The ivy that ate my house

I made some progress this week on my 45 day to do list (which ends Sept 1). I love how cute and cottage-y my little house looks and part of that is the lush ivy growing up one side. Unfortunately, it grows very fast! I put off trimming around the windows a month or so and before I knew it I could barely see out my windows. Yesterday, I rolled my sleeves up and took the job on. It was about the best weather I could hope for (in August) for this sort of work. Thunderstorms the night before brought the temperatures down, so I let the bunnies out to play in the run while I worked.



Pretty quickly, I discovered the dangers lurking within the leafy green:



Luckily, I had my dashing knight-in-shinning armour's equally dashing young squire available to rescue me from the beasties. He had read somewhere that if the wasp's wings are too wet, they can't fly and then can be stomped on and the nest removed. That plan worked quite well and I was able to proceed with the work.



There is now much more light streaming in the windows and the hummingbirds got a fresh meal:



The ivy is still a bit unmanageable because it has grown up higher than I can reach and is burrowing through and under the wood siding. It is also probably the home of all the ants that send continuous raiding parties (that often have no survivors) into my kitchen. For those reasons, my husband has convinced me that the ivy that is eating my house has got to go. He agreed to wait until the fall because I often hear baby birds chirping in the ivy in various places and I don't want to destroy their homes. My poor house is going to look so naked with out its ivy blanket. I'm hoping that I'll be able to put in a flower bed along that wall to cheer things up.

For more posts about the other creatures that call my ivy home, see:
The Frightening World outside my Window
The Secret


-Jayne