This picture, while slightly difficult to see because I was too scared to get too close, is of a giant spider nest made between some of my pea vines. The half dollar sized momma spider stayed close to the nest until the little spiderlings were big enough to be on their own, which took two weeks or so. There had to be around 300 tiny little spiders in the nest, which caused a disagreement between James and I. He wanted to "take care of them," they were too close to the house and he was worried about them getting in and biting one of us. I disagreed, figuring that in all reality, only a couple would make it to adulthood and the momma probably dies after her job is done. We had thought that they were wolf spiders, but when I looked it up, wolf spiders (who tend to be aggressive and bite-happy) carry their eggs with them. Nursery web spiders (a very appropriate name) look very similar but carry their eggs until they are ready to hatch and then make their beautiful web nursery. So this protective momma, won the argument and now they are out of the garden and out in the big scary world, hopefully growing up beautifully and not biting lots of people.
In other garden news, my peas flowered in tiny, delicate white flowers. I wasn't sure what the flowers were going to look like, so I was happy when they looked so pretty. At this point, we have eaten almost all of the peas right off of the vine with none to save for actual cooking or canning. Note for next year: plant three times as many pea plants to prevent us devouring all of them. There are a couple that we missed eating while we were in the hospital and are now too dry to eat, so I will pick them soon to dry out for either pea soup (although I doubt there are enough for that) or to plant next year since these did so well. Thank you Burpee for giving us a wonderful crop of great tasting, off-the-vine peas. While Burpee may not have been to blame, our carrots did so poorly, if we have one plant I would be surprised. We had a late frost that did many of our more delicate plants in. The pumpkins have taken over most of the garden and a fair chunk of the sidewalk. The tomatoes are about a foot tall and doing well, we are still unsure how the potatoes are doing and surprisingly, my moonflowers have started to grow while I was away. I was convinced that the shock of transplanting and the frost had finished them off, but two vines are growing on the trellis so we will see if they bloom.
In other news, baby Steven is above his birth weight, filling out his newborn sized clothing and spending a lot more time awake, mostly between nine pm and three am.But he is doing well, this Momma is counting down the days until she can start some serious work on the extra 20-30 pounds that are still left over and until I can go swimming again. Eating lots of fruits and vegetables, high protein, vitamins and trying to stay hydrated to help the process along. This weekend, Baby and I are down in Altoona, PA visiting family, celebrating my grandmother's 60th birthday and my grandparent's 25th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Hubby could not get off work during the busy summer season so we are also spending our first chunk of time away from Dada. All things considered, I think I might be the most affected by that event. James has to work all weekend so he is a little preoccupied and Baby does not notice much quite yet. Two nights of this lonely momma pacing the hallway to calm Baby will be quite enough for awhile. While I love being with grandparents, I can not wait to be home with James and back in my own bed!
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