Big Black Ants

I looked them up and according to the internet, we have a problem with carpenter ants. The really big ones are the soldiers and the half big ones are workers. This started last fall. I saw a few ants all winter, but once spring arrived, the problem got bigger. Following some advice, Bear bought and spread a powder around the foundation of the house. But, I didn't believe that would help. (Time out for a tiny bit of "I told you so.")

I thought from the beginning that they were already inside. We have a half basement and half crawl space. The crawl space is under the kitchen and bathroom, and most of the ants were in the bathroom. (At first.)

Then Bear came home with some liquid bate traps. I put one under the clear glass bathroom scales, which just happen to be on the wall in front of the stool. Perfect. They soon found the trap and we watched an ant parade circus every time we had to use our toilet. I never guessed a toilet could be so much fun. For several days we were treated with an ant circus. They gorged themselves so much we had to replace the empty trap three times. The parade going to the trap was in a hurrying straight line. Then there was the fight for position. The after feast ants were the real circus. They couldn't walk in a straight line or follow the trail. And they kept bumping into the ants headed for the feast. They went in circles. They walked sideways and rolled over themselves. They even walked backwards. They rose up on hind legs and bucked like a bronco. They tried to climb the walls and fell off. But, they kept coming.

So Bear went back for more advice and came home with a real scary poison spray, which he used down below where I won't go. Making sure to spray around water pipe holes and the crawl space.

Now according to another trip to the internet, it can take two months or more to kill a colony, depending on how large it is. Or how many colonies have moved in. What a pleasant thought. There aren't as many now, but any are too many for me, especially when they climb on me. They never climb on Bear, but I seem to attract them. Even in my recliner in the living room. I now have a liquid trap over where the cable comes through the floor under the T.V.

I mention this now because I had my worst experience yet while taking my shower last night. Have you seen the movie, "Bird On A Wire"? The scene where Goldie Hawn is taking a shower and a roach falls on her head? Well......the ant landed on my arm. And I promise......I do not look as good as Goldie Hawn bouncing around in my shower!!

Old Memories

My Grandkids were here the other day. We exhausted me and Bear by working upstairs to sort that accumulated mess out for a garage sale. I knew it would use up my still low reserves of energy. So I brought the kids in to do the running up and down those stairs. Bear wanted them to leave things on the deck, and let him store things in the garage and shed. We haven't set a date for the sale yet, but it won't be long now. We got a lot done.

We were both ruthless about throwing things away. BUT, there are too many things that just can't be sold. Things from our families, dead and gone, that we can't just give away. And among old shoe boxes, I found something from my years in Germany. What a surprise. I thought I had my German and European things on display or put away where I knew where to find them.

This little treasure is a carved wooden horse that I bought on my first trip to Kaiserslautern. Our nearest city. She's only about two and a half inches high and three inches long. A deep rich reddish wood that I can't identify. What makes my little horse unusual is her pose. She is up-side-down down, on her back with all four legs awkwardly raised up in the air. Her base a carved field of grass. She has glass eyes and a silly grin on her horsey face. I laughed out loud the first time I saw her and I just had to have her. My first purchase with foreign money. She still reminds me of my Gypsy when he rolled in the dirt every time we finished a ride.

It is little surprises like this that make even a dreaded task worth all the effort. You can bet my little carving won't be put out of sight again. A surprising treasure with memories of 1965. And now, it will have the added memory of a day of hot dusty work with my two beautiful grandkids and Bear and I all working together.