Scorpions and Butterflies

I was making my bed this morning and heard an odd sound behind my pillow. I knew what it was before I even looked. Sure enough, there was a scorpion back there. I had a feeling there was a scorpion in the room. What I was not expecting was to find two more, one under my husband's side of the bed and the other beneath his dresser. We are going to spray again, but I think it's time to look into chickens. They are not too expensive and certainly worth the maintenance.

I have read that Texas scorpions are only deadly if the victim is allergic to bee stings. They create the same kind of allergy reaction. The scorpions I find in my house are always light colored. They blend in with the color of our carpet, unfortunately. Sometimes they have a black tint to their main body. I suspect that they climb up the vines on the outside of the house, slide down the chimney, or perhaps that they're actually living and reproducing in the ceiling. We seem to have an extraordinary amount of scorpions, though. My neighbors are all very surprised when they learn of our scorpion encounters.

My garden is blooming like mad. I planted tons of Mexican sunflowers just for the butterflies and as you can see from the pictures to the right, the butterflies are very happy. We have two main varieties out there right now. One is black with orange dots on the outer wings and a silvery-blue on the inner wings. The other is a deep, velvety orange. When I walk into the garden it's like a cloud of butterflies fluttering around. Sometimes I spread my hands out and hold very still and they land on my hands. The lizards seem to be enjoying the shade the flowers provide. I've seen many lizards darting in and out beneath the flower stalks.

I have seen four different hummingbird varieties in the past half hour. I thought they were more of a spring bird, but they have been swarming the feeder in the mornings and late in the evenings when the air starts to cool down to the 90s. I took a picture and managed to catch one in mid-flight, which you can also see to the right. I have to change the water in the hummingbird feeder every three days now because it's getting so much activity!

We also have a new addition to the family: A little chihuahua-like dog that we named Chewy. He appeared at our door during a thunderstorm, shivering and crying, just before I left for Colorado. We knocked on every door in all local neighborhoods looking for his owner, but no one seems to know where he came from. We even took the dog around in the truck, his tiny head bobbing up and down as he peeked out the window, but no one recognized him. He has no collar or tags. We placed ads in the local newspapers and they've been running for a month, but no one has claimed him. We've had a few calls from people offering to adopt him, but we've all fallen madly in love with him. He's very affectionate, but he also ducks quickly and shies away from hands as if he may have been hit before. I don't think he's a purebred. He is a little disobedient and struggles with house training. I am very suspicious that someone dumped him since we live at the end of a cul de sac. I don't know why God brought him to us, but we have opened our hearts and home to him.