Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Shrieks And Spiders

by Russell Turner - 10:25 on 16 September 2016

Every autumn there are scare stories about the forthcoming invasion of our homes by hordes of rampaging spiders. This is a constant worry to Matchgirl the arachnophobe.

Shrieks pierced the calm of The Rural Retreat yesterday evening when one reasonably-sized beast dropped out of nowhere onto my shoulder and then scuttled around the chair on which I was seated. The shrieks, I must point out, emanated from Matchgirl. I was able to chivvy the spider through the doorway before Matchgirl was able to turn her venom on the creature.

Another beastie was seen scuttling across the floor this morning, pursued by Matchgirl with a shoe and a determined-yet-terrified expression. I reminded the vegetarian of other creatures’ right to live, and the risk to her karma, and removed the intruder by using a cup and some stiff paper.

With autumn barely begun, and male spiders setting out on their quest for mates, the next few weeks could be a testing time for my squeamish better half, especially when cats (who care nothing for karma) team up for some indoor hunting. Even Maia, who rarely chases the red dot so loved by Willow, has been known to track down arachnid interlopers, with crunchy consequences.

Maybe I shouldn’t tell Matchgirl how many I’ve rescued from the bath…

(I was tempted to add an illustration but Matchgirl would not be impressed.)

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