The ants go marching one by one...

Long time no blog....I know, I know! Something happened the other day that made me reminiscent about our first house in Idaho years ago...Joel noticed one of these in the bathroom and it instantly sent chills down my spine.  Would you like to know why? (Other than the fact that it's a gross little 1/2 inch long insect that wreaks havoc on wood)? Well, in 2003, 2 weeks before little miss Ellie was born, we became the proud owners of a 3 bedroom 1 bath fixer upper (of course) on Eldorado street in the neighborhood I had grown up in.  It was quaint. White with a wood shingle roof and green shutters, and just 'oozing potential'...:)

The day we closed on Eldorado, we went in with demo materials in hand, and began the process of making it our home.  Luckily, we have some very handy fathers, who were more than willing to jump in and help us change out light fixtures, paint nearly every surface, and tear out faux brick and carpet.  Over the next 2 years, we lovingly did little things, as finances allowed, to improve it.  We overhauled the yard, refinished the hardwood floors throughout, and tore out cabinets in the kitchen to open up the space.  And then, we got the bright idea to replace the windows and siding...ourselves.  We had noticed quite a bit of wear and tear, and noticed a 'small' infestation of carpenter ants that we could get rid of by doing the redo.  It would save $$$, we would learn hands on skilz, and it would be fun.......

So, we rented some dumpsters, ordered some siding and windows, and jumped in head first.  I still remember that fateful day when I got to meet about 10,000 of those irksome ants.  I was standing in the kitchen, watching and waiting while Joel and his dad stood outside the old kitchen window, preparing to take it out.  They removed a few screws, and as they started to tilt the window out of the frame, a literal waterfall of carpenter ants oozed out of the opening all over my kitchen counter, sink, and floor.  ******   It was all I could do to let out a bloodcurdling scream and grab a bottle of some kind of toxic cleaner and start dumping it on them.  Joel and his dad quickly figured out what was happening, and ran to my aid.  It took us about an hour, a bottle of ant powder, and a shopvac to get them all out of the house.  We had disturbed their nest. I still shudder at the memory...We had no idea it was this big of a problem...but thankfully, the siding was all coming down, and all of the rotten wood that had attracted them would be discarded.  ******  The ants went away (with a few ant-abatement treatments from our favorite Orkin man), and we were left with the memory of a project turned bad that we survived...only to sell our beautiful little home and move away a few months later. :)  It really makes me smile to think that we CHOSE to buy another fixer-upper.  We're either gluttons for punishment, or 'adventurists'.  Although I've complained a fair bit here on the blog, I truly am grateful for the Capri house, and all of it's projects turned bad.  They have made us appreciate the times that go well in our lives as homeowners. :)

 I always loved this picture of me sitting on the stoop looking traumatized by the whole ordeal...or is it wistful?  I choose to think I was dreaming of the Capri house and all of the exciting 'opportunities' we were going to encounter there....;)

      **as a side note - we have thoroughly checked the Capri house, no evidence of more of the little buggers.  The windows had been open, so we're hoping it was just a fluke.  Regardless, I think we'll have the house sprayed and pray that the Eldorado house was our first and last experience with carpenter ants...**