Funny Annie-ism

Annie: Mom, I did something bad.
Me: (thinking, uh - oh, now what!) What did you do?
Annie: I choosed the left!
Me: What does that mean?
Annie: I should have choosed the right, but I choosed the left!

Turns out she got magic marker on the table. But, that's okay. I told her mom makes mistakes all the time. Funny kid.

Charlotte and her web

Here she is--Charlotte (so named by Annie), our garden spider. And just in time for Halloween. Well, actually, she's been with us all summer (or since our tomato plants got too big to pass the tiller between them, anyway). The pictures don't do her justice. She is HUGE. Her body is easily the size of my thumb. Seriously. The size. . . of. . . my thumb. Can you hear me emphasizing this? I cannot emphasize it enough. The first few times I saw her (and she was much smaller then, by the way), I was very very very frightened and not so sure I was going to follow my spider policy, which states the following: "If spider is found outside, that's his or her home and leave it be. If spider is found in MY home, it's 'adios' for the spider." But, in the end, adhering to the policy was to be the decision. It helped that I didn't want bugs to infest and destroy my tomato crop, spiders are good for that apparently. Her web is really big and beautiful. I tried and tried, but I can't get it to show up more in the picture.




Oh, and it gets even better--I LOVE tomatoes, but I couldn't bring myself to pick the ones on either plant that her monstrous web was attached to. After a while, I realized she wouldn't chase me and try to kill me, so we made peace. I kept my distance still, but we shared the occasional conversation, and Ryan tossed her grasshoppers every now and again. He said he watched her wrap them up and even eat one. . . . pass. . . No thanks, I'd rather not see that.




Anyway. Sometimes I'd come out to the garden and she wouldn't be in her web. I couldn't bring myself to pick tomatoes on those days. Who knew where she'd be? Gives me chills.




Ryan told me one day that she let him pet her belly. Now THAT is strange. Why? I ask? Why would you WANT to pet the belly of a spider? But alas, he does love animals, so. . .

Anyway, I don't know how long she'll be around. She has survived the few frosts we've had and moved her web twice. I think I might even be sad when we part ways.