Shutter Eye Land

 A few years ago a tornado came through our little estate and took off with some shutters.  A search of the surrounding neighborhood and subsequent  yard sales found that my shutters were forever gone, leaving my house looking a bit askew. For years I've searched in vane to find matching shutters.  So, finally (Ok, so it's been nearly 20 years) I decided it was time to remove the remaining shutters and give my poor abode a more complete 'look.'

Not a major project, but let me digress and tell another story (as I always do) about the number of wasps that seem to hang around my yard, watching me work, buzzing me and in general making pests of themselves. For years I've always thought these pests were just part of the Southern Experience (yes, in caps, like it's a tourist destination or a ride at Six Flags.)  I also wondered where they all came from and blamed my neighbors for not being more proactive in getting rid of nests.  

So, I removed the first shutter and found:

Wasp nests.  Wasps will use old nests and mud daubers constantly build new ones, so it's important to get rid of them when found. And I found the mother lode!  Behind each of the 6 shutters I pulled down, I found literally dozens of nests for 3 kinds of wasps!  I even found a small birds nest.

With my favorite metal putty knife, I dispatched them all.  (And laughed maniacally the entire time!) The result is now that my house looks a bit more normal and less lop sided.  And will hopefully be less wasp attractive in the future!

Now, I just gotta do something about those posts by the walk.