Burnet County's T Lazy T in June

After one fast-paced week, Cody and I needed to go to the ranch, T Lazy T in northern Burnet County, to take care of several things on Cody's to-do list.  This June, like the rest of the year, is seeing some crazy weather, and it is already h-o-t hot, but Live Oaks provide great shade, so we decided we were up for anything.  How dumb could we be?!

We arrived at our wonderful little Zoom RV only to find wasps entered through the electrical plug and built a nest somewhere in the walls of our ranch home.  I read on facebook that TPWD was celebrating pollinators week, last week, and we were supposed to be thankful for all the pollinators that give us the gorgeous wildflowers, etc.  Well, I am grateful for the pollinators, but TPWD's post didn't mean I had to live with the creatures, especially ones that take hospitality for granted.  Wasps sting and that hurts, especially when the zap comes while sleeping soundly.  Yes, we killed 21 wasps before leaving for San Marcos for the day, and upon our return home, four more had died inside the Zoom during our absence.  We hung wasp and yellowjacket traps near the RV and also had an extension cord ready to plug in the vacuum cleaner at a wasps' by-pass.  I personally loved annihilating the creatures with the spray.  One squirt, and they were dead!

Taking a reprieve from the wasp killing, we headed indoors to turn on some a/c and unpack our things, only to find an infestation of Harvester ants.  They were everywhere--on the bed, the floor, crawling up the wall, and we couldn't figure out what they were after.  There were no ants crawling around the dry food goods stored inside; we couldn't see their trail outside, and had no idea where their mound was.  After vacuuming the wasps, we turned the hose onto the ants, sucking up everyone that crawled into the open.  Talk about fighting a losing battle...gee whiz!

Harassed from the insects, we decided to go check the ponds, set out some mineral and sulphur blocks, and feed the catfish.  I brought my 2# fly rod along and Cody brought his .22 rifle.  I like fishing the Catfish pond, and Cody likes to shoot wasps on the water.  We had a great time, and Cody's 4-H marksman skills paid off, because he assassinated many wasps, even decapitating one.  I caught one catfish and one Bluegill the size of a size C battery and that was it.  Usually the cows come chasing us at the Catfish Pond, but not this night.  We even put out a sulphur block for them, but no visitors, not even Curly the Bull, who usually comes to watch us fish.  We packed up our toys, gathered our kindling for supper's campfire, and headed back to camp. 

After a delicious supper (trust me, all meals are better cooked over an open flame and hot coals), Cody put the 4-wheeler in the Cargo Container and locked it up for the evening.  We enjoyed a good supper, a soft breeze, and the stars before bedding down, which meant sucking up another plethora of ants and some wasps that got inside the RV.  Evidently, we did not even come close to getting the ants, because at 3:30 a.m., Cody and I were both hopping out of the bed, slapping ourselves, and doing the I'm-being-bitten-by-ants jig.  We killed the ones biting us, sucked up some more creepy crawlers, and returned to sleeping.

Thursday morning found Cody fussing at me.  Cody retrieved the 4-wheeler from the storage container and wanted to know why I stowed my rod all bird-nested.  Sad story was, I didn't stow my rod that way.  A mouse bird-nested my line for me--chewed it all up.  Fly lines are expensive, and 2# lines aren't easy to come by.  I was taking that rod on Sunday's outing with Kevin Hutchison, and that mouse just ended up on my bad side.  Cody felt bad for me, too.

Thursday's agenda called for a rescue of the Casita.  Near the Hunter's Cabin a couple of year's ago, Cody made a pad and electric and water hookups for another RV.  Cows are curious creatures, and their curiosity got the better of them, but the Casita paid the price.  They chewed the water hose, unplugged the electric line, ate the spare tire cover, demolished the vent (which is about 6' from the ground), ate the solar panel that provided electricity to the crank, and other damage I can not remember.  Cody had parts to repair the Casita, but to keep the cows from damaging things again, we set up an electric fence perimeter for protection.  Before we could get everything finished, one of the cows had her head under the electric wire and was chewing on another piece of the wiring.  Five minutes later, and 3,000 volts would have been quite shocking to her.  It was hot before we broke for lunch, but by that time, the cows had scattered.

After a stint in town for vittles and provisions, we came back to the electric fence, made some upgrades, cordoned it off with pretty pink ribbon, and left to lay traps for the mice, wasps, flies, and ants, and feed cows.  We found a third of the herd, saw some pretty, new calves, counted heads, fed them, and drove around to the tanks.  Tuesday's storm was indeed a blessing.  Two of the ponds, the Hunter's Cabin pond and the Horse Pasture pond now had water in them.  The Catfish pond, while still very low, had been raised about a foot.  The Log Cabin pond held water, too, and the Bass Pond's level was just below the concrete sacks.  All good signs, and the pastures were actually green.  We couldn't believe how healthy everything looked, because things were not that good when we were there in early May.  The cows sure are pretty and slick, now that they have lost their winter coats.  We saw wild turkeys, deer, an owl, and bats at dusk.  When we returned, Cody had captured my fly line disseminator in one of the sticky traps.  After I saw the little fellow, I thought about how cute he was, and the mouse personified stories I'd read--Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Ben and Me, and The Tale of Desperaux, but that "cute little furry fellow" also destroyed my fly line and was eating the feed.  Cody killed him with one shot of his .22, but I chose not to look at the "after" scene.  I was glad that we wouldn't have to deal with a mess in the Cargo Container, either.  Rodents are nasty.  We ate lamb chops, Cody star-gazed and we easily saw Saturn, its rings, and a moon in the telescope, and dropped in the bed exhausted, until 4:00 a.m., when the ants launched their 30 minute assault.  Having sucked them up sufficiently, we returned to sleeping soundly until the wasp invasion at 5:15 a.m.

Friday started out rough.  We were tired from being awakened by insects, it was really, really hot, and there was plenty to do.  Our insect bites needed some Benadryl.  We needed propane, gasoline, and diesel from town.  We decided to create a second gate with the electric fence.  The cows devoured the two mineral blocks, so we needed more.  The trees needed cutting and spraying in the corrals, and so did the weeds along the barn's entrance.  One of the gas carriers needed its wheels fixed, and we needed to find the rest of the herd.  The first ant traps we bought weren't worth a flip, so we tried a different kind; however, we began to think the traps attracted even more ants than there would have been if we hadn't set any ant traps at all.  I'm guessing Tordon K-22, the chemical used for small tree killing, is pretty dangerous, but their instructions of how to mix were pretty lousy.  Only spray 2 quarts worth annually, and if you're spraying four times a year, mix 2/3 a fluid ounce per gallon of water; if you're spraying two times a year, mix 3/4 a fluid ounce per quart of water--blah, blah, blah, really confusing.  The Roundup for the grass at the barn--mix 1/3 cup per gallon of water--bam, straight-forward, easy-to-follow directions.  Deciphering the Tordon K-22 instructions took a good part of the afternoon.  We hosed off pretty good after playing with chemicals, and went to find the rest of the cow herd.  We drove all over the place, and finally found them, and by the time all the head-counting was finished, there were 14 new calves, one was just days old and still wobbly legged, but pretty.  I guess I expected the cows to look thinner and shabbier since we've been so long without rain, but they were just the opposite, thank goodness.  Cows fed, more mineral and sulphur blocks set out, firewood gathered, it was time for Cody to grill some T-Bone steaks and watermelon (the cows ate the left-over watermelon with as much zest as we did, surprisingly enough).  It may be hot and we do a lot of manual labor, but when it comes to supper, the day is all worth it.  Food just tastes better over an open, wood-burning flame.

Again exhausted, we could not sleep all through the night, thanks once-again to the ants.  They woke us up two different times biting the hide off of us, but we were tired and went back to sleep both times.  Saturday's clouds and breeze were a nice respite to Friday's sizzling heat.  We repaired holes in the fence, showered and headed off to Austin, San Marcos, and New Braunfels.  We were fishing with Kevin Hutchison on Sunday, so we were spending Saturday evening in San Marcos.  We ran all our errands and visited many of Cody's old haunts from his college days at Southwest Texas State--go Kittypaws!  This weekend was a happenin' place in San Marcos, so the hotel room scramble was on.  We did eventually get a non-smoking, a/c working room at the Summit Inn, and we slept without being bitten.

Sunday was great, and upon our return to the ranch that evening, four wasps had invaded the Zoom.  One was dead in the window sill and being devoured by about a hundred ants.  One was dead on the floor, and the ants had munched on it until it was in three different, dissected parts, and two had made their way in to Cody's empty but opened Coke bottle.  After all, it was a Mexican Coke made with the real Coke recipe and real sugar, so they can't be blamed for wanting that sweet goodness that is Coke.  They died later, outside, stuck in the bottle.  I sucked up ants for an hour, and we collapsed in the bed, only to be molested by a herd of ants at 3:15 and again at 5:15--that was it.  I was ready to come home.  The insects won, but not before we got some work done.

I love the warm weather and high heat doesn't get me down, but a good, one-day freeze in the middle of summer wouldn't bother me this time, especially knowing it would kill a bunch of insects.  With as crazy as this year's weather has been, who knows, it may just happen, and for once, I would be gleeful, knowing those pests had the tables turned on them!