Well, 4 days later I am no longer singing, humming, or whistling “Tiny Dancer,” but the ants, unfortunately, have stuck around. We were away in San Francisco this weekend and returned to a relatively ant-free kitchen, but the minute food preparation resumed, they were back.
Thanks for the various anti-ant suggestions. Aside from more thorough cleaning, sealing food up tighter, and spritzing lemon juice around potential points of entry (the acidity seems to repel them), we haven’t yet taken any measures to send them packing for good. Though I’d like to, I should say that this is a pretty unrealistic goal since we live in the country. We (I should say I, since Bastien is at peace with the bugs) will have to coexist with all critters out here to some degree. Without letting them take over, of course.
As coincidence would have it, Apartment Therapy (one of my favorite daily blog reads) posted an article yesterday on “Household Pest Control: 5 Natural Bug Repellents.” Some of the remedies include essential oils, garlic, crushed mint, and lemon peel. Cinnamon and lavendar are also good repellents according to their readers. Since Bastien and I are adamantly opposed to pesticide use, and since we have a good stock of essential oils, I may try one of these routes first. I’ll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, here’s a joke for the day. One waleeco bar for the first one to answer correctly!
What did the pink panther say when he stepped on an ant?
image via Apartment Therapy (Flickr Member gaab22 via Creative Commons)
Dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-aaantt. You know the tune.
Good work, Beth!
One waleeco bar and a free stay at Maison Drytown coming your way! Anyone know the history of the waleeco bar?