Birds, Bt, and another milestone

This weekend has been OK. Finished mowing the lawn yesterday. Hauled out some compost, and put a bag of leaves into the composter. This was one of about six bags of the leaves I raked up last December 12. I bagged them and then discreetly used the bags to insulate the cat shelters that are dotted around our property. As Spring turns into Summer, this insulation is no longer really necessary, and there will be plenty more next Autumn.

I also refilled the bird feeders for the first time this year. I'll have to make this seed last, because I can't afford to buy sack after sack for the winged gluttons. If only the cats would eat the birds, we'd really be able to cut back on the costs of feeding the animals in our backyard ecosystem.

Today I took a drive out to the Dallas Agway to buy Bt. I think the girl working the cash register had a better idea of how Bt works than the clerk working the floor did. (Bt is a bacterium that needs to be ingested and is poisonous to caterpillars. You spray it on the leaves that they eat and after they eat enough of it, they die. It is not a contact poison, and simply soaking a paper tree wrap with it will not be effective.) I also bought a fabric tree wrap and some sticky goo. This will go around the tree trunks and catch the little bastards as they head for the leaves. It will also be effective against Gypsy Moth caterpillars in a few weeks.

I needed a new hose-end sprayer to apply this stuff to my trees, and my neighbors' trees. Agway had several models for $12 - $15. Kmart had one for over $10, and another one for $8 that came pre-filled with some Miracle-Gro product. (I don't use that stuff.) The new Ace Hardware by my house had them for under $5.

My car hit the 288,000 mile mark as I pulled into the Ace parking lot. These are "official" miles - I was driving without a functioning odometer for most of January. I wonder how much longer I can keep it going?