Filthy flies freak us out

Flies, flies flies! We are plagued by flies at the moment. Perhaps some holidaymakers without any sense of hygiene threw their picnic leftovers into the bushes where thousands of flies can feast and breed for weeks? Maybe the last of the crayfish bait was idly thrown among the rocks out of reach of other scavengers? Whatever the cause, the effect is of great concern as we battle it out every time any food is taken out of the fridge. It's a race to see whether the flies can land on it before preparation is complete and it's safely in the pot and they even have the cheek to settle on your plate or hand while you are actually eating. The nerve of today's flies!

Swatting is senseless in view of the numbers, and there are more leaves struck from the African violets than flies from the windowsill. I loathe insect sprays, and especially in a food area, but enough is enough and so everything was packed into the cupboards (where they should remain anyway), the dishwasher and the fridge, followed by a thorough wipe down of every surface with vinegar. Kills most things. My kitchen has never looked to spacious and neat. Oh, and all the animal bowls outside.

Out came the fly spray (you know, the one that will knock even the meanest monster out of the air instantly, to spiral to a certain death at your feet) and prepared for them to meet their doom. We all know that none of these sprays work, and He Who Can Fix Anything is adamant that they are not poisonous to humans (as She Who Knows Everything in This Household, I beg to differ). To ensure that we live another day, I snatched the can from his outstretched hand and sent him off to kill mosquitoes in the bedroom (a whole other story). 

I used a cloth to wave the multitude of flies towards the window, where they love to assemble after a meal, and then let them have it - a blast that covered the entire window and left them reeling and tumbling into the sink, where a handy stream of water from the tap sent them to a watery grave far, far away at the end of a pipe somewhere. Over the next half hour, flies continued to fall. They were vacuumed up and disposed of. My kitchen is spacious and neat. Every surface smells of vinegar. The deed is done.