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Friday, April 24, 2009

How NOT to get rid of a Hornet's Nest!!!!!

So....I had a HUGE hornet's nest in my backyard. It was first discovered in the fall when we had some dead trees cut down on the large hill behind our house. I knew that I needed to get rid of it but did not quite know how to get rid of it. Yesterday evening, I was talking to a neighbor about the hornet's nest and my yard in general. He is a wonderful man and he offered to help me with the nest as well as other major issues with my yard. You see, I have lived in this house for three years and it was a house that needed some tender loving care. The downstairs has been remodeled and the front and side yards are in good shape but the backyard was a large hill with a steep slope that basically goes up to the top of the mountain. It was in complete disarray. I needed to have more trees cut down and lots of undergrowth removed. I am wishing now that I had a "before renovation" picture of the back hill.


My neighbor said he would take care of the nest on Monday. He decided to surprise me. He was worried that one of the kids would get stung so he came by today and burned the nest while I was at work. The nest dropped from it's position as it burned and the brush caught fire and the wind blew all at the same time. The fire flew up the hill behind my house. Since this was the first time he had worked up here, he did not know where my hose was located. They used a bucket and some water standing to try to put it out but it spread too quickly. They tried to contain it but the wind kept blowing it. The fire department arrived and took over trying to contain the fire. The department of forestry was called in and firemen from a neighboring county. They fought the fire all day and finally contained it late this evening. 30 acres of forest near my house burned. It burned within feet of my home and my other neighbor's home. It is still amazing to me that no structures or houses were burned. Thanks be to God!

I knew nothing about the fire during the day. I went to pick up Graeme from day care and the worker pointed out the smoke to me. I thought...hmmm, that looks like it is close to my house. Graeme and I drove up and saw all of the department of forestry trucks parked near our house and some firemen walking down the hill. I said, "Hey guys, what happened?" They replied, "Some guy was trying to burn a bees nest." That is when I knew that the fire had originated in my backyard. To say I was shocked is putting it mildly. I was asked in a silly e-mail today to answer with one word a series of questions and one was What is your biggest fear? to which I replied, Fire. I had no idea that the hill was on fire when I typed that earlier today. It has always been and will continue to be my biggest fear.

My neighbor feels horrible about what has happened and thought I would be mad at him. I am just so thankful that no one was hurt and that no ones house burned down as a result. I am thankful to God to have my house and even if it smells smokey...it's mine and all of our special momentos..pictures, items from China, etc are safe tonight. I am thankful for my neighbor who tried to do a good deed and for the fire fighters who contained the fire (they were just up here again as another little ridge ignited so I was able to thank some of them personally). We are so Blessed and may I never take that for granted!

11 comments:

Tricialew said...

Yikes. It is very lucky that things turned out the way they did. Especially that you and the kids weren't there to see it. You know how kids feed off of their parents' fears.

To this day I still stay away from Joey while I keep an eye on the sky when we have tornado warnings. Even at 16, I'm sure my obvious fear would still freak him out.

I hope the rest of your back yard renovations goes much better than it started!

frogglet said...

Oh wow I guess burning is not the answer or rather is the answer to how not to do it. I am glad that no one got hurt and that they contained it before any strutures caught on fire.

Kristin said...

I think your neighbor was wonderful for helping you with the nest. I am very thankful that neither of your homes was damaged and no one was injured.

Jboo said...

Oh my -- that was very scary!! So glad that no one was hurt and no houses burned down. I'm sure your neighbor felt so terrible -- trying to do a good deed and look what happened.

Hope you have a quiet weekend! Take care.

Janet

Kelley said...

So glad that no one was hurt and no homes were destroyed. Yikes! Scary stuff!

redmaryjanes said...

Oh my goodness!
I am so glad that everything turned out ok. How scary!!

Faith, Hope, and Love said...

My mother always said "no good deed goes unpunished". I think I now understand what that means.

Oh my gosh!!!! Praise God no one was hurt or lost their homes!

Just what you needed...huh?

Hugs to you!!!

Blessings,
Roibn

Patientlywaiting said...

Wow, praise God for His protection of your house! Well, is the hornets nest gone at least?

Andy and Tamara said...

Margaret,
All I can say is that your life is never boring. Whew!! I am so thankful that everyone is alright and that you do still have all of your keepsakes. You will have to post an "after" picture even if we missed the "before."

FHL said...

Oh my goodness! So glad no one was hurt and that your home is safe!!!! Yikes! Sounds like you have an super sweet neighbor (one who probably should have taken a scouting 101 class on fire and having a water source handy), but how sweet of him to try.

Brandon said...

soooo luckyy!!! oh my god, I still can't believe that happened!!