Argiope aurantia (Garden Spider)

aka the Black & Yellow Garden Spider, the Writting Spider, or the Corn Spider

BIG & UgLy... Yes!
Dangerous... No...

This ugly lady and her girlfriend were hanging out at my kitchen door.

Argiope aurantia (Wiki info link)

They are so afraid of a human touching them that they violently shake their web and try to run away, they have no intentions of letting you get close enough for them to bite you. If you do handle one and it bites you in defense, the pain lasts about a day, with plenty of itching (unless you are allergic to the venom). All in all- Dont try to pick one up.

So why do I kill every harmless Argiope that I find on my deck?

Thier choice of food...
These UgLy spiders eat my beloved Green anoles, Butterflies, Dragonflies, and those kooky Cacida giant fly looking things (that our stray cat loves attacking).

I am fine with the little green garden spiders that eat the pests on my apple tree... but the Argiopes are not welcome in my garden... cuz it wont STOP EATING MY BUGS!

Watermelon Carving

Today I wanted to share an awesome website with you all!
Watermelon.org

I am Not a big cake fan. It's unhealthy, sugar crashes suck, and so do post party bubble guts!
Solution.... FRUIT instead! God made it, it's healthy, it's super sweet, and it's AWESOME!

And Watermelon.org are geniuses for dedicating an entire page to WATERMELON CARVING!   Yes, carving is no longer just for Halloween!

My son's next birthday will probably be a TRex Fruit Bowl…

And I know my daughter will love the Heart Fruit Bowl!

But it's not limited to those! Take a look! There are cats, bats, tanks, submarines, bunnies, beach, surf, turtles, whales, purses, snowmen (for us snow challenged people), pigs, teapots, robots, butterflies…
yikes… that's only about half of what they show!
Full instructions included, and all ideas are FREE! Oh how I love that word… FREE!

God bless, and great Carvings!