A hornet’s nest to decorate with has long been on my wish-list. Around here, they don’t survive very long in the wild because cliff or chimney swifts tear up their nests to make the plaster for their own nests.

There was a big one in the plum tree on the other end of the horse’s field I had my eye on. When I went to check on it the other day, it was completely devastated.

Gloria looking glorious

Then one day while I was on the balcony upstairs I noticed a cluster of what looked like dried leaves right there in Gloria’s branches. You probably can’t see it in this pic, but this is Gloria. And it’s a beautiful picture, so that’s why I’m posting it.

Another Hornet’s Nest

The bundle of dried leaves was hiding another hornet’s nest. I had never noticed until the leaves began to fall. We watched it several days and never saw any hornets going in and out. It must be abandoned?

What now?

We put it in a contractor bag, tied it shut tight, and will leave it out there until we’re sure all the larvae (if any are there) have hatched. All this time I thought the hardest part of getting a nest was not getting stung. But it seems the hardest part is getting the nest before other critters get it.

The last of the fall color

This year hasn’t been a spectacular one for color, but it’s still very pretty.

What else has been happening on the Wild Ozark front?

I’ve been really really busy revising and polishing the first book of my Bounty Hunter rural fantasy series. And working on a new fiction website. I claimed the domain name ruralfantasy.com, which I was super-excited about. Also took up a different pen name for my fiction, and it’s a silly one but catchy, and I like it. Anyway, the new site is a long ways from being finished and the revisions of the story are higher on the priority list.

That’s why you haven’t seen a post lately, or this month’s newsletters yet.