Earlier today I thought, “Carpenter… Joseph… Jesus were carpenters. They made useful items with tools and the skill of their hands.” What a positive 
connotation the word “carpenter” has. Until you juxtapose it with an insect: ants. Carpenter Ants!
Over 30 years ago we carefully constructed a grape arbor on the back of our large garage. In that time, we’ve enjoyed some delicious Concord grapes and used the area under the grape arbor for everything from a small garden, to a dog pen… to storage. A damp, shady environment–and over time, a perfect home for carpenter ants.
Well, when Loretta and Brian tackled the job of 
completing the sheetrock, mudding and painting inside our garage, they encountered the carpenter ant nest… and found hundreds of the tenancious critters. Within a week we called in the Erlich guys to nuke the nest and then began the tedious process of removing our 10″ cedar siding (carefully so it can be reapplied) and stripping out the rotted timbers and channeled wood caused by the infiltration of water in the wall and the activity of the ants.
It’s turned into a BIG project, but as you can see in the hyperlinked photo album, we’re making great headway. Here’s hoping that within the week we’re all sealed up again and the ants… the few that are hiding out… are dead and gone!
