I have a spider control challenge. There is a building on my property called The Flip Side. To some, it’s a two-car garage with workshop and loft, but that is not what it has been to Jeff and me, and now for me. It’s a workshop where the two cars would go, a lounge where there could be a workshop, and a studio/storage loft above. I should note that the “loft, is really an upstairs above ¾ of the building and it is standup height with walls and such.
Well, this year, the “such” is spiders and their webs. I think I had better describe that as their condos, because it became much more than webs. The pictures never came out right to show that the upstairs had become Halloween worthy, and that there were webs, cobwebs, weavings, and pockets galore. It was getting to the point where knocking them down did nothing substantial, and the ceiling was being lowered. I joked to friends that I could not see the webs in my hair because they were the same color.
Enough is enough. As they have been migrating downstairs and filling in the gaps everywhere, I realized that I had given an inch and they had taken a mile. Spiders are good, but no that good! Time to fog the space and I have three fogger treatments in my stash. Oh wait, foggers don’t kill spiders. Research tells me that it is still good to fog since it kills spider food. Aha, that’s where I start.
So, I chemical fog the upstairs (did not have enough sheeting to cover things downstairs at the same time). Upon clearing out the air and returning to the scene, I found that foggers may not kill spiders, but they do dissipate the webs which are now less sticky. Hurrah (or is that huzzah since I feel like the queen of my domain again?)! Time to vacuum, and vacuum, and vacuum.
Donning my trusty hotel-provided shower cap from travel supplies, I take up the sword, er I mean wet/dry vac, and start pulling them in. Why the shower cap? See comment about webs in hair above. Protection! Three hours later, I’ve knocked things down the stairs, located some items I had wondered about but couldn’t venture through the webs to find, and rescued my domain from the worst of the webbing. Now, all I need to do is the downstairs, another round upstairs, and keep after them so I don’t lose the war after winning a battle. I think I’d better buy some more foggers…
About the Photos: The before photo is not adequately demonstrative of the mass, and it was four months ago. Things got very much worse. However, you can see the fuzziness in the photo vs. today, which IS the webs. Then there is the lovely hair protection system that eventually filled with water and brought my adventure to a resting point, along with the oops of one box that dove down the stairs, and a prescient sign I bought decades ago. All to recap a story of me taking back my space from the spiders of the day. Huzzah!
Afterword: The reason my garage-like structure is called The Flip Side is that we decorated the lounge in 1950’s colors and accoutrements. Some ours, some purchased, and some inherited. We even have an old-fashioned record player and The Flip Side refers to the other side of the record, with the house being the A side. There is a neon sign proclaiming this that was custom made. I need to get a picture of that at dusk someday to share. And, a party of the same era would be fun, eh? Parties, remember those? Ah, memories
