Fun in the countryside - Flying Ants (or whatever)

Small Talk
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Went for our usual evening stroll yesterday - only this time we were suddenly attacked and smothered with flying insects.

They were upon us without any warning. Really horrible, as we were all chatting happily and so these things ended up in our mouths, noses and eyes - as well as all over our bodies… aaaargh.

Flapping at one another frantically, while covering our faces, we turned and raced back towards the village. Only had to go about 200 metres and suddenly there were simply “not there”. My word though, it left us all feeling decidedly itchy.

However, the evening was saved from disaster by the sight of a newly-born calf struggling to move around on wobbly legs, while “mum” looked on anxiously/proudly. We stopped to admire the little one and gather ourselves together. Life is great. :hugs:

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Termite swarms were a common phenomenon in Zambia when we lived there. They are a curtain-raiser for the rainy season.

The poor flappy things lose their fragile wings soon after swarming to look for a good site for a new colony, cue for local housewives to rush outside with a frying pan to scoop up the wingless tidbits and carry them indoors to be fried in their own fat.

They make a delicious crunchy snack to accompany a bowl of chibuku, a local alcoholic brew (fermented maize) with the consistency of thin gruel, sour and opaque but easy to get merry on.

Uncooked the termites have a sharp ammoniac odour, but after a couple of minutes sizzling in the pan they taste like pork :pig2: scratchings, a great apero accompaniment. :yum::grinning::fried_egg:

Ain’t life great!?

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Ha ha Peter - sounds fun to me, but our neighbour (who accompanies us) would shudder at the thought. She almost had hysterics last night. :wink::upside_down_face:

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Can’t say I find a swarm a feel-good experience myself, Stella! :slightly_frowning_face:The termites don’t fly in formation like the Red Arrows, more like first day of the sales at Harrods, pesky things. But they don’t bite.

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this lot didn’t bite, but they felt horrible, running all over our bodies - we were only clad in lightweight stuff and I felt close to stripping right off as the blasted things got inside t-shirts et al. :roll_eyes:

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It’s life, Spock, but not as we know it! :joy:

But you all have my sympathies :hugs: xx

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The ups and downs of rural life.

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First time we’ve seen them here Jane - obviously, we have been lucky in past years.

Back in the UK - I recall we had a plague of greenfly and all sorts of stuff - but that was many, many years ago.

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We haven’t had our usual swarm as yet, but we are not out of the woods yet.

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Had hundreds of flying ants in our pool a couple of nights ago. Usually happens a couple of times year

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Need to mark my calendar - don’t want to suffer that lot again.

We have 3 regular routes for our evening strolls.

Last night, we should have accepted a drink at the last house in the village. The way he pours we would not have been able to stagger any further, but rolled home instead.

Lovely gent, lively 95 - always offers us refreshment and if OH is not with us - there is a gleam in his eye :face_with_hand_over_mouth::upside_down_face::hugs:

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