Flies, Flies and More Flies!

WARNING: This post is not for the squeamish!

Twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall, we have fly problems in our house. I have done some research do determine if there is a special reason as to why they are so attracted to our place as opposed to others. I really didn't discover anything more than what I already knew. We have cattle. The cattle provide manure where flies like to live, eat and breed. We have a dog who likes to bring home dead things where, again, flies like to live, eat and breed. We basically have provided the flies with a nice little fly sanctuary. To add to our problem, we live in an old farmhouse with old windows. The flies squeeze through the cracks in the molding and get into our house, which ends up being very annoying!

I'm not even sure where to start with the headaches the flies cause me. (If the squeamish decided to read thus far, they may want to stop reading here.) For starters, the other day I went to take a drink out of the glass I left on the table when I heard buzzing. Unfortunately, I had already taken a couple swallows, before realizing the buzzing was in my glass. Yeah, I was pretty grossed-out!

My drink is just the beginning of where I find flies. I've found them in my shoes, in my bed, in my mixing bowls-they are everywhere! Blake has a tendency to put several things in his mouth, basically anything that will fit. Not too long ago, he came up to me with a little grin and I could tell he was working something around in there. I knew I hadn't given him anything to eat, so I pried his mouth open, like I do on several occasions. As you have probably already guessed, it was a fly. Grossed-out again!

I can't even keep up with the flies getting into the house. I am constantly vacuuming flies, sweeping up dead flies and swatting flies. I must have swatted at least 20 yesterday and there were still more flying around. There is always the sound of flies buzzing and at night they fly into our heads like they are bombing us. Last night I think a fly got caught in my hair at least three times. My windows constantly have smears of fly guts no matter how much I clean them. Even though it looks gross, I have left the spider webs outside the windows hoping that maybe, if I'm lucky, it will cut down on the problem in the house. I don't think the spiders can even keep up!

I know that flies are beneficial to our ecosystem, but I still like the saying on a cross-stitch I made when I was younger: "Noah would have been wise to have swatted those two flies." I can only dream about how much easier my life would be without them.

I am reassured by the fact that the flies only invade our house for a few weeks a couple times a year. We will probably always have cattle or some form of livestock. The dog, though he is doing better than he was, will probably still bring home the occasional carcass. Our house needs several updates to it and those updates will come as our financial situation allows. So, for now, I'm going to keep the fly swatter handy, the vacuum readily available, and keep an eye on my drinks while I anxiously await the colder weather and the end of the flies.