The “novella” edits are done and have been sent to the editor. After which I decided to take a wee nap on the couch because I felt a bit tired.
I slept for four hours. And Then I went to bed at a normal time and slept some more. The edit took a lot of braining. OMG, we worked so hard on that thing. This is what happens when you stuff a novel sized idea into half the word count. Argh.
Also, the night before that, as I was about to drift off, Gordon came into the bedroom and said he needed me for firepower and moral support. We have French doors in the living room and those doors are the main exit/entrance for the dogs and cats. We have a couple of senior dogs and in the morning and evenings, the door stays pretty much open. Pets go out and bugs come in.
As a proper Southern woman, I wanted a screen door. Well, apparently, the French doors are installed in such a way that a screen door won’t work. They open to the outside, etc. So a few weeks ago I broke down and bought a magnetic door screen. Here I will link it for you, because you will ask in the comments. As always, it’s not an affiliate link. I was hesitant about the purchase at first, because it’s not the most esthetically pleasing look to have the screen hanging in your living room, but I got so fed up with flies that I stopped caring.
Anyway, I was super happy to get the screen up. It was an easy install. Basically you attach self-adhesive Velcro around the doorframe, tack it down with provided tacks, and then fit the screen on it. I even bought one in a proper size that fit over the wide doors. The dogs and cats learned to use it quickly, the screen snaps together well, and we have less flies.
Back to the night before last. After Gordon’s ER trip, we had an exterminator spray all around the property. So it’s midnight. I follow my husband out. He has salad tongs and a bucket of water.
Me: … ?
Gordon: Look at the door.
There are strange things sticking out of the screen on the left side, where Velcro attaches to the door frame. I look closer. Six scorpions, tails curled out.
SIX.
One right above the other along the door frame.
They looked dead, probably from poison the exterminator sprayed. Somehow they crawled up and go stuck in Velcro. So I went and got a fly swatter, just in case. And then Gordon proceeded to pull dead scorpions out with tongs and toss them into the water bucket. There are still some chunks of scorpions stuck to the screen that we can’t get out.
I wish I had taken a picture of the scorpions for you, but I was focused on scorpion extermination at the time.
So, a good buy on the screen. Ten out of ten.
So I shared the scorpion adventures on Facebook and Rachel Vincent, who by the way has an interesting looking book coming out soon, commented and said, “Years ago, I found one in my bed, flung it off the covers, then got stung when I stood up. Fun night.”
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. My pillow fell on the floor. Guess who spent good 5 minutes beating and shaking the pillow to make sure there were no scorpions in there?
I used to check the locks before bed. Now I check the screens and the window shades. And rugs in the bathroom. Just in case. #ParanoiaRUs
You may have already seen these type of retractable screens:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Andersen-36-in-x-80-in-LuminAire-White-Retractable-Screen-Door-90001/302197300#overlay
They look really nice both extended and retracted. I can also attest that they are pretty sturdy. It was night out, the screens were black, and I was at a neighbor’s house (I point that out as a defense against being klutz.). I ran into the screen at the front door and bounced back. (◑_◐) No damage except a very deep blush of humiliation. Made an impression on me (no pun intended) that what looked a bit delicate was actually pretty sturdy.
My mom lives in an apartment and the units have screens on the balcony doors that similar to yours… her cats manage them beautifully, and mom enjoys having the balcony door open when the weather is nice!
How does a pet manage a screen? I find this mildly confusing. Perhaps because one of my dogs is remarkably harebrained. I am glad the scorpions ended up in the screen and not in the pillow, though!
I have one and my dog closes his eyes and dramatically pushes through the screen (imagine throwing his snout through it). It is incredibly lightweight and mine is magnetic at the center.
We used to have a sliding patio window/door and a lightweight screen door on the outside of that. When the glass door was open with just the screen in place our cat would extend their claws through the screen and move their front leg to the side. This would slide the screen just enough for them to slip through. They never closed the screen after them though.
I didn’t see if someone else in the comments had mentioned an UltraViolet flashlight. Since scorpions fluoresce, you can hunt when it is dark out with an ultraviolet light.
We have plenty of scorpions in my neighborhood. That is one way to get rid of them or just do a check for comfort level.
Six?! 0_0 Wow that screen paid for itself in one fell sweep ^_~. I’m glad someone else mentioned this, but it’s pretty cool how scorpions glow under a black light and pretty obvious, if you’re checking every night it might save you time and effort to get a black light flashlight. I’m pretty frugal, but if I was checking every night for scorpions I’d buy one. Then again with your awesome screen door you may not need to ^_^
Where I am, we are shaking our shoes for black widow spiders. Blech!!
I am having great success this year keeping flies away with unwrapped bars of Irish Spring around the patio. Between that and our new magnetic screen (2021 version), even my office is a fly-free zone.
Irish Spring? I may try it. Right now the dogs bark every time they want it or out, which is better than flies but not much. :/
Our weekend adventure in North Texas was bats in the house. 10 of them at least flying around the living room. A couple of them hid and found a way into our bedroom. They were little evening bats, and no fun whatsoever.
We had a small bat crawl inside our tent trailer while camping. I was somewhat aware of something flying past my head but thought it was a moth or such. Finally the soft thudding/thumping woke me up enough as I thought one of our kids was needing a toilet and was having trouble with their shoes. I grabbed a flashlight and started walking over to their side of the trailer when the bat flew past me. I hit the floor so fast while whisper-yelling for my husband to get up. Of course this woke the kids up too. I had them burrow deeper into their sleeping bags while my hero of a husband grabbed his leather gloves and tried to catch the bat, naked while I tried to use the flashlight to locate/lure it through the opened door. We were finally successful but it has left me very cautious about sealing all the Velcro fasteners on the tent trailer now.
Should I say anything about the time mom made a milkshake and why we now store grasses and mugs upside-down?
No. You really don’t want to know.
Have the pets ever been stung? My dog seems to investigate all the dangerous creatures nearby but no scorpions up north. This creeped me out so much, definitely would be upping my lockdown routine too.
My big fear is spiders and ticks. Ticks just l-o-v-e me. More than once my husband has had to grab me and swing around so he is between me and the road. Because yes there is a tick on me and the shirt is coming off! I don’t care if I’m in the house or the yard. The clothes are coming off!
Bee down the pants leg. I sympathize. I still don’t know how the bee got there…
We purchased our magnetic screen earlier this summer. Best buy ever …. I can’t say no bugs but close to none and our dogs manage the screen with ease.
I gotta say scorpians, black widows, and big bugs in general are one of the top reasons I choose to live north, with lots of snow, and sometimes cold … but NO bugs or creepy crawlers that make me fear my shoes, my carpets, or my curtains ….
You’all who live in the heat with the creepies are braver than me.
I have several of those magnetic screen doors. If you bought the $10 one… I hear they won’t last very long. I bought the $25 one maybe at Walmart? But also it’s on “as seen on TV.” I love them.
Year ago, I was working for the National Park Service in the desert. I would place my shoes on the bedside table each night in case I needed to get up in the middle of the night. I only ever found one scorpion, but it was in the bath tub. I was also cautioned to take a flash light if I needed to go outside after dark as rattle snakes would come and lay on any pavement for the warmth. Instead of scorpions on the screen doors it was tarantulas. Fun times.
One of my earliest memories is going to visit family in Crosbyton, Texas – maybe 1966-67? We went into an old store and there were tarantulas hanging on the wall and on the screen door. The family just walked in like it was nothing, and I was freaking out in the car telling Mom to hurry up and go back to Georgia.
A scorpion in the bed? Lovely … or maybe not. I was immediately reminded of the western novels of Louis L’amour, and how the cowboys would always tip their boots upside down before putting them on.
Random question that maybe someone can help with: I could have sworn I saw a book about how Dina’s parents met. I looked around this site and Amazon but don’t see it. Was it discontinued or did I just imagine this book lol
Hey Tamara,
It’s not a book, but Helen and Gerard meeting is a fan service snippet which can be found here https://ilona-andrews.com/gerard-demille-and-helen-meet/
I hope this helps ????
I don’t think I could live someplace with attack scorpions!!!!!
Hail, House Andrews, Bane to Scorpions Everywhere! (So glad you’re taking care of those critters.) For the giveaway – my answer is the Fae because there is such a variety of them and because pretty much none of them can be trusted. (but, somehow, they’re so darned sexy!)
One more reason why I like the north! We may get snow (beautiful, blinding snow), but there are no scorpions! ????
Thank goodness you put up those screens.
Two words: Flame Thrower.
I was stung in the hand by a scorpion sitting in my bath towel while I was living in Belize. I panicked and immediately threw the towel at my husband (I think I was hoping he would get rid of it). He was less than pleased but ended up killing it with a shoe. Then we had fun with a venom extractor. I took some antihistamine and drank a very large glass of rum and slept for 12 hours. All was fine in the morning.
I love screen doors especially the wooden ones. I remember that was were we put the fan on cool nights to save on electricity.
I have one of those screens and I love it. Except when the magnets stick to the steel storm door.
Eesh. A good friend who lived in Bryan returned home after having her first child. That night when she went to bed, a scorpion stung her foot under the covers. Talk about insult to injury – she was exhausted & dealing with recovery from childbirth, then when she finally got to try to rest, a sneak attack. Things that make you go brrr.
Wood ash is useful in controlling flea beetle in your veg garden.
Doing another Kate read-through.
I also live in Central Texas, and in a wooded area where scorpions show up in the dam**est places… I have nearly had cardiac failure several times, yet I am the designated bug killer in my household, so I must tackle the horrifying crawling things–that are sometimes on the f***ing CEILING —and are freaking FAST—and so far, I have not been stung, but often have laid awake at night checking the floor, the ceiling, the bed… I truly sympathize. Both my husband and son have been stung, and say it’s about like a bee sting. Not fun, but also not normally life-threatening… I pray I never find out. It’s been ten years now, and still a ‘virgin’…So, I truly sympathize. I moved here from the Gulf Coast, where scorpions DO NOT happen…WTF?
The last few days have been crazy here – giant spider strolling down the hallway, a wasp in my office that disappears when I go to get something to kill it, scorpion in my son’s room – note a spin in the Dyson mini-vac did NOT kill it and tiny frog in the kitchen that the dogs were trying to eat (released safely outside). That’s on top of the baby rattlesnake on the back porch – that had recently shed its skin in the garage and the weekly surprise scorpion in the hallway. Best of all was grabbing the laundry from the front-load washer which is on a pedestal drawer (and I have found a dead one after a load before – was it in there already? did I grab a pile of laundry with a live one?!), leaned in to get the wet laundry and see something waving near my face. Jump back to find a live scorpion that had walked over a package of sanitizing wipes on top of the washer and somehow gotten its tail stuck on the sticky part of the lid. After wacking it @87 times had to figure out how to release it without touching it. Texas is awesome!!
I’m in Australia so this likely won’t shock anyone, but here we’ve learnt the hard way that you always smack your shoes on the wall before you put them on (especially if you left them outside), and always shake out towels and clothes if they’ve been on the floor.
No one wants to get bitten by a whitetail, or worse, a redback.
In Mexico, after you graduate from medical school you have to do X amount of years of social service (don’t know how many) for underprivileged communities. My mom’s social service was in a very remote location, the sort of desolate, dusty towns where there is one streetlight in the center of town. This area is known to have lots of scorpions, and subsequently my mom ended up treating lots of scorpion stings. The really cool thing is that my mom got so good at hearing the scorpions that she could tell where they were, even if they were in the walls, and became The Scorpion Killer. I picture her as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One thing she always told us to do there, always shake your shoes out before putting them on in the morning. You don’t want to slip into a scorpion sting!
When I lived in Austin, there were tarantulas on the screens.