They're Baaaacccckkkk

cue the scary music.... the pantry moths are back. Picture me running screaming.... I hate those %$#*&% bugs!!!

I thought I was done with them back in the fall - after all the cleaning and purging and painting and living out of plastic bins. But now they seem to be back. SOB. The worst thing is that I haven't got a clue where they are living - or what they are eating. I've checked most of our food - no signs of them. I've put said food into the plastic bins - no signs in the bins. I threw out the last vestiges of candy in the closet - no signs, but out it went anyway (old Halloween and Christmas candy).

I talked to a very friendly extension service agent a few days ago and she said they could also be in wool things. So I currently have a moth trap in our closet. I just checked and it has one moth. Hmm. Maybe they are in there, but 1 moth isn't anything like the pantry infestation. Still, I should probably get the wool stuff drycleaned (or decide I don't wear it and can get rid of it) and then store it in some sort of moth-proof container. But not with moth balls! GAH. I can't stand the smell and it seems to permeate clothing. I just can't wear something that has been stored with mothballs.

The other thought I just had was what if the moths have gotten into my rug? The last time I had it cleaned they said it had some moth damage and they moth-proofed it. I guess I need to find out how long that lasts. I really don't want to have to take it in again - its a royal pain to take it into town and back (and not cheap either). Plus its not supposed to be good to clean it too often.

ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! I thought lice were bad, but I think pantry moths are worse!

Is the Battle Won?

This is how my pantry has looked for the last, oh, 6-8 weeks. Bare, barren, empty...

I've been catching pantry moths regularly until we finally stripped off the shelf paper and found (we hope) the last cocoons. Knock on wood! I counted dead moths in my trap and recorded it on the trap. No new moths in the last 2 weeks at least. So finally it was time for Operation Paint the Pantry.

Yes, the pantry is whiter now. It used to be a pale yellow, now it is white.

Next up was replacing the shelf paper. I ran to Lowe's while the kids were at swim practice on Thursday and picked up some innocuous wallpaper from their clearance rack. My mom came over Friday morning with all her wallpapering tools and knowledge (thanks Mama!) and we set to work. Here she is trimming a bit of excess paper.


The pantry is looking good. 3 shelves down and only 2 to go! The first one took almost an hour (but that included setting up our work area). By shelf 3, we were down to about 15 minutes per shelf. Then disaster struck - not enough paper! We measured this way and that way and even with trying to piece the wallpaper together and not papering the bottom of the shelves at all, there was just NOT. ENOUGH. PAPER! ARRRRGGGHHH

We finally decided to do the 4th shelf and I'd go back to Lowe's and see if I could find some more of the paper. Here's how we left the pantry.


I had to fill Chi*ck-fil-A calendar orders (anybody want a cow calendar for Christmas? just let me know) at the school and turn in my money, which took longer than expected - so, it was after school before I made it up to Lowe's, with A in tow. We got there, and of course, no more of my paper. Ugg. They said I could go to another town and get it - at full price, of course. Hmmm. Let's see what else might work. I found another roll that looked fairly close, only without the green streaks, in the clearance bin. Unmarked, of course. I asked the helpful L*owe's person who said she'd mark it down for me. Thanks! We got the paper and headed home (well, except for the hour-long detour to Tar*get that A wanted so he could "look for Christmas presents" (when he really spent most of the time eyeing/checking out DS games)). Friday morning we finished up the pantry. When I showed it to D, he didn't notice the different papers, so that's good.

Today I got a chance to put some of the food back into the pantry.

Yep, its all still in plastic bins for now! Not taking any chances yet. I'll put up a brand new moth trap and if I don't catch anything in it for a few weeks, I might finally breathe easy.

Sunday afternoon "fun"

Well, I'm not sure any of us would really describe it as "fun", but at least it was more fun with all of us there...

You may wonder exactly what M and D are doing. They (actually all 4 of us) were stripping shelf paper off the pantry shelves. This is the latest step in the BATTLE AGAINST THE PANTRY MOTHS. Unfortunately the pantry moths are still suiciding into the traps, so they are coming from somewhere. ARRRRGGGGHHHH

I was dropping some stuff off at my mom's this morning while her bug man was there. We talked about the pantry moths. He suggested that the next step be to make up some "stronger than label" bug spray and spray the pantry thoroughly, let sit for a week, then repaint. So, I suppose getting some strong bug spray is my next step. Maybe, just maybe I'll have my pantry put back together in time for Christmas. Heavens, I'd better, as we're having company for Christmas and there's nothing like telling someone to go hunt through half a dozen plastic bins for an ingredient (that not even I really know where it is).