I spent much of yesterday working in one of my flower beds.  In the process of pulling weeds and recovering bulbs that needed to be separated for replanting this fall, I came across this rather dramatic scene.  A fairly large spider, about an inch across, was  apparently disturbed when I pulled some weeds.  I ignored the spider until I realized something unusual was going on.  At first I thought the spider had caught a fly; but as I watched the struggling pair, I realized it was the other way around.  The insect I thought 
was an ordinary fly was an unusually slim, black, very shiny creature that quickly got the better of the spider, even though it was smaller than its prey.  I watched the bug tugging and pulling the spider, backwards, and although the spider tried at first to free itself, it appeared to get weaker as the bug relentlessly held on and tugged, always moving backwards over the loosened earth where I'd been digging.  In a matter of two or three minutes, the spider was motionless.  I used my trowel to pick them both up and transferred them to a stone away from where I needed to dig.  A little while later, they had disappeared.  I guess it was lunch time in some deep crevasse under the stone.   

You probably wonder if I always have my camera with me in the garden.  The answer is no.  Fred had brought it outside when we thought we saw George Baxter in his (I think) WWII Jeep go by.  We waited for the Jeep to return, but couldn't get a good shot of it through the trees.  It had made lots of noise as it labored up the hill past our house, but on the way back, it was so quiet it got by before Fred could get the camera focused.  Anyway, that's the reason I had the camera and could get the picture of the insect battle.

It's been another great day for doing just about anything outside.  After a pretty extreme workout yesterday in the flower beds, I decided to give my back a rest, so concentrated on lighter duties, unfortunately mostly inside, but with windows and doors wide open.   Laundry had be done (Monday is the day for that!) and this afternoon Fred discovered there was a leak under the sink - that's always a real bummer.  It happens to us every now and then - it's one of the newfangled PVC connections that screws together, and every once in a while it loosens up and begins to leak.  I think we bump it or something - lots of stuff stored under the sink that all had to be moved out.  Not my favorite kind of household job, but at least I got some things sorted, tossed some, reorganized, and all is now back in place, clean and dry.

The last of the Summer Thursday Dinners in Cabot will be this Thursday.  I don't know what's on the menu, but I'll try to find out and post it on the blog tomorrow.  

Also, don't forget that this year's final meeting of the Joe's Pond Association is on Saturday morning at the pavilion - 10 o'clock.  I had a message from Homer Fitts today to let us know he won't be at the meeting because he and Margaret are having a yard sale at camp.  As many of you know, Homer and Margaret are selling their place at Joe's Pond, so of course there are lots of things to dispose of.  Homer said the sale is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and lots of family will be on hand to help out.  Stop by before or after the meeting - you will no doubt find some great bargains and probably some interesting Joe's Pond memorabilia - and you know Homer and Margaret will be delighted to see you, whether you find  anything to buy or not. Yard sales are always interesting.