On Tuesday I sat down to work in my sketchbook and I noticed teensy tiny little bugs crawling across the page. They were brownish orange and so tiny that you would not normally notice them. I was so bothered that I decided to put my sketchbook in the freezer to try to kill them off. Then, I noticed the bugs were all over my desk and were crawling up and down my lamp and had built teensy tiny spider webs on it. I was so repulsed! Then, I noticed that these bugs were coming out of my plant (a palm), which I had gotten in the past month or so. The plant was completely covered with these near microscopic bugs and there were tiny webs all over it.

Some leaves on the plant had recently been turning brown and I thought that I must be over watering it. But after searching online, it seems like the poor plant was infested with spider mites. The little buggers must have crawled up my lamp cord which was touching the plant and got onto my desk from there.

I burned the plant in the firepit and then swabbed down my desk and lamp with rubbing alcohol. I also found the spider mites in another sketchbook (my moleskine), so both of them are now in the freezer. I’m thinking of leaving it in the freezer for a few days and then thawing it before refreezing, to give any eggs a chance to hatch in case they survive the freezer. I hope this takes care of them.

When this problem is gone, I will get a silk plant. I have also gotten a new sketchbook in the meantime. A hardcover, 8.5 x 11 inch Strathmore Artist Journal with gray toned paper. I will let you know what I think of it in a future post.