As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

flowertotmum

Morning all...
Catznine..o congratulations:j..its lovely being a granny...i love that name..i absolutely adore old style girl names..Hence my tot being called Iris Martha..agree with you on it had better not rain on June 23rd..thats my birthday:D..

Softstuff..safe travels hun..
Well i had lots planned for today but i woke up feeling offish..now i have an awful taste in my mouth,must have drank 6 pints of water already..mouth feels as dry as sand.
Hubby is doing my blanket box:j..can't wait:D..
Going to go now..i really don't feel right
catch up later
ftm

Hippeechiq

Congratulations catznine :j and a Grandma too Not many people use the name these days, preferring Nan, Nanny, Gran and so on, but I think Grandma is lovely

Softstuff
I know you're seeing family when you come over, but even so, it's a trip tinged with great sadness. I hope it goes as well as it can, and I do hope your friend hangs on for you.

GreyQueen wrote: »

Ants lay down pheromone trails which other ants follow so if you can disrupt the trail, chances are they won't come back. I grew up in a home with regular ant-infestations from the garden so am well familiar with the little darlings (which are absolutely fascinating but you don't want to give them houseroom IMO). They dislike crossing chalked lines, powder like bicarb or even talc and I guess anything pungent like a scented oil would do the trick, although it seems a waste of something fragrant and relatively costly.

I agree, but I'm desperate. They (or rather the eggs they're bringing in that hatch into Aphids) are decimating my Aubergine plant and now I've found some on my Peppers too and so find my admiration for them on the wane!

I think it's very clever how they over-winter the aphid eggs in their nests and then bring them out to hatch in the spring, but it does mean that they will continue to re-infest my plants. So my joy at killing the weekends aphids is short lived as more will follow.

I've successfully stopped ant invasions in the home when I lived in the countryside, but there are so many cracks for them to go down on the floor of the greenhouse that I can't pinpoint exactly where they are coming from. I could try the marking the cracks with chalk, however this morning, when I disturbed the soil in the Aubergine plant a good 8-10 ants started scurrying around, so I'm guession they're nesting in the soil, and I'm at a loss to know what I can put on the soil that will disperse the ants without killing the plant.

I will carry on reading Pinks links and scouring the internet, but have to say, I'm feeling a tad despondent at the moment

grandma247

Charis wrote: »

But if you are flooded and/or if the mains water is turned off for two weeks, as happened to hundreds of homes in Tewkesbury and Gloucester in 2007, you'd be very grateful for anything you'd got handy and above the water line.

And if you have been forwarned about flooding or other disater it is less stressful to know you can just grab your bag. This is what people do in areas prone to disasters. They have ready what they call a bugout or grab bag.

Congratulations catznine.

grandma247

RAS wrote: »

They were the originators of war-time rosehip syrup production.

My mother and her siblings used to collect these during the war and i think they were paid by weight.

nettles,beetroot and spinach among others are good for anemia.

grandma247

Hippeechiq you could try putting the oils on tissues near them and renewing every few days.

Kimitatsu

Hippeechiq - found this on the web too:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The first line of defense is to remove the attractants: keep counters free of crumbs and sticky spots. Cover the sugar and put the honey jar in a plastic baggie. Cut off water sources such as drips or dishes left soaking overnight. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If the ant invaders persist, try these simple measures:[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Keep a small spray bottle handy, and spray the ants with a bit of soapy water.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Set out cucumber peels or slices in the kitchen or at the ants' point of entry. Many ants have a natural aversion to cucumber. Bitter cucumbers work best.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Leave a few tea bags of mint tea near areas where the ants seem most active. Dry, crushed mint leaves or cloves also work as ant deterrents.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Trace the ant column back to their point of entry. Set any of the following items at the entry area in a small line, which ants will not cross: cayenne pepper, citrus oil (can be soaked into a piece of string), lemon juice, cinnamon or coffee grounds.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mix one liter of water, one teaspoon of Borax and a cup of sugar. Soak cotton balls in the solution and place them in a small yogurt container with holes punched in the lids to allow ants access. Place container in a location where ants are present. Ants will carry the bait back to their colonies where it will eventually kill the colony. Important: use indoors only; must be kept away from pets and children. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Leave a small, low wattage night light on for a few nights in the area of most ant activity. The change in light can disrupt and discourage their foraging patterns.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ants on the deck? Slip a few cut up cloves of garlic between the cracks.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]For long-term nontoxic control of ants, sprinkle diatomaceous earth where ants congregate.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Clove oil-based commercial ant killers are available in two forms: AntEater organic ant killer, and BugShooter insect control spray[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif].[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[/FONT]

You can buy diatomaceous earth (fab name if nothing else) from here: http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop/product.html?product_id=653&s=diatomaceous-earth&-session=shopper:42F9429007ab301275Gwyk310E38 although its not cheap if it gets rid of them once and for all you are doing well. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it took me 3 seasons to get rid of the flying ants when I moved into my house, and I tried everything. In the end I had to resort to hoovering them up because the nest was impossible to get to (under an 18inch thick internal stone wall).

Charis

sadikas wrote: »

thsnx for share good job. i want new work.

Reported as spam.

Charis

Re. the various ways to get rid of ants, I have an agreement with the ants in my garden. They can live in the compost heap or anywhere else in the garden but if they make their nests against the house or under the paved areas (including my greenhouse) then they are traced back to the point of origin and flushed out with a kettle of boiling water.

Having had full scale infestations indoors, I have no sentiment towards them and since they don't pay for my paving slabs and concrete paths to be re-levelled and/or repaired when they have mined all the earth out from underneath, they are not welcome to nest therein. I didn't realise until someone who repaired such damage for me told me that it is usually ants who disturb paving slabs and cause trip hazards in the garden. They remove the earth from beneath one grain at a time.

flowertotmum

Me again..i have a question...since when did scrap men want money to take scrap away..i'm bloody fuming..we put out an old broken fridge..with scrap written on it..scrap man turned up..put it on his wagon but only after he had got a passer by to help him load it on..he then came and knocked on the door and asked for a fiver or the price of a pint as he was doing me a favour..my jaw dropped..i don't feel to good but crikey my blood boiled..i told him to take it back off the bloody wagon and leave it..i think he realised i'm a woman on the edge off either throwing up or passing out...he legged up the drive jumped in his van and drove off...cheeky b*gger...
rant over.
ftm

knittingnelly

We are currerntly locking up our scrap beacause if we don't it gets nicked and we lose the cash-in value Last time was December and we had about £100 worth to take and get weighed in and bu££er me it was pinched Now we make room for it in the garage which is a pain but keeps it out of sight.

Unless the scrap value has severely plummeted in the last few weeks your scrap man was just being cheeky :mad: