earwigs - I can better that - there I was finally asleep in some foreign place I should never have gone to when a gecko - you know, you've heard the publicity that they cling to the ceiling with amazing suction feet - well no, they don't - down it came straight onto the head, scrabbled about in my hair ..... I think it took me two seconds to shoot into the bathroom and perch on a stool screaming of course. Husband says, don't frighten it, they lose their tails you know when they're frightened! I truly am phobic about any bit of wildlife in my private space but I think I have good reason. Nice to be back.