From Channel 12 news this morning:
People across the Valley are waking up to flooded roads and no power following a monsoon storm Sunday evening.
Thunder and lightning were reported across the area, and according to 12 News forecaster James Quinones, most of the Valley saw about a tenth of an inch of rain, with some parts seeing a half inch or more.
Maricopa Fire Department sent out a tweet early Monday morning warning drivers State Route 238 was washed out near mile marker 26.
 |
| From Channel 12 Website -- Last night's storm |
We had some beautiful rain here last night but no flooding. Lots of thunder booms and lightning though. Thankfully no damaging winds.
Our landscaping team is hard at work on the golf course with the thatching, mowing, scalping and reseeding.
Whoops.........here's the only damage we found from last night's storm. I'm certainly not going to try picking this guy up. Ouch!!
Say Good Morning to our housekeeping staff as they make the rounds.
Golf course and ducks look peaceful.
WOW! Look how green the ball field got overnight! I guess the seeds LOVED the rain we got. That's FAST growth!
Good thing Fernando always throws in a couple pounds of seed for the doves.
More work continuing over by the food court area with the pavers.
They're digging trenches all around the new pickleball courts. Looks like more electric lines or something.
It looked kind of muddy so I sent Don to get a better picture.
It's so handy to have him around "sometimes". I receive many compliments about the blog so must share the credit as Don takes many of the photos........especially when there's mud or dirt involved.
Hauling away some of those big mounds of dirt on the new street.
Here's another look at the pool and hot tub. I sent a note to Jim Dawson begging for an alert on when they'll start pouring. He said he'd be sure to let me know so I can be there. I'm excited to see it happen.
What a maze of pipes.
Still assembling the new houses.
We're back to sweeping all the houses for spiders now. They get pretty thick at this time of summer. Pest control service and spraying doesn't help for spiders because they travel air born on their webs. The daddy long legs are especially thick and always want to cluster near the doors and crannys of a house. Our duster brush gets a hard work out each day as we sweep before we enter.
If you want to know more about these critters, read the paragraphs below. If not interested, you can close for the day.
***************************************
DADDY-LONGLEGS
You see them
almost every day, but very little is known about daddy-longlegs, also called
harvestmen. They are not spiders, but belong to a group with many different
species, called Opiliones. The common name, daddy-longlegs, likely came about
because of their small oval body and long legs, and the name harvestman because
they are most often seen in large numbers in the fall around harvest time.
Description
Daddy-longlegs do not produce
venom, nor do they have fangs. A very popular urban legend states that the
daddy- longlegs are the most poisonous spiders in the world, but their fangs
are too small to penetrate human skin. This is false. Daddy-longlegs have
mouthparts similar to those of crabs or scorpions that they use to hold prey
while they eat. To protect themselves, daddy-longlegs produce a pungent odor
most predators find distasteful.
Life
Cycle and Habits
The body of most adult
daddy-longlegs is about 1/16-1/2 inch long, oval with very long legs. Males
tend to have smaller bodies than females but they have longer legs. Legs easily
break off. The ability to break off legs is similar to the ability of lizards
to break off a portion of their tail if being attacked by a predator. The
second pair of legs are the longest and
are used as a sensory structure similar to the way insects use their antennae.
Female daddy-longlegs lay their eggs in soil, under stones, or cracks in wood. The eggs
are laid in the autumn and hatch in the
spring. In the northern areas of the United States, daddy- longlegs live for
only one year. In South Carolina and the rest of the southeast, daddy-longlegs
can overwinter as adults and live for up to two years.
Daddy-longlegs
are generally beneficial. They have a very broad diet that includes spiders and
insects, including plant pests such as aphids. Daddy-longlegs also scavenge for
dead insects and will eat bird droppings.
In the fall, they can
become a nuisance when they congregate in
large clusters on trees and homes, usually around eves and windows.
Additionally they can be found in damp crawl spaces, unfinished basements,
and garages. Rarely are daddy-longlegs encountered inside finished, living
spaces of homes.
Control
Since
daddy-longlegs are beneficial predators and scavengers in nature, control
should only be performed when absolutely necessary. The clustering behavior
only occurs during the fall and for only a brief period of time. Daddy-longlegs
do not damage structures
when they cluster. If control is necessary, due to a large
number of daddy-longlegs that is considered unpleasant, insecticide sprays
labeled for exterior use on spiders can also be applied directly to daddy-
longlegs found outdoors. However, in nearly all situations, chemical
control is not necessary. Most daddy-longlegs can be removed from
structures with a vacuum or broom.
