The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

ukmaggie45

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've always poured a whole kettle of boiling water on them.... after 3-4 goes they're usually all dead. Saves you having to go out/remember/buy some special ant stuff. Just pop out when you remember and do it every few hours or a couple of times a day or when you remember/see them.

I don't think we're going to kill them - black ants not red ants. They're far enough away from the caravan to not be a nuisance, though there were some winged ones in there - we guess they'll fly tomorrow as it's going to be wet again after that. It would be wrong to kill off the food for the swallows just before they fly! And I'm happy to report I think we have more swallows around here than last year.

But thanks for the method - might use it on the ones under the doorstep at home - they're close enough to maybe become a nuisance! It's always useful to have advice and suggestions, even though I might not follow them up every time.

PasturesNew

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

But thanks for the method - might use it on the ones under the doorstep at home - they're close enough to maybe become a nuisance! It's always useful to have advice and suggestions, even though I might not follow them up every time.

If you're doing it on paving ... just be aware that you pour the water and it seeps into the cracks.... then, when you go out the next morning, there are dots everywhere - they bring out their dead!

Pyxis

I've got loads under my paving, but I don't mind.

The only time I deal with them is on the rare occasion they come into the house or porch.

I haven't really seen any flying ones yet this year. Strange.

ukmaggie45

Pyxis wrote: »

I haven't really seen any flying ones yet this year. Strange.

We had Flying Ant Day in Liverpool back in June (OH and I both think then, but might have been early July). Looks like it's going to happen here tomorrow - we'll see.

PasturesNew

I saw 2-3 flying ants about 2-3 weeks ago, just when it was that scorcher weather.

LydiaJ

Why is sorting out a house so difficult?

After discussing my dining room with two of my friends recently, I've now got the paint colour chosen and a tentative idea of which carpet to have which I can firm up later once the painting's been done. A three-way discussion on Tuesday between me, my friend, and DD elicited the helpful information that it looks quite a bit less dark if the curtains are held back. I know from living in a rented house with curtain tiebacks that I won't bother using them if it takes two hands to do, so I'd like to get something like this. (Tried including a pic, but it came out so huge that I deleted it again.) However, none of the websites give me the information I need. The window is very close to the wall at the side of the room. I need to make sure that the bit of the holdback with the screw holes is small enough to fit on the narrow strip of wall between the edge of the window and the corner of the room, and that the sticking out bits don't go back too far beyond the bit with the screw holes to hit the wall. Not a single one of the websites that sell these things tells me what any of those measurements are. Even in actual shops they're stuck inside packaging that makes it quite difficult to measure what I need to know.

I'd also like to get some for my bedroom for the same reason. Here I have a rather wider strip of wall to attach them too, but one will be right next to the door into the en suite, in close proximity to the metal door handle. I think it would look silly to have it a different metal from the door handle. Holdbacks are mostly available in chrome, black, brushed steel and antique brass, with occasional other metals such as copper or bronze, or painted white. The door handle is the colour of shiny polished brass - it can't be real brass because it doesn't tarnish. I cannot find any suitable holdbacks in shiny polished brass colour. I suppose I could replace the doorhandle - it's not as though I'm particularly attached to it or chose it or anything - but it seems unnecessary hassle and expense when there's no other reason to change the doorhandle.

In other news, I have found, in the garage, the leftover paint from when the last owners painted downstairs. Since I want to keep the conservatory and hall the same colours they are at the moment, but they need repainting, this is very useful. I've sorted out some nice clean stirring sticks of a suitable size, so tomorrow I'll try to get round to opening the paint tins up and seeing whether the paint is actually usable, or just handy for telling me exactly what to buy. I've also dug out the pot of paint we used for my bedroom when we bought the place, which has got enough in for the touching up that's needed, anyway.

Pyxis

Lydia, could you try emailing the suppliers to ask them?

I know that will take a bit of time, but it might give answers.

The brass handle might be brass....... it could have been lacquered to stop it tarnishing.




We want to see your mood board when you've complied it!

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

If you're doing it on paving ... just be aware that you pour the water and it seeps into the cracks.... then, when you go out the next morning, there are dots everywhere - they bring out their dead!

On a little hand cart with one of them ringing a bell?

Ding-a-ling, "Bring out your deeead", ding-a-ling

:rotfl:

Pyxis

chris_m wrote: »

On a little hand cart with one of them ringing a bell?

Ding-a-ling, "Bring out your deeead", ding-a-ling

:rotfl:

I'm starting to feel sorry for the ants now.

PasturesNew

Why are TVs so hard???

I've been using a small portable, plugged into a freeview box, plugged into an indoor aerial.

For two years I've had a modern flatscreen telly here, but I've not used it as I tried to plug it into the wall socket and got no signal, so just unplugged it and continued to use the portable.

This morning I felt ready to tackle the TV again. So out came the ladder and I had a long aerial lead and I plugged that into the wall socket then plugged it into the TV. Plugged the TV into power "No Signal".

So I thought "OK, use the indoor aerial, you know that works" - so took the indoor aerial lead directly from the indoor aerial to the TV "No signal".

So I thought "OK, run the flatscreen telly through the freeview box" - and that works.

So now I'm at a loss as to know how to get the flatscreen telly working, without having to use the freeview box .... and, preferably, directly from the wall socket.

But I am utterly clueless as to what to do, how/what to check ... and what's going on.

I'm from a world where you plug a telly in and it works

Also: the sound is very faint and very tinny on the telly. I've got it at volume level 100% but it still sounds like it's miles away.

I have a booklet of instructions .... somewhere (tidied away long ago)... and a remote with more buttons than a nuclear submarine needs .... and no idea what any of them are/mean.

I might have a clue what to fiddle with next.... there's a setting for "Input Source" ... although, without having a clue, "that looks right to me" as it says "AV2 & Scart" ... so my brain was thinking "need to set it to being an aerial input and not the scart/freeview-box" .... so wondering whether choosing ATV might make it work by magic.