Alabama Tracks

For months now we have been fighting small flea like bugs in my master bathroom not knowing what they were.  I had a beautiful peace lily on the edge of my tub that was thriving and it was the only thing that I could think of being the culprit of said bugs.  These bugs were gray/black and very small.  Easy to squish but seemed to be water loving.  In effort to rid my tub of them, I washed many down the drain. 

This past week we saw them in the sinks as well. They were everywhere.  And while they didn’t bite and they didn’t seem to attack my girls I couldn’t put my finger on where they were coming from.  Was it from the drains, the water, the plant, or from a crack in the window?  I researched, and researched, and researched some more. I asked the horticulturist here at work, to no avail. I asked my cousin who used to work in environmental stuff thinking she might be able to direct me if it was water related.  I called the vet to get a price quote to board my girls for a day and necessary shots  so I could bomb the house.  And just as I did all that I could do and researched every kind of bug terminology I could find, I found it!

It is a Springtail.  They are mostly mistaken as fleas because they jump but they aren’t “bloodsuckers” like fleas are.  They came in on my soil from my plant and can mostly be found in planter trays where water and decaying plant matter resides.  I have since taken my plant outside and have sprayed it with an herbicide, fungicide, and miticide to kill anything else that may be on the plant or in soil.  I will probably still replant the thing in hopes of riding my house of these pesty little critters. 

In order to get rid of the ones that are in the bathroom already, I have to now keep my tub dry and cloroxed so they don’t have an area to thrive.  I’ve washed all my bath rugs and towels and cleaned the window sill as well.  I can only hope they will die off quickly and without much ado.  But I have success!  The bugs have been identified!

 On another note, Lucie has acted completely perfect since we picked her up on Monday.  I still don’t want to drive her at night or downtown until I give her a little bit more time to prove herself.  Slowly but surely my confidence is building and I don’t panic at every little movement from the engine/transmission. 

This week we also had the Farmers Market here at work.  A few local farmers come to the parking lot and sell to the employees for an hour and half.  I managed to get some really good local peaches, tomatoes, and purple hulled peas.  I wanted to get more but I had to face the reality of eating all of it.  There was locally milled cornmeal, grits, and other grains, honey, fresh cut flowers, peppers of all kinds, melons of all kinds, tomatoes (green and red), peas, okra, squash, cucumbers, corn, and blueberries.  I really wanted more peas than what I bought so I could put them up in the freezer but I just didn’t want to spend the money on them quite yet.  Last year I got an ice bag full of purple hulled for $22 and put them up for the next year.  It was great being able to just warm them up and go for dinner.  I’ll have probably two servings with those that I bought this year but they are fresh.  I can still by more from the farmers markets later on during the summer.

So tonite I hope to get another pair of maternity pants and wash the others that I have.  We’ll have salmon for dinner and then veg watching a movie.  We’ll let some friends cats out as well but other than that, I’m looking forward to a fairly uneventful evening.  The weekend will be here soon and we’ll spend it at home most likely.  Yard work calls as well as posting things on Ebay.  Little by little, we’ll get it all.

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