Tuesday 30 August 2016

It's That Time Again

At eight o’clock the street lights start to glow red and we’re closing the curtains and turning the lights on.

Early in the morning when we take Dusty out, the cars around here have that dewy coat so often seen on late August and September mornings. For me this can only mean one thing.

The invasion begins.

You know the invasion I’m talking about. The eight legged one.

Almost every morning I have to call for someone to come and de-spiderify the bath. Usually it’s those middle sized ones and sometimes a cellar spider. I don’t mind cellar spiders as they tend to stay put – I have one called Samantha living in the corner right next to my bed - but I wouldn’t want to pick one up.

The first of the big beasts appeared the other evening while I was watching telly. I’m not sure if it was the vibration from eight pounding feet I noticed first or the sight of it at the periphery of my vision in the glow from the TV.

By the time the light had been put on so we could see the enormity of it, it had gone under the telly stand. I swear it had to duck to get under there and probably had to lift the stand slightly with one of its mighty legs as it looked over one of its shoulders and barked out an evil laugh.

I watched the rest of Casualty with one eye on the floor, but the spider never reappeared. It’s still in there somewhere. Lurking. Usually we (I use the word “we” loosely – I only do it with medium to small ones) put a pint glass over the spider, slide a piece of thin card under and take it to the garden. I think a pint glass would have been too small – might have risked catching a leg or three and so it would have called for a small Pyrex bowl. But it’s still about, probably growing by the day. I daresay it will announce its presence one day by moving a sofa out of its way.

The next morning I went for my shower. I shook my dressing gown – I’ve been caught out like that before – and checked the bath and floor. It was only after I’d had my shower that I saw the large rusty coloured heap on the floor between me and the door. “It’s a leaf,” I thought as I peered closer (no glasses). It wasn’t a leaf. I managed to leap over it, grab my dressing gown and run for help.

There has been speculation that it was in the towel I dried myself with. Another theory is that it was in the towel I throw on the floor to stand on. It wriggled in the cupped hands of my rescuer as it was removed outside. And he said it was even bigger than the one in the front room.

A spider will eat about 2000 bugs a year I’m told. They’re more scared of us than we are of them they say. They are our friends. I have no beef with the spider and I don’t mind them sharing my home as long as they stay away from me. That’s not to say I’m not going to refresh my supply of conkers around the place.

I thought it was the conkers that were keeping them away, but with hindsight it was probably Harley and Dusty, mighty hunters as was. They’re not interested now. A spider could walk over Dusty’s paw and he’d just watch it.

This morning I walked in here in bare feet to switch the computer on – I always have bare feet at home – and I stood on something that felt like a spider and it stuck to my foot. You probably heard me screaming. Yes I know it would have been worse for the spider if I’d trodden on it, but logic has no place where phobias are concerned.

Dusty is always bringing things in from the garden, mostly stones and small twigs. It was a small twig I had stuck to my foot. Just a small twig.

And don’t even get me started on Crane Flies which, as far as my phobia is concerned, are flying spiders.

I'm scared of mozzies because of the reaction I have to their bites, but it isn't anything like my all consuming fear of spiders.

Anyone else out there dread this time of year - and the arrival of the big spiders?





32 comments:

  1. Fortunately I don't mind spiders, although I find Crane files harder to catch and the girls can't sleep if there's one skating about on their bedroom wall. It's the mice and frogs our cats bring in that I can't go near, but luckily Hubby can pick those up. We had to leave a shrew shut in the kitchen until he arrived home from a three-hour drive from Yorkshire and his first job was to catch it and take it to safety. And of course there was no dinner ready for him! xxx

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    1. Mice and frogs and things like that don't bother me, Joanna, but your shrew in the kitchen reminds me of the time my cat Leo brought a little mouse home and before I could catch it, it had run off. When my husband got home from work, I had all the furniture moved to the middle of the room and eventually between us we managed to catch him - his dinner wasn't ready either and Leo was disgusted with us that we'd let his gift go :-) I love your description of the crane flies skating about on the wall xx

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  2. Oh' gawd not you to Teresa !
    I have a lady here with an identical phobia, who now claims that the Brighton spiders would push her mammoth settee across the room.
    I find that a vacuum cleaner is the answer for those creatures.

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    1. Your lady is a kindred spirit! I well believe that about the Brighton spiders. Must admit there have been times when I've had to resort to the vacuum cleaner, but then I feel guilty although not as guilty as I was scared xx

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  3. I'm not keen on spiders but since having one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Primrose-Katcha-Bug-Spider-Catcher/dp/B00EYBB08W/ref=pd_lpo_201_lp_t_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3E70XQ61GKZH86KJN559
    I find I can manage them much better and with more independence! You can also get vacuum ones and neither will hurt the spider - as you say, it's our problem not theirs!

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  4. What a great gadget, Bernadette - I'm going to get one. I bought my kids the vacuum ones (they all take after me I'm afraid) but they won't suck up the really huge ones. That looks perfect though, thanks for the link xx

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  5. I so sympathise, Teresa. I have a spider phobia too.

    I have a battery operated bug sucker-up device and last week a big spider managed to escape when I was trying to remove it from the hall. I am now very wary whenever I go to open the front door- but it could explain why we didn't have many flying ants there this year...

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    1. It's horrible when you know there is one lurking somewhere about, Carol. It certainly could explain the lack of flying ants though xx

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    1. I think there are quite a lot of us, Colette xx

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  7. I don't mind spiders, unlike my mother and my daughter. The phobia had to skip a generation because of the number of times, right from toddlerhood, that I had to rescue my screeching mother from 8-legged beasties. She once screamed so loud when coming eyes to eyeballs with one when tidying the pantry that my godmother, who lived 3-doors away, heard her and came scurrying round. Despite being knee-high to a gnat and being deafened, since I was standing behind Mum at the time, I'd already carried The Monster out to the garden by the time my godmother arrived.

    Your post did make me laugh, although I do understand your fear - spiders moving sofas etc. You sound just like my mum, daughter and ex-hub. Even my son (31) isn't keen on arachnids, although he won't admit it. Maybe he thinks I haven't noticed the conkers on his windowsills in his bedroom and bathroom?

    I did get a shock in the early hours of one morning on a trip to the bathroom to get a drink. There was a spider in the bottom of the glass. Luckily, I spotted it before taking a drink. Had to chuck one out of the washbasin on such a trip just last weekend, so you're right... it is 'that' time. x

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    1. Oh bless you rescuing your mum. At least you understand and are kind about the phobia. My mum was scared too, but I never rescued her, just joined in the screaming. She used to swear the spiders wore hobnail boots!
      Ew - the spider in the glass! You are brave, Jackie xx

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  8. I quite like spiders. I'm odd in other ways too.

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    1. Odd is good - I like odd, much more interesting than ordinary xx

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  9. We are fortunate that we don't have too many spiders in the house. But a stray dinosaur type spider has been known to sneak in. Hubby has the duty of replacing them at the bottom of the garden where they belong. I do like to see spiders at work in the garden - spinning webs and whatnot :) Mind you, it's only recent, since watching Charlotte's web for the first time, that I've grown less afraid of the eight legged creature. Great post, Teresa. Hopefully the spiders will stay away from you all season from now on :)

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    1. Dinosaur type - great description. I like to look at garden spiders too, especially as they tend to stay outside usually perfectly still in their webs - and are often quite pretty. Perhaps I should watch Charlotte's Web. One of my granddaughters is reading it at the moment and it was one of my daughter's favourite books xx

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  10. Well the newsman advised that tomorrow is the first day of Autumn if you go by the astrological year! Clearly the spiders do, because like you, I am expecting the invasion.

    I'm okay about them myself, as is hubby, but both our adult children are terrified of them. We can't understand it, as we have never shown fear of them.

    Last year hubby said to to out daughter, how you going to cope at University, to which she said, I shall scream until someone comes and takes it away.
    I might have to look at that recommended device for her.

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    1. I genuinely think it is something you are born with. I'm terrified of thunderstorms, but my kids all love them and my parents did too. I love what your daughter said about screaming till someone comes to the rescue! I have ordered one of the devices Bernadette recommended xx

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    2. Oops! I should of said meteorological year - It's been a long day Teresa. x

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    3. I read it as meteorological, Maria :-)

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  11. What a great post. I encountered my first giant spider in the towel recently as I pulled it from the rail. It was massive. I managed to put a beaker over it and let it out of the window. All our spiders are called Henry and as long as they don't get too near, we leave them to catch all the little bugs we can't see. Not keen on the darker evenings though!

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    1. Thank you, Maggie. They do seem to like hiding on towels. I'm with you on the darker evenings - I could do without them. Roll on January when we can start looking forward to it getting lighter xx

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  12. Sorry about the spiders, Teresa, although your descriptive post made me smile! As you probably know by now, I'm delighted that autumn has arrived! I like spiders although I don't want them running about beside me or dropping onto my hair so I gently remove any I can catch on a large sheet of paper and take them outside. They probably just find their way back in again.

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    1. I remember that you love this time of year (my family all do too). I think you're very brave to remove the spiders like that. I had to call for help to remove one which was scampering round the bedroom curtains last night xx

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  13. Oh my. I hate spiders and mozzies.

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  14. I love spiders. I sometimes give them names if they stick around. I once had to remove one from an exam room once when a girl couldn't continue with her Eng Lit while it was a few feet away.

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    1. What a lovely thing to do, Keith - for the lass I mean. Not everyone is so understanding. We give the ones that stick around names too :-) xx

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  15. Our daughter is petrified of spiders, Teresa. Although we tend to smile, it's deadly serious for her, as it is for you. When I was a kid, a huge spider used to cross my grandparents room at almost the same time every evening. We called him (was probably a her) Fred.

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    1. You're right, it is deadly serious! They do say those really big ones are female, but I'm sure Fred didn't mind :-) xx

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  16. Hi Teresa,

    Ah yes, it's that time of the year. I'm not a big fan of spiders and my son totally freaks out.

    Have a lovely rest of your weekend, Teresa.

    Gary :) x

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    1. I hope there aren't too many waiting for you in Canada, Gary - I gather they're as unlovable there as they are here :-) xx

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