The other day, I scanned a page from my notebook to send to my friend Helen. I was about to crop the scan down to the part with just the sketches, when I noticed the little specks on the white page opposite my sketches. Huh?
I looked at the sketchbook. The page was pristine. Could I have gotten ink or other marks on the scanner? I opened to look.
ACK! Those weren't marks. They were ANTS! ACK!
We're having quite the drought here in northern California, and on top of that the last few days have been very hot. It's not that unusual to get the occasional ant invasion during hot summer weather -- after all, they're just looking for water, too.
BUT IN MY SCANNER???
So I did what anyone would do. I got out the ant spray and the ant stakes and I sprayed and cleaned and then, just to be sure, wiped it all down with a bleach solution (yes, even the inside of the scanner).
A few hours later, I found an intrepid line of ants venturing across the backsplash in the kitchen, heading determinedly toward the bowl of peaches on the counter. DOUBLE ACK!
More ant traps, more bleach. And more bleach. Because, you know, I cook food there.
And then I memorialized it with a quick sketch in my sketchbook. Isn't that what you would do?
Ugh ants! Try Terro liquid, found at many garden stores. Or maybe leave your sketches of dead ants out as a sinister warning?
ReplyDeleteAuuuugh! Big ones, little ones... I hate them too! and yeah... I'd probably sketch 'em.
ReplyDeleteand I second the Terro... I found it at Home Depot.
When ants invade my kitchen I put a small saucer of sugar mixed equal parts with laundry borax outside under the windows. It has worked for me.
ReplyDeleteTerro works, too, but I always had to be careful to keep it away from the dog.