It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Floss

Wednesday2000 said:

Does anyone know of an OS way to repel flies? 

We used to have a problem with mosquitos as we lived near a lake but since we moved to our new house we seem to get flies downstairs. I put a few drops of lavender essentail oil in a bowl of water today as I read that was supposed to work...

I am very careful about putting food away and washing up as I go so I don't understand why I keep getting flies in the house.

I always have pots of mint & lavender by my doors, they seem to help.

Spendless

Wednesday2000 said:

Does anyone know of an OS way to repel flies? 

We used to have a problem with mosquitos as we lived near a lake but since we moved to our new house we seem to get flies downstairs. I put a few drops of lavender essentail oil in a bowl of water today as I read that was supposed to work...

I am very careful about putting food away and washing up as I go so I don't understand why I keep getting flies in the house.

DS had a Venus fly trap plant!

Wednesday2000

Floss said:

Wednesday2000 said:

Does anyone know of an OS way to repel flies? 

We used to have a problem with mosquitos as we lived near a lake but since we moved to our new house we seem to get flies downstairs. I put a few drops of lavender essentail oil in a bowl of water today as I read that was supposed to work...

I am very careful about putting food away and washing up as I go so I don't understand why I keep getting flies in the house.

I always have pots of mint & lavender by my doors, they seem to help.

Spendless said:

Wednesday2000 said:

Does anyone know of an OS way to repel flies? 

We used to have a problem with mosquitos as we lived near a lake but since we moved to our new house we seem to get flies downstairs. I put a few drops of lavender essentail oil in a bowl of water today as I read that was supposed to work...

I am very careful about putting food away and washing up as I go so I don't understand why I keep getting flies in the house.

DS had a Venus fly trap plant!

OMG, venus fly trap. Did not think of that! Lol.

Floss - oh that is right, My online friend lives in the south of France and she says lots of people have lavender plants outside their front and back doors. I had forgotten that. Probably that would work better than the essential oil I'm using.

elsien

As soon as I open my back door in the summer, bluebottles are queuing up to come in. No idea why - there’s no bin or anything noxious in my back yard or next door’s which could be attracting them.
Drives me up the wall every summer.

KxMx

newlywed said:

I haven’t had water bottles leak… but some smell a bit odd after a while. Some sterlizer tablets help - like the ones used for baby bottles.

I use refillable because when out walking there is often a refill point at farms or hostels for walkers, for free. Plus there’s an app called refill that shows where in the near area you can refill your water for free at pubs, cafes, libraries etc. Always a bonus to get free water refills. There’s quite a lot of places in my city

A few spoons of baking soda plus some hot water, leave with lid on for a few hours then rinse with clean water.

I do this every few months, works a treat. 

timehastoldme

The best water bottles we have are a random ancient screw top plastic Orla Keily pattern one I'll have bought in a sale, and the one green bottle thermal stainless steel bottles. Also bought in the sale, these don't pick up bottle smell (sistema are bad for that) and the thermal ones are amazing for keeping water cold.


This exact one https://soulgoodstuff.com/products/500ml-vacuum-insulated-thermal-bottle-mid-century-teak

DuranGirl

I've just bought my first Too Good to Go Magic Bag from my local Budgen. A really good bag full of food, I will use everything... but can anyone suggest what I could use a pig's foot for? 

Spendless

Wednesday2000 said:

Every reusable water bottle I have ever bought has leaked. Very annoying!

Wednesday2000 said:

Every reusable water bottle I have ever bought has leaked. Very annoying!

Yes,  hence me asking. From the time the kids grew too old (or believed they were too 'cool ' - so once they went to Secondary school ) to take a rucksack to school that had a separate bottle holder on the outside and instead had bags where you put the bottle inside the bag, I never found one that didn't leak - which would be all over their books/work, so couldn't risk it continuing to happen.  

I'm going to give some of these suggestions a go though

House_owner

DuranGirl said:

I've just bought my first Too Good to Go Magic Bag from my local Budgen. A really good bag full of food, I will use everything... but can anyone suggest what I could use a pig's foot for? 

If you have a slow cooker, put the pigs foot in with a good amount of water, and cook on low overnight - then sieve, the liquid makes a delicious stock, perfect as a soup or stew base! Add a bit of lemon juice when you use it to balance the acidity.

Elisheba

DuranGirl said:

I've just bought my first Too Good to Go Magic Bag from my local Budgen. A really good bag full of food, I will use everything... but can anyone suggest what I could use a pig's foot for? 

Lots of recipes online by the looks of it https://www.google.com/search?q=pigs+trotters+recipes&rlz=1C1GCEB_enGB951GB951&oq=pigs+trotters+recipes&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512j0i22i30l7j0i15i22i30.3915j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8