Nearly every year I have my annual run-in with hornets and their nests. It's hardest to spot them when the nest is in the ground. Then I'll inadvertently run over it with the mower, and that's when I get stung, on the back of the leg, usually. My leg will swell up for a week. If you've been stung, you know what it feels like...like someone's taken a small knife and twisted it into your leg. OWWWW.

A few times, now, no doubt from the trauma of being stung, I've been alert enough to spot a ground nest before I mow over it. I can spot them sometimes by noticing a lot of insect activity, of flying objects coming and going in the same area. If you stop and peer at it more closely, sometimes it turns out to be hornets going to their nest.

Earlier this year I found a small hornets nest under the broad-leaved canopy of a huge viburnum. It provides excellent shelter from rain, no doubt. I had to spray the nest because it was kind of close to the driveway, where a deliveryman could brush up against it, and actually that's what I did myself when I was mowing. The nest actually fell on the mower, but even more surprising, the hornets didn't go after me. Still, I felt I'd better spray.

Yesterday, I found an even largest hornet nest, about the size of a cantaloupe, in a rhododendron that sits very close to the house, on the back wall.

Because I know that hornets, like bees and wasps, play a critical role as pollinators, I am happy to be able to leave this nest alone until the frost kills them later in the year. It's in an area where no one will go, and I have the perfect vantage point indoors to watch as the nest gets larger.

I plan to collect the nest after a hard frost and bring it indoors to put on a shelf. To be sure no hornets are left in it to hatch when I bring it inside (they shouldn't be, according to the hornet life cycle I've read up on), I'll put the nest in a clear plastic bag and seal it for a day or two indoors. Just to be doubly safe.

I would like to post a photo of the nest but as mentioned before, I'm having trouble now adding images.

I finished up my 1st week as a perm employee. Today I got my last check from the headhunter agency, and I'll have to wait 2 more weeks, til Aug. 1, to get my first check from the bank.

I've signed up for healthcare, my flex spending account, dental care and 401k. I'll be contributing 15% to start; I may sign up for the catch-up contribution later after I get a sense of my comfort level and how much discretionary money I have left over. Just have to wait to get my ID card.

As usual, i have a ton of stuff to do this weekend. Uppermost in my mind is driving 45 minutes to drop off my dehumidifier for repair. The new one's been running and working like a champ.

I picked up a pizza tonight on my way home from work. It was the 1st time in the 19 years i've lived in this town that I tried out this particular pizza place. I don't know why that is, but it is. The pizza was pretty good and cheaper than the pizza place i used to go to, where it was hard to justify their prices.