Hygiene

Those of you who know me well will know that I am a clean person. But whilst I haven’t been sick yet (touch wood) it is difficult to keep up with UK hygiene standards in the kitchen. For example,

1. We hardly ever wash up with hot water. This is because (1) hot water does not come out of the tap, (2) putting your hands in hot water when you are already hot makes you even hotter and (3) boiling the kettle involves a lot of effort. The same for clothes washing - clothes are always handwashed in cold water.

2. Ants are everywhere. You drop a few grains of sugar and ants cover your worktop. It is difficult to keep them out of the kitchen so I often cook around them! As long as they don’t go on the chopping board (which they mostly don’t) then I think it’s ok.

3. We have been having problems with rats. It was such a chore to clean up rat mess EVERY DAY that I began to leave it and ignore it!!! You will be pleased to hear that at the present the rats are all poisoned so we are enjoying a rat free kitchen (but not garden). (PS – I found a dead rat in the kitchen drawer after a poisoning session. I was shocked!)

4. The cloth that is used to clean rat mess and other disgusting things is often used to clean the plates by my housemate!

5. Again, we are killing chickens and cleaning up raw meat mess with the same cloths used for the dishes (and remember we are not using hot water.)

6. We are often reheating rice.

7. I have even more ant problems in my bathroom. I keep the door tightly shut and open it with my breath held. Sometimes the ants come in huge swarms and just sit on the walls holding on tightly to their tiny white eggs. I don’t know what attracts them to my bathroom. I am trying my best to get rid of them.

The black dots around the shower pipe are hundreds of tiny ants just sitting there.
Here is a close up of the ants.