Christmas tree

Thanks to the YMCA's Festival of Trees for this year's tree.  WOCC sponsored a tree which I decorated with a real pinecone skirt, deer skull, black snake skin, grape vine, pressed leaves, milkweed seeds like snow. When I undecorated it I brought it home to reuse it.  We lifted it on a table so keep inquisitive fingers and noses away.  Although we can count the little tree that the Hassingers gave us our first Christmas here, this is the first live tree we've had since Shannon graduated from college.  This tree had some of Mom Kitty's ornaments on it as well as the beer balls and cap ornaments but no pigs nor any harps.
No ladybugs this winter.  Hurrah!

Ladybugs

It's been a constant battle with these these things, multicolored Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). The good Lady Bird beetles that eat aphids are Hippodamia convergens. They may not damage anything but they fly around and stink when crushed. They are most noticible when it's warm. Apparently they don't fly when it's colder than 55 deg. They migrate to the walls over the oven when we cook then back to the lights in the living room after dinner. They don't even eat the wooly adelgid; good-for-nothing-bugs. Anytime we find 3 or more we get the vacuum cleaner and suck them up; we've cobbled both vacuums together to give us 6 extra feet of reach. Just when we think we are down to zero, more pop out. It's nothing like that first winter when I had no vacuum and caught a cup full with my hands. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/ladybeetles.html
It does remind me of the box elder bug congregation on Norm's tree on Mark St.