When ants attack!

We had a lovely day yesterday at Blue Ghost Towers. Friends came round, we had salad and cold chicken in the garden, and lots of wine.

For a few weeks now, we have been aware that there were a few ants beside our patio doors. Not a big deal, we thought. But yesterday, at about 4pm, we were aware of some flying ants bothering our guests. And then more, and more. Where were they coming from? I looked over to the patio doors, and saw several hundred of them swarming up from under the flagstones.

It was like something from a 1970s horror movie. Like that film Squirm, about flesh eating worms. Or that appalling film with Michael Caine, about the killer bees. Or that one about pirhanas. Only without the overtones about imminent death, but with lots of overtones about vague useless swatting, and the prospect of little beasties in your wine, or making an unattractive black squidge on your arm if you're wearing a lot of sunscreen. I've looked up ants on the internet, and they only swarm over one or two days in August or July, but they had to pick a day when we were in, and had people sitting within five feet of the nest. One of our guests recommended a couple of kettles of boiling water, and that did the trick.

Apart from that, it was a pretty perfect day.