It's really uncomfortably hot and humid here today. I checked my thermostat and it was 78 downstairs, 85 upstairs, but that doesn't account for the dew point.

I find that when I'm physically uncomfortable, due to either very warm conditions in summer or too chilly of a heat setting in winter, I don't do a whole heck of a lot. It's just that now, instead of huddling under a blanket to keep warm, I'm walking around the house half naked and getting nothing done.

Well, I did write the June blog for my real estate company client. And I had what could be my last Census meeting for a while, or for good. Hard to say, it could be just a brief hiatus until the 2nd week of July, or it could be finally the end of it. I'm not sure I want to do any more "cleanup" work for them anyway, it's more of a hassle than anything else. And yeah, I did some mowing and came upon a large, black dead mole, no doubt one of the clan who's been tearing up my lawn. I also saw a dead mouse in the driveway the other day, the second such mouse in the last few weeks.

Oh, and I am crazy upset...the carpenter ants are back. SIGH. There's always a population explosion of ants after a lot of rain, and we did have a fair amount last night. It filled the bird bath, anyway. If I stand in my kitchen with its white cabinets, white counter tops and white back splash, I can spot 3 or 4 at a time, in different locations, but all mostly on the back wall. They must be coming in somewhere else other than behind the upper cabinets becus I still have Arm & Hammer toxic dryer sheets stuffed up there. (As you may know, I lauded the effectiveness of these dryer sheets as a chemical-laden ant deterrent in a recent post.)

Every time I go into the kitchen I look for ants, and try to see the entry spot(s). It occurred to me earlier today that one possibility is the recessed light fixture above the kitchen sink. Sure enough, I spotted an ant crawling around the CFL bulb. After killing it and feeling desperate, I took yet another A&H dryer sheet and crammed it into the spiral CFL bulb. Have to remember not to use that light fixture as I can imagine how much more awful the smell will be when heated even slightly. I will have to see if that helps.

I was so absolutely thrilled for the past few months because those dryer sheets seemed really effective, eliminating all but maybe 5% of my problem. I sprinkled more ant bait around the exterior house foundation. That works, more or less, though there's a delayed reaction of a few days. Though I've noticed when sprinkling inside the house, which I am very cautious about doing due to the cats, that ants have walked right by the bait with a complete lack of interest (or hunger).

Sadly, I let 4 or 5 small lettuce heads go to waste in the garden. I planned to give it to Frank, who chain sawed a fallen tree for me, but he's not a salad guy. I had mentioned that to my mother, so she didn't put i dibs for it. And I forgot to pick it, so now it's done gone bolted. I think I've counted 15 large salads I've consumed, so I did pretty well. The basil is also going to flower, but this year I was smart and planted some from seed, so they are just now looking promising while the old plants I'll let go to seed and maybe try saving the seeds for next year if they dry well.