I had WHAT back there?

today my goal was to clean out the food cupboards and pantry. We had a bag of organic oatmeal that wasnt tightened all the way and some sort of larvae got into it and started reproducing. Over the past few weeks I had been seeing the worms and moths everywhere. I pulled them off the ceiling several times, and thought I had it under control. Then they started appearing again everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I couldnt figure it out. So I decided to fight fire with fire. Take away their food source...ANY food source.

So the goal was to clean out the food pantry, throw away all baggies of bread crumbs, rice, grains, oatmeal etc. Get rid of the problem once and for all.

So as I was cleaning out the pantry I was pulling out botulised cans of food, stuck way back in the recesses, expiration dates almost 4 or 5 years past, old half used boxes of spaghetti, noodles and more. I even pulled out a box of Lipton soup mix that I am positive I have had since 2002.

Jello I didnt realize I had, cake mixes, pudding and a whole slew of Papmered Chef and Tupperware spice packets.

Then I lifted up the rubberized shelf liner mats..I found where they had been coming from. There were HUNDREDS of little worms and moth casings and stuff. They had been feeding like kings and queens up there under those little mats. Since they were under the mats I hadnt seen them. So I pulled up the mats, cleaned, bleached and dried. I feel better and am positive that those worms will not dare to show their faces around MY cupboards again.

And as a side note, there was a spider up in the corner, the likes of which I had never seen before. A beautiful little brown and tan bulbous spider with a zig zaggy pattern. I am sure she had been eating heartily on a daily basis.

Steatoda Triangulosa...also known as the common cobweb spider. She sure was pretty, but I got the heebie jeebies just looking at her move. I made Charles take her out and find her a nice new home.

crud, just looking at the picture makes me all tingly and antsy. I keep feeling something crawling over me, and I know it is all mental.