Monday, May 30, 2011

I Like the Lot... A Lot ;)

There is a 10 acre, if I remember correctly, that is, plot of land that my grandmother bought way way way back in the day, intending originally to build a home on it. They ended up traveling the world instead of building a house, so "the lot" ended up as a cool play area for my dad and his sisters.

It is still undeveloped (though not for lack of trying on the part of wannabe-buyers/developers!), and is covered with trees and underbrush. There is a path leading down to a large clearing with a gigantic old oak tree in the middle. There used to be a path down to the Lake Jackson, but it is badly overgrown. Dad goes out every 6-12 months and clears the path and clearing, but it is a TON of work and he lives two hours away.

Late last year the dogs were attacked by a swarm of hornets at the lot. I think Indy ran a little too close to a hidden nest while fetching tennis balls, because there were one or two buzzing around and them BAM A HUNDRED HORNETS FLYING STRAIGHT AT THEM. We had to pull the hornets out of their fur, because they tangled themselves deep in their fur (especially on Diocese). Diocese, being Diocese, almost immediately set to pulling hornets out of his and Indy's fur with his teeth. Every time he grabbed one off of Indy, Indy would be like "what the heck, you too? I'm already under attack by these weird things, and now you are biting me?" and bite D. Looking back, it was somewhat funny, but at the time (and for the next few, itchy days) it was scary.

Anyway, we hadn't been out to the lot with the dogs since then, because we haven't been able to find the hornet's nest to destroy. Dad cleared some, but he has been awfully busy fixing/replacing appliances for his mom lately (her dishwasher, stove, and oven all died within a few months of each other). Still, we decided to give it a shot and brought towels and bug spray, just in case.

The dogs had a blast going out there again. They really need to be able to just flat out run sometimes. Especially Indy. We can throw the ball in the back yard, but the back yard is really small for a good run.

I have to mention, it was very hard convincing Kevin to go out to the lot (and I don't like going by myself).

So, we finally got back out to the lot.

And when we got back in the car to go, my Jeep wouldn't crank. The battery was dead. Had to call my grandmother to come give us a jump.

Since it wasn't hard enough getting Kevin to come out before having that lovely mental association. Oh, and we are still picking ticks off of ourselves several days later.