I swear, Farmer H was born with all the tools he would eventually need to annoy me. We were obviously meant to be together. I came equipped with the ability to thwart his shenanigans.
For the past week, I have been seeing ANTS. We rarely have an ant problem at the Mansion. My mom used to get them every summer. Big lumbering black ants that came up the back wall of her brick house, and in through the kitchen window, despite screens and double panes and storm windows. She'd get that thick liquid stuff you put a drop of on a square of cardboard. Then put it on the counter in their trail. Not a pretty sight, but it did the job, and got rid of them within two days.
Our ants are tiny black frail creatures, which I first mistook for fruit flies. Only they didn't fly. Just crawled on the counter. Not many. The most I saw in one day was three. But they DON'T BELONG inside the Mansion! I just smooshed them with my finger or thumb. I don't keep that ant liquid, because in all the years we've lived here, I've only seen ants three or four times.
I got the can of RAID out of the laundry room. It has mostly been used for wasps, and not even them for a few years. RAID doesn't go bad, does it? I sprayed along the threshold of the kitchen door. Halfway up the sides. Normally, I would open up the door and also spray the outside. But with Scarlett being so unpredictable, I didn't want to expose her to it.
The next day, I only saw two ants. SMOOSH!
Now it has been two days, and I haven't seen any. Maybe all the rain triggered them to come in. We haven't done anything differently. I had the dog treats of stale bread or grease bread on a plate by the sink. It has not acted like ant bait in the past. The only difference was two tomatoes Farmer H had brought home from the SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2), given to him by a regular customer. I thought maybe they had been carrying ants on their surface. They still had that dusty garden feel. I didn't wash them until ready to use.
Anyhoo... I think our ant "problem" is over now. Not for any help by Farmer H! He came home from the auction Friday night with three bags of marshmallows. BIG marshmallows, filled with milk chocolate!
"Here. Try one. They're pretty good. At least the ones we sampled at the auction were."
"No. I don't really like marshmallows, unless I'm going to roast them over a fire. I can't roast these over the stove burner, because the milk chocolate would leak out. So thanks, but I really don't want any."
"Okay. I always share my treats. I'll have a couple right now. I might take this bag with me down to the store tomorrow."
With that, Farmer H opened up his bag of sticky sweet marshmallows, and put two on a plate. He was looking around for something to do with the rest of the bag.
"Here's a big rubber band that was on the mail. You can fold over the end of your bag, and wrap that around it to hold it closed."
Farmer H did. Then he took that open bag of sticky sweet marshmallows, and set it on the chair by the kitchen door where he keeps his cap that he grabs on the way out.
"NO! Why would you put those marshmallows THERE, after I've told you we had ANTS???"
Farmer H moved the bag to the cutting block. Hopefully any remaining ants are sound sleepers, and won't even know there's a treat inside, before Farmer H takes those marshmallows to his storage unit.
It's possible the rain did bringthe ants inside, if their nest is in danger of being flooded out they send a few scouts out to find a new location.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of marshmallow covered chocolate, usually it's the other way round, chocolate covered marshmallow, like the bunnies we get here at Easter and the Santas at Christmas.
River,
ReplyDeleteThat might be what's doing it. I've never noticed ants on the porch. They have to be climbing up 15 feet from the area under the back porch. With such downpours, I guess all that water goes through the porch boards down to where they might nest. They've had a cushy life, with me tossing a banana peel off the back porch every day, and random onion skins and other vegetable matter. I figure local critters probably like the buffet. Saw two deer over on our 10 acres next to the BARn field yesterday. I'm sure they roam the woods behind the Mansion.
I'll try to get a picture of the bag of marshmallows. Farmer H bought three. I thought they were regular marshmallows until he mentioned the chocolate and I read the package. Maybe I need to try one. For scientific purposes, of course! I wonder if the chocolate is solid, or runny. That would seem very messy!
It's probably solid until it's toasted then it would be warm and runny and delicious.
ReplyDeleteRiver,
ReplyDeleteAnd MESSY! Might even burn your tongue! I know that I certainly don't want melted marshmallow stuck on me, so I imagine the chocolate would be just as hot. I detest messy foods. I WILL endure the butter on my chin to eat fresh corn on the cob. And sometimes I will give in and eat spaghetti if I don't want to prepare another meal for myself.
Maybe your talk of milk chocolate hiding inside the marshmallow is what makes me cringe as I do not like milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is okay, but for the most part I would never feel deprived if chocolate was no longer available. I like marshmallows and marshmallow fluff. I discovered a new taste sensation when I slathered Ritz crackers ith marshmallow fluff. Like Andy Griffith said "everything tastes better on a Ritz"!
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteI, too, prefer dark chocolate. Those marshmallow Easter eggs are okay, but only one. Too sweet to have more at one sitting. As for the marshmallow fluff on Ritz crackers... where is Andy Griffith NOW? Uh huh. I thought so!