I have been eaten. I have been attacked and bitten in HUNDREDS of places, some of which rarely see daylight. Our fabulous new office is overrun by fleas. BLOODY FLEAS!!!

It is an old building and, at the back, there is a weird storage section that has a bare earth floor. The plumbers have been scrambling about in there and have disturbed all of the earth. In this part of the world, bare, dry earth means fleas. And disturbing the eggs means that they hatch and go looking for food. They found me.
We have flea-bombed, we have sprayed the carpet. I have literally hundreds of bites all over me. I am covered from head-to-toe in Stingose to try and stop the itching. It dries to a white powder on the skin so I now look leprous. Very attractive.
And it gets worse. We found a litter of feral kittens in a drain in our garage at the office. They were dying so we collected them and took them to the RSPCA. They had fleas. They over-nighted at our house. SO NOW WE HAVE FLEAS AT HOME AS WELL!!!!!!!!!!!
Excuse me, it’s time for another coating of Stingose.









36 comments
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October 27, 2007 at 2:38 pm
dee
bloody hell
so awful for you - the good news is they will quieten down in the cooler weather - only another six months away
October 27, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Diane
Well, the office LOOKS lovely, anyway. You can tell clients youre itching to get to work for them. (weak grin). The bites sound dreadful. Stock up on ointments and try not to scratch, I guess… Good luck!
October 27, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Brenda
I’m itching in sympathy…
October 27, 2007 at 3:25 pm
suzi-k
oh no, the first thing that came to mind as i was reading this was a flashback of Susan Sarandon in Rocky Horror singing “I’ve got an itch to scratch, I need assistance..” sorry, snort, ok, settle down now… time for sympathy, DO NOT USE SALT!! We once got desperate on our smallholding, and I heard an old home remedy that if you spread salt over the carpets and vacuum it up the next day, it will destroy the fleas. Well, what all the old wives forgot to mention was that they must have lived in deserts. Salt is hygroscopic, it sucks water in, so the next day my carpets were covered in tacky brine, and everything that had been touching it began to rust, my poor hoover was never the same again!
October 27, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Stomper Girl
Twenty years ago as a blythe university student, I walked into my bedsit after a summer away and had the exact same experience. My skin still crawls thinking about it. I hate fleas.
October 27, 2007 at 4:04 pm
sion
my sympathies. If you’re anything like me you’ll go completely stark unless you take an antihistamine (Telfast or whatever, hayfever ones work fine). Vacuum lots, and dump the bag immediately (give the contents a good spray while you’re at it). My cats have flea collars, but I think they pick a random flea up from outside occasionally because every now & then there’ll be this little burst of flea activity that makes me miserable for a week or so.
October 27, 2007 at 4:11 pm
chronicler
oh ick. I haven’t seen a flea since I left the beach area for the desert. It seems they don’t like the heat much. Thank goodness!!! And yes, just like stompergirl, my first flat on my own for college was infested, in a beach city, no less. I should have known.
Benadryl anyone?
October 27, 2007 at 5:12 pm
nicolette
I feel for you! I have bitten like crazy when we had our first kitten and a flee-epidemic in the house after we left for the holidays. We came back and all the eggs had come out. Take care!! I became very very ill (with an insecticide poisoning) from all the products we used to get rid of the flees.
October 27, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Caitlin O'Connor
ICK! ICK ICK ICK ICK!!!
Your poor thing, K, I really feel for you. Anything bitey goes for me in preference to anybody else nearby - mozzies, fleas, sandflies - they just LOVE me.
I second the antihistamine - and go for calamine if you have to, I find stingose just doesn’t cut it!
October 27, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Caitlin O'Connor
PS - no, I was NOT offering to come visit so the nasties would bite me instead!
October 27, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Dy
Oooo, not nice, sending sympathy and anti-itch magic. I remember spending the weekend at a friends holiday house when I was a teenager, and the carpet was infested. And because the house had been empty for a month they were bloody hungry! My legs are twitching just remembering…
Hope you stop scratching soon.
Your office looks really nice!
October 27, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Erilyn
You poor dear! Try finding some ‘Mopiko’ from a Chinese/Asian store. It is an ointment that we have found really good - especially from the little flea thingies in the hay!
Oh! and the office looks fabulous.
October 27, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Sarah
Yikes on the fleas! But, wow, that office looks fabulous. I think I need a palm tree outside my office window. Or a mountain perhaps. Or maybe both.
October 27, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Fairlie
Eek…I’m itching just reading about it. It’s the same anytime someone mentions the words “nits” or “lice”…I start scratching.
Hope you manage to exterminate the buggers.
October 27, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Ali
We too have had them in the hose from a stray. Not pleasant. I itch in sympathy.
October 28, 2007 at 1:36 am
twiddletails
I’m scratching as I’m reading this. Awful! I hope you get rid of them soon.
October 28, 2007 at 3:23 am
erin
that just plain sucks. yikes.
October 28, 2007 at 6:00 am
Tanya Brown
Now, after the reading the comments, I too have “I’ve got an itch to scratch …” stuck in my brain.
Beautiful office, though. I don’t suppose clients would regard the fleas as a freebie, a little something you’re doing to help Earth’s smaller residents thrive?
October 28, 2007 at 8:20 am
nicolette
Because of the flees I totally forgot to say that I’m impressed by the fabulous office and the name of the consultancy! Do you really have waving palmtrees in front of the office, or did you just do some PhotoShopping?
October 28, 2007 at 12:46 pm
dorie
terrible!
October 28, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Tanya
Great pictures.
Yuk about the fleas - hope you wiped them out when they were bombed and you’ll have no more trouble.
October 28, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Shirley
Aaargh! I totally sympathise! My (former) partner and I rented a holiday home in the Bay of Islands one time and were horribly attacked. I had to place furniture strategically around the room and climb from piece to piece so i didn’t stand on the floor until we could get a flea bomb in.
October 28, 2007 at 10:58 pm
karen
OOOHHH ick! Itching sucks! Dont worry it will all be a faded horrible memory soon.
October 28, 2007 at 11:54 pm
kirsten
first of all, the office is looking great. secondly, i’m sorry to say that you won’t be invited to my house for halloween - maybe another time, dear?
October 29, 2007 at 12:59 pm
lovestitches
Brrrr this entry gives me the cold shivers. I had fleas in 2 consecutive houses and it is hell on earth to get rid of the bastards. I definitely feel your pain. But the office looks GREAT!
October 29, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Ali Honey
Love the new Office…not the unwanred inhabitants. I hope the heat and itch soon calm down for you. Good luck!
October 29, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Maddy
LMAO that is hilarious! You need a good dose of antihistamine like Claretine, it works on the itch (does knowing that information give it way that we once had the same problem)
Nice office by the way.
October 29, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Helen
Yep, the office looks great. Glad you found the fleas before your customers??
October 30, 2007 at 2:20 am
laeroport
Oh, honey. Is it wrong that I find it ironic that those fleas came from the “good earth” that you’re consulting about?
We went on vacation this summer and came home to a flea explosion - it took weeks to get rid of them all. The kids were especially bitten up. Good luck getting rid of the little bastards.
And in another bit of irony, I’m listening to Weddings Parties Anything as I type this.
October 30, 2007 at 2:41 am
Melinda
I was thinking the same thing… The Good Earth sent you fleas…. some sort of test, perhaps? Now why didn’t you post a photo to illustrate this post? Hm? I have to go now, feeling a bit itchy for some reason.
October 30, 2007 at 3:43 am
Day
Oh, I’m so sorry. Been there. The office looks great though!
October 30, 2007 at 5:53 am
Di
Ouch ouch ouch!! That doesn’t sound good! I hope that the flea bite heal quickly!! The new office looks fantastic!
October 30, 2007 at 6:54 am
pricklypearbloom
oh dear! I am so sorry! I hope you can get rid of them, post haste!
October 30, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Shula
Pinetarsal.
Put it in the bath and lie in it.
Honest.
(ps. I got eaten alive by mozzies in Mission)
October 30, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Felicia
Oh no!
October 30, 2007 at 11:54 pm
rondabeyer
You poor thing, this just sucks, you should be enjoying the beauty of all your hard work… The new office is “FAB” wish I lived just a smidge closer (lol)….. Darn fleas anyway, I guess you are just too sweet……. I have a problem with mosquitos, ohfffff, the stories I could share……
Wishing you an itch free future and to be rid of those little devils…..