TICKS

They're BAAACK!
Oh, darn! I woke up and ran my fingers through my hair. There was a little "nubbin" on my scalp. It moved as a tick would, so I asked my husband to "check it out". He didn't have his glasses on, so I was on my own. I grabbed it and pulled, assuming I'd have a bit of a yank on my hands, but instead it came out without any pull at all. It had not attached itself yet... And of course, it WAS a tick.
They give me the willies, so I quickly ran with it to the bathroom and flushed it down the toilet. I usually recommend that folks generate a "tick farm" in a medicine jar filled with some alcohol. This way, should you have a tick bite issue, you can bring the "farm" to the doctor who will figure out if there's a problem. At any rate, that's what my nurse friend Marte, suggests I do.
This experience reminded me of two topics to mention here.

1) It's tick season! Start dressing appropriately. Long pants-tucked into your socks; long sleeves; and insect repellant sprayed where you're exposed. The other thing is that it takes awhile for these critters to attach themselves, so a shower after returning in the house will generally wash them off. For instance: My little tick hadn't imbedded and I couldn't have picked him up any time later than yesterday afternoon, which means he'd been crawling around looking for a good site all night. YUK!
Here is a link you can use for more information about TICKS. It's a write-up from North Carolina State University and one of the best descriptive sites I could find. It shows photos; it tells you how to remove them; and just about anything else you'd like to know about them.

2) Think MAY FIRST! That's the date here in northern New Hampshire we can assume there will be no more frost. If you can resist, don't plant your tender plants until then! I've had a number of folks tell me they'd lost their newly planted annuals.