Pumpkin problems: powdery mildew

I've just got home from a week away to find my only Jack-o-lantern pumpkin plant riddled with leaf mould.
I've read that it happens when the atmosphere is moist but the ground is dry.
I had noticed it getting bad before I left and had been reluctant to remove any leaves in case I hindered its growth... I now very much regret not doing that.
The mould has spread to all the leaves and stems and the only fruit on the plant appears to have stopped growing.
My trusty Hessayon book told me to spray the plant with sulphur but all I could imagine was scraping the ends off endless boxes of matches and I wasn't really sure I liked that idea.
Another website suggested concocting a baking soda solution with liquid soap and spraying it on the plants.
Without any baking soda to hand, I decided instead to give the leaves a wash with a very weak soap and water solution as an interim measure.
I waited until the sun had moved around so as not to scald the plants and gently rubbed each leaf with the soapy water until all the white had gone. Unfortunately, it was only the moisture from the water which turned the leaves green again - as soon as they were dry, the white came back.
My efforts were wasted.
I've just added baking soda to the shopping list...

I'm gonna get that pesky wabbit

On Tuesday I wrote about my new fruit trees, which I was delighted with.
Unfortunately, after a couple of days away from home, I returned to find those damn wild rabbits had nibbled the bark.
I knew they had a penchant for fresh leaves and shoots but I never realised they had a tree fetish.
Luckily my other half noticed and moved them, still in their pots, behind the rabbit-proof fence surrounding my veg patch. One of them is in a bit of a sorry state.
My much wiser partner in crime is optimistic the trees will be okay. The knawing has not completely circled the trunk or branches so he thinks they have a good chance of surviving.
In the meantime, if anyone can teach me how to humanely kill a wild rabbit and safely prepare it to eat - I have a few in my garden that are starting to look awfully tasty!
As Elmer Fudd said in the Warner Bros. cartoons: "I'm gonna get that pesky wabbit!"

Lace bugs on pieris japonica

After admiring my mother's pieris japonica shrub, I was kindly donated one which appeared to be suffering from an unidentified pest.
I know several of the shrubs from a neighbouring garden had to be removed with a similar problem. The leaves turn black and blotchy underneath and eventually the whole plant is affected.
Trawling the internet, I found a number of sites saying this type of pieris is susceptible to andromeda lace bugs.
The bugs aren't visible to the naked eye so I took a close up picture of some dead bugs on my shrub and magnified it in Photoshop (left). It more or less confirmed my suspicions.
I found a really useful piece on the Conneticut University website about the bugs which explains aggravating causes and treatment.
I am, however, wondering whether to look a gift horse in the mouth on this occasion and turn down the free plant for my garden in case the bugs could spread to other things.

Swarming ladybirds

Ladybirds are a cherished friend of the gardener - they munch the greenflies and blackflies that wreck our crops.
I am very lucky in my new garden because I have plenty of ladybirds of all varieties so my salad crops have been bug free.
However, in the last week or so, I have noticed a marked increase in the number of ladybirds, with many flying into the house.
With a little research on the internet, I have read that they can "swarm" in the autumn.
Last August, ITN reported that millions of the insects swarmed in Somerset and Norfolk, where cars were covered in a "thick carpet" of ladybirds.
As it is already October, I'm hoping I won't have a ladybug plague of my own but I'm intrigued to know what's going on.