From The Front Line

On Sunday morning the Doctor came in to wake me up with great news. The ants were all over the kitchen. The Doctor can sometimes exaggerate, and I myself am prone to falling back to sleep. Which I did. It was way too early in the morning, and if I'd looked at a clock I would have realised it was illegal to be awake this early on a Sunday.

Later in the morning, when raiding the pantry for pancake supplies, I discovered that there were a lot of ants in our pantry and that the Doctor had not exaggerated that there were a lot. Of. Ants.

So I set to pulling out everything from the pantry. And then the tupperware cupboard. And then the doll's house. It was incredibly fun. If insect extermination is your thing.

Later in the afternoon we discovered the ants in a sealed jars. Those crazy pranksters, they get into everything. The jar was half full, and as any budget-abiding housewife could agree, those ants were not getting the caster sugar. No way Jose.

I set the jar on the bench and intermittently pulled ants from said jar. It took quite a long time, because they start stinking after a while (hey guys, we're under threat, let's stink out this jar of sugar!), so I left them for a while. Finally in the afternoon I managed to get them all out.

Well. That's what I thought. Tonight I went to make Donna Hay's polka dot cookies (because they are so darn good), and I pulled out the caster sugar, carefully measuring it out. Dark spotted caster sugar. And then I discovered some of those smarmy ants had bunkered down.

Let's call this an awesome Masterchef inspired invention. Sugar WITH protein.

Now if you come around to my house and I offer you something I've baked, you will be safe in the knowledge that any sugar it may include, also contains ant proteins. That my friends is called an Invention Test.

My Creative Space

Let's use the term 'creative' very loosely for my space at the moment. There's not a whole lot of creative going on here, unless you count wordsmithing.

So we have my teacup; my tools of choice - my laptop and the phone; the remote control; a 'Sorry We Missed You' courier card - even though I was here the whole time; my diary; a crumpled receipt; my work notebook; the Doctor's artwork over yonder in the corner; some cookbooks; and of course, what creative space would be complete without talcum powder?

Truth be, the talcum powder sits at my right hand ready to dust onto those pesky ants that keep invading. Clearly, they've still not got the message.

Speaking of pesky invaders, this is the cot I bought at the estate auction. I've just discovered it's got borers. Any way to get rid of those unwanteds? (sorry for the dodgy garage photo).

Nip on over to Kootoyoo to check out who else is playing today!

The Ants. They Are Winning.

Damn the black ants. An endless stream seem to be marching into our house. All over the kitchen bench - no matter how many times I wipe it. In the sugar bowl, I get them out, only for Matt to discover an hour later that they're back, and this time they've brought friends.

Tiny drops plenty of meals for these small creatures. But I sweep them up. She's intent on feeding them methinks. If I happen to miss a piece of toast, or a well squashed piece of peach - well they jump right on it. There'll be a trail leading in and out the door.

Don't get me wrong. I always loved ants. I had an art farm when I was a kid. I was endlessly fascinated by their tunnels, they're intelligent little things. Yet, they don't seem to be terribly intuitive. We don't want them in the house. Sneaking under the benchtop. Tag-teaming with the next round of ants as they carry out their specks of sugar.

Who do they think they are? Uninvited guests are always the pits. Spiders are particularly one of my least favourite, and lately I seem to attract grasshoppers too. Eeeeek!

But it's these ants.

Have you got the perfect chemical-free way to rid PottyMouthMama HQ of these pesky punters?

I've tried crushed mint leaves at the door. No cigar.

PS - You know you're having a slow Saturday night (AGAIN - what happened to my social life?!) when a) you're posting about ants; and b) Matt looks over and discovers you're scouring Google Images for a suitable ant picture. There's a song for this.

image via