Friday, October 31, 2014

Wasp Trap

So I constantly have wasp problems here.  They seem to be all over the place and sometimes get into my trailer.  Now that the first freeze is approaching and they are probably gone for the year, I came across this neat, quick, wasp trap. (Thanks Roku)   I'll have to try it next year.  Mine is going inside my house though, not outside because I don't care if the wasps are out there.  They do serve a purpose in controlling the populations of other insect chains like caterpillars, and the like.

Anyhow, pictured below is the little trap that I made. You take a water bottle and cut the top part off, remove the lid and invert it.  It fits nice and snug.  Then you can decorate it or not.  You put the bait (something sweet) inside the bottle and wait.  It really works too.  I saw how many were in the bottle on the demonstration.





Sunday, October 26, 2014

Mountains

So I spent my younger years growing up in Fort Collins Colorado.  I always marveled at the huge mountains (I still do).

There was one specific mountain that had a huge A on it.  I asked my mom what it was for and she said it was an A for Aggies.  My young mind always thought Aggies was the name of a supermarket.  In reality it was named after the Colorado State University Aggie Ram which was adopted by the school in 1959.  My dad was attending the school to get his PhD in Electrical Engineering.



I have fond memories of the five of us traveling to the top of the mountain by car and in shorts and tee-shirts having snowball fights with my brother and sister.  My mom could dish it out too.

I can't draw (or paint) mountains as well as I vision them in my mind, but that doesn't make them any less breathtaking.  Today I spent the better part of the day working on this envelope (cover) for one of my buddies in the art cover exchange.



Its the first time I have attempted a snow scene.  Of course I have my usual barbed wire fencing I have been putting on almost all of my artwork for years.