Yesterday, while Mirinda, Jason and I were trying out the new deck sofa, we were suddenly inundated with flying ants. “Did they arrive with the sofa?” Mirinda asked as the thick cloud of insects obscured the sun. At least they didn’t bite.
Then, this morning, they were gone. As if they had merely stopped off at our deck to inspect it before heading for someone else’s outdoor furniture. It was a bit odd.
Rather than being bothered by insects, today saw us finishing off the general house preparations, readying it for the Kiwis. They are Terri and Ray, who will be looking after the girls while we’re away.
They are a lovely couple, full of delightful stories of their journeys and various dogs. Not that they own dogs themselves, but they train guide dogs and house sit pets around the world. We sat around the dining table exchanging many lovely stories.
Of course, while Freya took little time in testing out Ray’s lap, Emma was a lot more reticent. She stuck by me a lot of the time. She was exactly the same with the Italians. She isn’t big on the change that comes with house sitters. Mind you, after a few days, she settles in nicely.
Freya, on the other hand, sees every new person as a lap to curl up on.
I’m going to miss my girls while we joist it up on Gotland.
While we were busy preparing for our week away, Jason headed to Stockholm for some parkour and various other healthy pursuits. He had planned to stay at a hostel overnight so he can go kayaking on Sunday. All very laudable. All very unlike me.
My biggest effort today was finishing and recording my latest Letter from Sweden. For anyone interested (and before the official release), here it is.
Finally, I’m guessing that the mystery of the flying ants will never be solved. It puts me in mind of that day in Farnham when we were plagued with them. But I’m pretty sure they weren’t related. For one thing, the Swedish ones didn’t bite, while the ones back in 2015 were rather bloodthirsty.
