Insects aren't always creepy.

Well, to some people they are no matter what they are.  I just don't like arachnids.  Or insect that look like arachnids.  Or ones that I know that bite.  Small insects really don't bother me.  Well, small spiders really do & small insects in swarms do.

The 1st time I encountered springtails was on my back porch ledge.  They were extremely tiny, jumped when I went close to touching them & there were many of them.  They had probably been there since I purchased the place & I just never noticed them until leaning over the ledge one day I huffed a breath out & I saw these tiny things go scattering all over!  It took forever to figure out what they were also considering I don't have a microscopic lens on my camera & I had to study where they were, what they were doing, the environment, size, & behavior to figure it out.  It was really the jumping that did it.  They have what's called a furcula attached to their bums which allows them to "sping" short distances.  What I learned about them, I let them be & the association eventually came & painted the porch ledge & they have since been gone.

A few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night & went in the bathroom & I thought Chris left some beard shavings in the bottom of the sink.  Until I realized they were moving.  I looked closer, went to poke the, what seemed, almost microscopic insect & sure enough, it bounced about an inch away.  We had elongate-bodied springtails in the bathroom sink.  Not too worried because of what I had read before, they do not cause damage, but they can migrate & in great numbers.  What I was worried about was we were getting more & more each day and if we were getting them, because they are really outdoor insects & coming from the pipes, our downstairs neighbors were getting them also.

Now, we live on marshy land & there's a creek in our backyard so these are expected.  The way you are supposed to rid of them is to find the outdoor source of moisture or leaks, fungus, algae, decaying vegetation & so w/my atmosphere, I don't think I will ever find their original source.  They're kind of fun to watch them mill around aimlessly & jump when poked anyway.  I told my downstairs neighbor about them yesterday in the event him or his wife sees them to not freak out that they are, if anything, a nuisance & nothing more.  So to get rid of them in the pipes, the eco-friendly way would be w/vinegar, & if that doesn't work, bleach.  These are temporary solutions though.  Chris went right for the bleach.  Haven't been back since.

Unfortunately the roses he got me that I re-potted were infested with fungus gnats & I had to just get rid of them.  I had tried to get rid of as much as I could of the old soil when I re-potted it but I guess I just didn't do a good enough job & I am praying they didn't get into the daisy.  My dad gave me a tea rose to put in the pot & my mom gave me an antique turtle that I put a moon cactus in.  Looks so cute!

  

I've been feeling the best I've been in a while.  I swear the year before my gallbladder surgery was hell & this year after has been also.  Except the year before the surgery they were sure it was my gallbladder & now no one knows what's wrong with me.  Got myself off 1 prescription & working myself off another.  Being sick on & off had depressed & scared me greatly, especially when I ended up in the hospital.  I have been trying to stay positive through it all though sometimes it's so hard to.  I have my sanctuary (bath), my love (Chris), my support (fam & friends), my confidant (my cat who is also my cuddle buddy though he objects with claws & teeth sometimes because he is a grumpy old cat but he does purr a lot), & things that keep me sane (crafts, cute things, blogging, shopping, making people happy.)

Take care everyone.  Until the next bath! :)