Invasion Of The Ants/Home Sweet, Summer Home, Vila Nova

Well, folks..  I wanted to share with you a video I took at my mother's home in the Azores, but, alas' it has too many MBs, and it won't load on here.  What a bummer, I know.  If you want to see it, I can attempt to email it to you.  Just let me know if you want it sent to you...  You can actually hear my voice; well..kind of--my voice is so hoarse, I'm talking in a whisper.

As I mentioned to you before, for some reason the ants came over to visit the same time we happened to show up.  I guess it's because we are such "sweet" people, I dunno..  Lesson learned:  NEVER leave out food in the kitchen.  IT DOES NOT matter what kind of food; the ants are not discriminative.  It will invade a plate of fish just as if it was a plate of sugar laden candy! 

I woke up one morning in horror to find a invasion of ants!  There is nothing worse than feeling those little creatures scamper on your hands and arms...eeek!!  Anyway, they were quickly killed with some water and some Fairy soap, and lots of paper towels.  (Yes, Fairy is the brand name of the famous dish soap people use there.)  I filmed some parts of my mother's home, just to give you a feel of what it looked like inside.  It's one of my favorite places to be, despite the ants. 

Here are some pictures just to give you an idea...

                            

My kids on the marble stairway.  They are steep, and a bit slippery, but I love them. 

                              

Here I am with Nick at the bottom of the stairway, looking up.  Behind us is the front door. 

                             

This is a side view of my mother's home.  It's the white house with the blue bars.  From the outside, it looks like a typical home in the Azores.  Most homes are white with multicolored side bars, with many windows.  This house was originally built with rock by my grandfather, and later cemented and made safe, with a new roof.  After the earthquake of 1980, many of the homes on the island were remodeled and retrofitted (don't know if that is the correct word). 

                    

This the name of the street my mother's house is on.  It's the named after my mom's father.  Yes, we are all pretty proud of it.  It's a small street, but it does not matter.  He was recognized as a very important man who will always be remembered as somewhat of a village icon when it comes to music, dance and especially Carnaval. 

                   

Of course, I had to get the kids to pose near it..  My son Andrew is dressed as Portugal Boy, (another story in itself.

Please let me know if you want to see the video...  I'm a little bummed I can't share it with you here. 

More later..