Wednesday 6 September 2023

The Lesser Of Two Weevils...

We all have them - those days when things don't go to plan...and every little task seems to take three times as long. I was making bread, and I found a container with just a small amount of rye flour, right at the back of the cupboard.[In the inaccessible corner where I keep my flower vases] And ugh! there were weevils [tiny flour bugs] in it. I checked the other containers of flour [plain, self raising, and "strong bread". And fortunately they were all ok [I think because they were stored in another place] But I carefully took the glass jar outside and emptied it, and then dismantled the wire clip fastening and put the jar and lid through the dishwasher on Sunday night..
I have a lot of these jars [not all pukka Kilner, some are IKEA, some Wilko etc] But why oh why does it take me an age to reassemble the wire clip after washing? I put a complete one in front of me, and arrange the pieces of the newly washed one... and always manage to get one bit or the other upside down. But I like using this storage - I can see the contents, they are properly airtight [I check and replace the rubber seals if they get dodgy, split or perished] But re-assembling is a pain, and took up a ridiculous amount of time on Monday,
Then there was the Big Bang! I'd done my washing and was pegging it out on the line and suddenly there was a Very Loud Bang! I jumped, and said Wow! "Are you OK?" called Bob and came outside." There was a bang" , I declared. "I think it came from behind me." We checked around the garden. I suspected the deflated football Bob had pumped up earlier in the day, No, that was OK. We peeped over the garden fences. Nothing dodgy at the neighbours' houses. Bob looked in the Lathe Palace, and went all round outside the property. Nothing...
Then later in the afternoon, Bob went to put away my bike. It had been out on the patio since I cycled back from Craft Group. "When did you get a flat tyre?" he asked. I had no idea. That's when we realised that the Big Bang had been my bicycle tyre exploding. 
Bob had kindly pumped up the tyres before I went out - Was it the heat? did standing on the hot patio all afternoon prove just a little too much? Fortunately he had a spare inner tube which he fitted.
The washing all dried beautifully and I brought it in before we had our evening meal. Then we settled down for Quizzy Monday on BBC2. I started watching the new drama [Inheritance, Channel 5] but Bob gave up and went and did stuff in the study. He came in as I was catching up with the 10 o'clock news, and suggested we should go to bed - it had been a long, hot, tiring day. That was when I realised I had taken off the bedding to wash it - and not put on fresh linen. It was 11pm before I finally rested my head on the pillow. 







24 comments:

  1. Nooooo! The bedding would have been the last straw. Our lucky break was going up to get a clean empty duvet cover from the airing cupboard so it would cool down before bedtime, and discovering windows were all still closed from going out at lunchtime. So duvet cover and bedroom had time to cool down before bedtime (too hot for a duvet)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was hot again last night, so I threw off the duvet

      Delete
  2. I also have problems with flour mites, and have found that lock & lock containers are the best for keeping them out. Never tried Kilner jars - can they really be airtight if flour mites get in? I also try to minimise the amount of flour I have in stock, as I think they go for old flour and I don't do that much baking. Sadly I find that the mites also seem to like sugar, particularly icing sugar! Pam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was old flour. I suspect the mites were in the bag before it went into the jar. I've not ever had trouble with icing sugar, but will check mine now - thanks for the suggestion.

      Delete
  3. Oh, dear, sounds like it was definitely one of those days! I usually store open bags of flour in the freezer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I need to use up flour more quickly - I bought the bag of rye for a specific recipe, then forgot it

      Delete
  4. What actually happens if you bake or eat bread with weevils in?
    The bike explosion sounds very dramatic! I've had my tyre explode like that before but both times, I was on the bike, miles from home!!
    Oh no, the bedding surprise was the last straw! You could have decamped to the spare room! Kxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Baking kills the weevils, so that's just an extra tiny amount of protein! But obviously it is important that they do not spread and contaminate other dry goods in store. I'm glad my tyre popped at home on the patio. But it was so LOUD. Spare bed still languishing under boxes of Lego and Sylvanian Families awaiting banishment to the loft....

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hate when I forget that the bed is stripped and discover it at bedtime! Weevils are a nuisance although I have a friend who carries on regardless and bakes a fruit cake or other dark coloured cake. Hottest day yet here today and I am Zooming both am and pm so will be very wrung out by late afternoon. Catriona

    ReplyDelete
  7. Some days can't end soon enough. (Susan From Across the Pond)

    ReplyDelete
  8. There was an almighty bang in our kitchen a few years ago - turned out to be a Pyrex measuring jug on self destruct, apparently it's not uncommon!
    Very tricky to clean up
    Alison in Wales x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When Pyrex goes, it REALLY goes with a bang. When we got married, we were given 6 sets of Ravenhead Siesta Glassware (water glasses, wine goblets, small juice glasses, sundae dishes etc) A few years later, almost all the glasses self-destructed over the space of a couple of months. It was very spooky!

      Delete
  9. Honestly, and, you are a wonder at remembering odd bits of movies which fit into your post! I don't know how you do it!
    It's hard to imagine how your inner tube made such a loud bang! When we had a bang here once it turned out to be the hand grab bar in the upstairs bathroom (which was attached by suction cup) crashing to the shower floor).
    JanF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's the frustrating time when you wander round the home trying to track down the cause of the bang!

      Delete
  10. We, too, love air-tight glass containers that show their contents and keep bugs out. I remember my mother telling me that the flour bugs came in the flour as aggs, then eventually hatched if you din't use the flour quickly enough.
    I always remake the bed right after taking the bedlinen to the washer. Once long ago, I forgot to remake the =bed and I told myself NEver Again!

    Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good morning, Angela! Just stopping by to see what is going on in your world. BTW, I hate weevils — when I find them it always prompts a complete pantry clean out complete with washing down. I need to look at those jars you use, they look really handy and I know they have them at my local Target.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi M. Hoping you're well. I noticed on your blog that you too are thinking of doing some cross stitching.Enjoy!

      Delete
  12. Some years ago my OH and a friend where taking my OH's 16 foot canoe on the Trent and Mersey canal. It's a heavy canoe and they had a portage trolley with rubber tyres for getting past locks. It was a very hot day and as they passed Middleport Pottery there was a very loud bang as one of the tyres on the trolley blew up. The funny thing? They just missed the inspection by the then Prince Charles' security team, as he was visiting the next day!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I had a big bang recently. Never did find the cause, so hoping my house doesn't suddenly collapse! I am pretty sure it came from inside my house, tho I've try to convince myself otherwise. I use so little flour that I buy the smallest bag possible and store it in the freezer. It lasts me a couple of years.

    ReplyDelete
  14. We had one a few years back and we couldn't locate it - then an hour later I discovered it was from inside the washing machine! The drum had come adrift and the metal had torn apart - ripping Bob's good trousers to bits!

    ReplyDelete

Always glad to hear from you - thanks for stopping by!
I am blocking anonymous comments now, due to excessive spam!