Second Day of School = Sick Day AND Work Day!

Can you believe it?  The second day of school yesterday and I already had one child home sick.  My husband was out on business calls all day (in situations like this he usually works from home and stays with whomever's home sick) so this day he couldn't stay home.  I actually called in sick today!  I really don't like doing that but what choice did I have?  

In any event, I stayed home and took care of my sweet little daughter (she's fine by the way - went to school today and is outside playing with all the neighbor kids!).  I was able to get some work done, too.  I cleaned out some cupboards getting ready for my MAJOR house de-cluttering project and massive rummage sale that will be the first week of October at Navigator Driving Academy where I work at one of my jobs.  Busy road, lots of traffic = lots of cash and hopefully will sell it all!  

I also canned tomatoes that I picked at my garden at my parent's house.  I love gardening.  It's so therapeutic and we grow everything organically so I know my family's going to eat healthy food.  The only thing I don't like, even though I'm a true farm girl at heart, are critters.  Like the 8-legged kind.  Or the kind that has no legs and slithers along.  ((((shudder))))  So imagine my surprise when I was out checking the tomatoes two weeks ago and ran into a spider that nearly made me go into cardiac arrest.  I'm not kidding!  This baby was black, yellow and H-U-G-E!  With it's leg span, it was almost 2 inches in diameter!  Yes, I screamed like a girl.  I wouldn't go back in the garden until my Daddy came out with me.  Funny, no?  I'm 40 years old and I had to have my Daddy walk me back out there!  

There was a distinct zig-zag marking in the spider's web, so I did some research and was able to quickly locate the information:  Argiope aurantia, black and yellow argiope.  Mind you I'm putting on my big girl panties here, the spider is harmless to humans and actually does a lot of good in the garden catching bugs and such.  These girls (the males are much smaller, brown and are usually eaten by the female after mating if they don't scurry out of there fast!) are so big they can even catch a bat in their web!  

Big girl panties on, I decided that the spider should remain and I will pick the tomatoes around her.  I even named her Agatha.  Agatha Argiope.  And here's what she looks like (see the zig zag in the web?  It goes down much farther as the web is quite large!):

Meet Agatha Argiope

Just as long as she stays on her web (which she has so far), I'm okay working by her.  The tomatoes directly underneath her will rot as I won't get THAT close, but I managed to pick around her.  I even had my kids come out and help me.  Yeah, that didn't work so well.  My son told me he suffers from arachnophobia so he wouldn't come near Agatha.  He even commented that there could be more so he wasn't picking either.  My response?  "Jon, I've been all over this garden and there is NOT another spider like this!"  You know what happened next...not more than 5 minutes passed and I happened to find one of Agatha's daughters not more than 4 feet away!  She's only half the size of her momma, but she's big nonetheless.  Her name is Agnes Argiope.  And I'm leaving her condo alone, too.  There will be more tomato rot in the garden because I won't pick under Agnes, either!

It was still a productive day.  I picked two 5-gallon pails of tomatoes, one for me and one for my parents.  I was able to make stewed tomatoes yesterday while Maddie was home and I even took a picture to show you the fruits of my labor (no pun intended).  As you may see, I love Ball canning products and that's generally all I use!  Maybe because that's what my Mom always used...I grew up with it so that's what I use.  It's kind of funny, though.  It's like Christmas for me going down the canning aisle at the store right before canning time.  I truly enjoy picking out jars of all sizes and lids.  Weird huh?  =)

Summer in Michigan is wonderful as we have an amazing growing season.  As a matter of fact, Michigan grows more produce and crops than all other states in the U.S. except California.  Now that's impressive considering we have snow on the ground from December through March, sometimes even earlier and later!  

If you don't have your own garden, be sure to visit your local farmer's market and stock up on the season's bounty.  You'll be supporting local businesses (hard working farmers and their families!) and you'll be buying foods that will keep your body healthy.  It's a win-win!  

Here's to fresh fruits and vegetables!