No, Kibitz is not doing an impersonation of Mike Pence. We have suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a fruit fly infestation. They're not something we have to deal with very often but every once in awhile they just show up and refuse to leave.
Mostly, the little pests seem to be concentrated in an area of the kitchen where a lot of half-full liquor bottles have ended up. So Ivy has decided the only thing to do is to clear the counters and do a deep clean of the entire room. Burt hasn't noticed the flies and thinks she's being overly dramatic.
Why do these little buggers appear out of nowhere all of a sudden? They probably catch a ride on garden produce, like this heirloom tomato His Madness bought at the Farmers Market. Who knows what could be hiding out in those deep crevices, ha! Since tomatoes aren't supposed to be refrigerated, in order to preserve their flavor, there's a good chance that whatever is currently residing on them is going to multiply in the summer heat. Basically, these tiny pests get into your house, find somewhere to lay a gazillion eggs and in less than a couple of weeks, they're flying up your nose and floating in the milk.
\The current situation is all my fault. It's what happens when you set a fresh pineapple out on the counter to ripen and then forgot about it for a couple of weeks. It was probably the best breeding ground ever!
At least there are plenty of solutions on the internet for getting rid of the tiny pests. What worked best in our kitchen was an open bottle of Prairie Fume with a half an inch or so of wine left in the bottom. It was hands down their preferred mode of demise. Yuck!
Now that the flies are more or less under control it's time to scrub everything clean so it doesn't happen again. Burt was put in charge of finding somewhere to put all those bottles of booze we have been collecting during the pandemic. About a year ago, HM discovered a series called "Cocktails with a Curator" produced by the Frick Collection in New York. Each week one of the curators would talk about a piece from the gallery and pair it with a cocktail that had some relevance to the artwork. Since there was nothing else to do, we got in the habit of trying out different cocktails when we watched a new episode. They would list the ingredients of the actual drinks on their web site along with a non-alcoholic version but we only tried a couple of them. Eventually, the bottles started to accumulate and not being able to invite anyone over to help us drink it up, the countertop got very cluttered.
Ivy and Kibitz moved everything the fruit flies might like off the counter and into the fridge.
As luck would have it, there was another spot that had turned into covid clutter where Burt could temporarily relocate all the booze. Taking a cue from the millennials (or our grandparents) we set up a "cocktail" area in the living room. The excess of kitty treats and face masks are now cluttering up the bookshelves but that's a problem for another day.
Everything looks better on a fancy tray. It's also nice to finally have an actual use for the fancy tray. Apparently, that's why I've been hanging onto it for all these years. Who knew one day a place would be needed to corral a hoard of liquor acquired during a pandemic?
Burt was happy to bring out the skull decanter that we got to serve port from at a Halloween dinner party. Since our current bottle of porto is almost empty, the only thing left to fill it with was watered down grenadine. At least it looks pretty and it shows up, though now I'm getting a jello vibe.
The living room is okay for temporary storage but no place for actually mixing a drink.
With most of the tiny pests dispatched and a some serious decluttered accomplished, it was time to relax and catch the final episode of Cocktails with a Curator. Tonight we had to settle for Dirty Martini's because the fruit flies finished all the wine.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, thanks for stopping by!
I want to come for a cocktail!
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