I bounced out of bed this morning, eager to try the yummy looking homemade pumpkin scones that I had made last night before going to bed. Max had the same idea, but when we entered the kitchen, we saw a carpet of black ants covering every surface, including the inside of the sealed plastic container containing the scones! What a horrible sight and an absolutely terrible way to start your day!! I have never experienced anything like this before, and have never even seen even one ant inside while living here, yet alone millions! I had nothing on hand to kill them with, although I found out that Windex does a pretty good job. I think this had to be related to all the radiator work being done in the building. Something must have been disturbed or opened up. Anyway, short of killing, scrubbing, chasing, and cleaning, I had no idea what to do. Fortunately, our landlords live in San Francisco so they are usually still up in the evening when we are up for the morning. I quickly emailed them and was told that they would call an exterminator immediately. They did just that but their response from the exterminator was, "We won't come up to spray for them because they are a common problem in Stockholm and you should just get rid of them yourself." Can you imagine such a response from someone in the States when you are offering to pay for their services? Anyway, our landlord told me what to buy and where I should be able to find it. The boys opted to get something to eat at the grocery store on the way to school while Tabitha swore to never eat again after seeing the swarms. I quickly set out to find ant bait, traps and sprays while Tabitha stayed home to let in the radiator guys who still hadn't completed their job. I ended up going to six different stores to find what I needed. It looks suspiciously like most stores carried the items but were actually sold out. Must actually be a big problem in Stockholm right now. Not only did I have to walk all over to these different stores but I had to wait for several to open so this whole process was long and frustrating (on an empty stomach). Fortunately the weather was absolutely perfect! I finally got what I needed and came home and sprayed and baited and cleaned some more. (You all know that I am a clean freak already, so this will only make things worse!) When the horror of the morning was finally taken care of and the radiators were finally complete, I was able to get out and enjoy this beautiful day. Tabitha and I had a wonderful lunch together at a local soup place before she headed out to hang out with friends.
I then took the opportunity to enjoy the day. Just walking around, taking pictures and giving Coco some exercise. You would never know sometimes that we really live in a big city.
People were outside in droves, just enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.
Some on city steps...
Some only half dressed….
Some working on the pool in the park across from our flat...
And some on a home strung tightrope in a city park…
When Josh's flight was delayed coming home tonight, the boys and I decided to go out for dinner. (Still not ready to eat in our kitchen even though it appears to be ant-free) We had a wonderful Chinese meal at a little sidewalk cafe, again enjoying the warm evening.
So, today wasn't so bad after all…
I posted a picture the other day of how light it still is at 10 PM in Sweden. The sun is also rising ridiculously early. The official sunrise was at 4:10 a.m. but at 3:49 this morning, despite "black out blinds" and an eye mask, the sun woke me up….
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