WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JULY 2020

Options
1…7273757778…111

Replies

  • Faetta
    Faetta Posts: 1,059 Member
    edited July 2020
    Options
    ANTS I was infested with ants for a few years after buying my place. When I remodeled and put in new doors, I put down carpet tape under the sill and sealed the sides of the jam with silicon and then put a generous pile of toxic ant powder on carpet tape and then installed the seal and I have never had ants since.

    MICE I never had one mouse in the house for years and then one day I caught a glimpse of a quick-moving something across my dining area. I thought it was just floaters so I paid no attention. Then I saw the little rodent and traced its dropping across my kitchen floor into the laundry room. The dropping stopped at the wall where the washer hose goes into the wall. There was only about 10 mm of space open around the sheetrock and PVC drain pipe. I was trying to decide what to stuff in the wall so I could plaster over it. From my days of refinishing antique furniture that was finished with shellac, I had 20 bags of various coarseness steel wool. I thought the mice might gnaw through things like insulation or styrofoam, but a bit of shredded steel might not be so much fun. I stuffed the wall starting with 0 and graduated down to 0000 that made a nice base for plaster. Problem solved! Outside mice must deal with the growing numbers of neighborhood cats, so I haven't seen a mouse for years.

    VOLES After spraining my ankle and not being able to finish my morning Tai Chi, when the lawn suddenly fell in, I hobbled to the garden shed still dressed in cutoff jean shorts and sports bra. I grabbed the sharpshooter shovel I had since my twenties living in the mountains off the grid. I started digging following the tunnels just under the lawn surface. A few hours with the lawn dug up and I was sweat-soaked, I located the sloping tunnel going under the house about 6 feet deep that leads to the den. I rammed down three lit sticks of toxic smoke sticks and then jammed rocks in the tunnel and filled it up tamping the dirt all the way. Unbeknownist to me my old neighbor was drinking a beer on his back porch and watching this show. Once the tunnel was sealed I let out a victory shout. I could hear him laughing. He did come over and fill in all the trenches for me while I sat with an ice pack on my angle and enjoyed a very cold beer he brought over knowing I rarely kept such around. He said he didn't see the war until I was digging under the house and thought I had gone mad and was putting in a new sprinkler system. He realized his mistaken assumption when I shouted out, "You are one dead son of a mother varmint now you a little terrorist.

    MARMOTS When one of these varmints showed up with front claws up on my screen door and screeching at me, I was stunned. Being an old mountain girl I had been around these varmints and never had one act aggressively. I needed to get out, so I panicked and grabbed a can of pepper spray and blasted the little bugger. he took off and later I saw him out sunning in front of my garden shed. Living in town not being able to shoot the little invader, I tried throwing a knife and also a tomahawk I had from my mountain girl days. Sadly my aim was not what it once was. I went over to Zeks to see if he would use his crossbow skills on solving my problem. He refused and called the Wildlife Specialist because he said these varmints carry fleas that are diseased and he must be trapped then I would need to fumigate under my shed. The game dude came and after 3 days of trying to live trap using all kinds of baits to no avail, told me he would return later and shoot the flea-ridden varmint and I would need to spray my lawn in that area with a flea killer. He left and a Girl Scout showed up with my chocolate mint cookies I had ordered weeks before. I dropped a few in the trap and had no sooner set down to enjoy some cookies and a poor girl's latte (mix of instant coffee and chocolate mix) and I heard the trap shut. I called the Specialist and he turned around and came and hauled the varmint off. That was the last year I bought the GS mints because I think of this varmints last supper.

    CROWS I warred and cussed at the crows for years for using my decorative fountain for depositing their food they salvage from nearby food trucks. Today's kids buy a burger or taco and if it doesn't suit them they just throw it down on the street. The matter with the crows worsened and they started growing in numbers, clogging my fountain cawing loudly relentlessly and sitting backward on my gutters so their poop would plaster my patio. I was at wit's end as I counted up to 100 baby crows in my small backyard. Then they called in the ravens, the big guns that would mock and insult me from three feet away. I started blasting them with my high-pressure water hose and matter grew worse and my mind was going back to the old horror movie The Birds. Then my friend bought me a book on crows. I learned they held grudges for 5 years and remembered people and voices. They pass along your profile to their babies. This would never end. I tried disguising myself to fool them, but it didn't work. Finally, I decided to make peace and started sweet-talking them and throwing out small pieces of bread for them. When I cleaned out my fountain as they watched I told them what beautiful birds they were and how nice they were to stop by. Now about 6 years later I have a few crows and they are well behaved. They only caw to say thanks for the freshwater in the fountain and not once in the last two years have they dropped food in my fountain. The old know it all man across the street laughed at me for friending the crows. He yells at them and throws rocks at them. They now sit in his tree and poo all over the top of his SUV.


  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,894 Member
    Options
    exermom wrote: »

    M – I’m sorry you can’t move. I’m coming to terms with the fact that I’ll never see my son

    Michele NC

    I can't move ... but no one can now so it doesn't seem so bad. It's not just us!

    We'll just get to know every inch of this island.

    M in Oz

  • SuziQ113
    SuziQ113 Posts: 1,520 Member
    Options
    pipcd34 wrote: »
    forgot our wedding anniversary yesterday... we both did. this time I remembered at 3am, (he was up, I said, I think we forgot our anniversary, oopsie

    Happy belated anniversary! You two have so much going on right now I am sure it's easy to forget with all of the other excitement!!

    Charlie and I both forgot the same one too - it took me three days to realize it. We were both very happy both of us had forgotten the same one!
  • SuziQ113
    SuziQ113 Posts: 1,520 Member
    Options
    Anniesquats100 wrote: »
    One time when I was about twenty I was on a business trip to Florida with an older divorced guy. We were having a drink in a loud bar. I was watching a palmetto bug, like a six inch cockroach, through the window and getting totally creeped out by the bug (alcohol!) Just as I was thinking what if they get into the rooms and up on the bed and crawl on me in the night, the guy touched my thigh and I screamed. Poor guy probably didn't touch another girl for years!
    So that's my Florida bug story.

    Annie in Delaware

    I hate those things! And, the females can fly!
  • margaretturk
    margaretturk Posts: 5,057 Member
    Options
    We have ductless AC and they left the covering open to the insulated pipe. Notices mice chewing on this insulation. Filled with steel wool problem solved. It will rust so you do have to cover this if that will be a problem.
  • Whidislander
    Whidislander Posts: 3,460 Member
    edited July 2020
    Options
    1948Peachy wrote: »
    Rebecca ~ What a beautiful bank you and your dad worked in. Very majestic. They just don't build things like that any more.

    Tracey ~ Very cute grandson.

    Viv ~ So sorry to hear about your poor kitty.

    Has anyone heard from Amber?

    Carol in GA

    Awe, it was, well still is. I don't think its a bank, more like a credit union now. I think the mezzanine is used as a historical area. I remember being so scared to use a small corner elevator that went to the basement. It wasn't for the public and only big enough for one person. There was an expandable gate you had to close first before pushing the down button. Then you could see the floors pass in front of you. I learned to juggle in the basement, as there was a big area in the file room. Also there was a kind of medical room down there. Very old equiptment, set up as a sick room. But a comfy cot and because it was the basement and the marble, it was so quiet. I would nap there during my lunch hours sometimes, setting my watch to wake me up. 👍
    💖Rebecca

  • Whidislander
    Whidislander Posts: 3,460 Member
    Options
    Bugs in general- I think bugs in general knew when Lee would go out to sea. The strangest ones would be in my shower, on the wall, or jumping up my stairs. Its like they knew, " Rebecca is alone, let's go visit "! I remember seeing a huge spider in my home in Japan, taking a train late at night, to stay at the Navy lodge. Then I called my mom the next day. She's like, "you are calling me from Japan to say you have a spider??? "Only you Becky". I never did find him, and he was as big as my hand!

    We have a pest service here, and they spray well around the whole house. The owner pays for that so that's nice. They also sweep around the eaves. I am a happy big hater.
    💖Rebecca



  • csofled
    csofled Posts: 3,022 Member
    Options
    🙋🌞🌻
  • kevrit
    kevrit Posts: 3,855 Member
    Options
    Ants bugs are a given in an RV but I spray around the camper anything that touches the ground and is connected to RV with a mixture of clove oil and peppermint. I also spray around the edge of my camp site and the cement pad where the picnic table is. No ants and no snakes! I spray every couple if weeks. I’ve been in one place for 2 years now and can vouch this works. I mix it in a small sprayer with water and a little alcohol to help the oil mix. Works great! I use about 10 ml each of peppermint and clove oil to a gallon of water with a splash of alcohol. Give it a try!

    RV Rita
  • kevrit
    kevrit Posts: 3,855 Member
    Options
    Cats I’m not a fan of cats: don’t hate then, just not my preferred pet. It stems back to when I was a kid and found one of ours on my bed what I then thought to be sleeping. It had died on my bed. That traumatized me about cats. Later on when my kids were small we had 2 cats. Both outdoor cats. I refused to have a litter box ever since a doctor told me it was very dangerous for a pregnant woman to deal with cat litter. Could kill the baby or cause a miscarriage. So trauma again. So for me, no cats unless outside ones.

    RV Rita
  • Katla49
    Katla49 Posts: 10,385 Member
    Options
    Snowflake: We had a plan to visit PEI with our son and DDIL, but it has not happened so far. Life has gotten busy for them and DH has health challenges that have worsened. I have plenty of time, but no desire to travel across the continent via RV or aboard an aircraft carrying who knows how many passengers with active Covid 19 virus. :noway: It is still on my wish list of places to visit. :star:

    Rebecca: The ants are not here today. Hooray for Bergarten Sage!!!! :bigsmile:

    Evie: I didn’t think of cornmeal for ants. Thanks for adding something useful to my arsenal. I have watched Canadian snow packs at the headwaters of the Columbia for a number of years. Some years there is a lot of snow and a deep river. This year isn’t the lowest we’ve ever seen, but it has been below normal at high tide with some frequency. This afternoon low tide will be below the zero mark. :flowerforyou:

    Machka: People are “locked down” in many places around the world. I hope you will get the opportunity to visit Canada in the reasonably near future and stay if you choose. :heart:

    SuziQ: Thanks for the tip on borax. As of today, we’ve seen no new ants. Keeping my fingers crossed. I used Raid Ant Spray on the foundation where the ants were seen outside the house. I still have the German Thyme scattered in my kitchen wherever ants have been seen inside the house. Thank all of you who’ve made good suggestions. I will keep them in mind if we’re invaded again. :star:

    Viv: So sorry about the loss of Logan. :broken_heart:

    Terri: Happy 54th!!!!!!!

    Rita: Thanks for your bug repellent recipe!!!


    Today is overcast and quiet. I’m planning to go get meds from the VET. Our dog has pain pills twice daily and we’re down to the last one.

    Katla in Beautiful NW Oregon
  • kevrit
    kevrit Posts: 3,855 Member
    Options
    grandmallie wrote: »
    Morning ladies
    Yes here is hoping Amber and her family are ok..
    Again I didn't sleep well that is 2 nights in a row and not breathing well..ive never had any of that.. and No its not the virus other than that im feeling well. .I am up here with Faith overnight and then will have the day to myself and then back for the weekend.. the money will come in handy...
    Hope everyone is well..

    Perhaps the nighttime breathing issues and lack of sleeping is anxiety? That happens to me if I don’t take my meds every day. The breathing got so bad about a year ago, I ended up in ER thinking I was having a heart attack. Turned out to be an anxiety attack. So meds every day no matter how good I feel. Still get the breathing issues at night once in a while, but now I know and am able to calm myself down.

    RV Rita
  • grandmallie
    grandmallie Posts: 9,708 Member
    Options
    Watching lakefront bargain hunt..
    And keeping and eye on Faith.. ya just never know what she will get into lol
    Im looking up hyperparathyroidism ,i go see the endocrinologist August 3rd.. and alot of those symptoms are spot on with whays going on. So im sure there will be bloodwork done and see what goes on...
    My deepest condolences on the loss of Logan geesh never ever easy losing furbabies..
  • ydailey
    ydailey Posts: 516 Member
    Options
    Today is Gorgeous Grandma Day!

    "On July 23rd, Gorgeous Grandma Day recognizes all women of a certain age, whether they are grandmothers or not. Not all women become grandmothers. Those who do, don’t necessarily fit the traditional mold any longer. Others still reach a point where many assume grandmother status, even though no grandchildren are about. Gorgeous Grandma Day embraces the age of the nana and encourages all women to flaunt their granny attitudes with purpose and style. Nearly all of these fantastic women pass down family traditions while teaching children to stand on our own. Full of wisdom and wit, what would anyone do without their nanas? They go by many names, but they’re all gorgeous in their own way." I was lucky enough to have two grandmas who lived into my adulthood - what a blessing!

    Faye - I love your signature line!

    Tracey - Is there a particular CBD cream you like? I've experimented with it but didn't notice much difference. Also tried Voltaren with the same results. Sticking with Tiger Balm and compression gloves for now but I'd love to try some other CBD products. Oh, and the VW full of flowers is so cute! Someone on the road to the river house has an old jeep they planted with cactus.

    Machka - With all you've been through, your persistence in finishing your courses is really admirable. You deserve to be done and proud of yourself!

    Rebecca - When we go tent camping we buy giant jugs of cinnamon from Costco to keep the ants down. It even seems to work pretty well for fire ants, which are the biggest problem here. Guess it would be too messy indoors but it's great for outside.

    Rita - We haven't had any problems with bugs in the RV (yet?) but we learned a hard lesson about leaving the dog food bag in there over Christmas. We took the camper to the river for Christmas with the family and then left it there for a couple of months because our garage was under construction and we needed it out of the way. When we got back, we found that mice had gotten in there and chewed up a bunch of paper towels etc. under the sink. Never did see them and so far they haven't come back, but eeek! It was a smelly mess for awhile. Now we don't leave any food except cans in there.


    Sheesh, you miss one day and you're waaaay behind on messages in here! I probably won't be posting again until Sunday because we're leaving for the river this afternoon, but hopefully I'll at least be able to log in and skim every day. Our internet service down there is kind of iffy.

    I had a dental cleaning yesterday, and it was an interesting experience. Dentists already use some of the most advanced sterilization techniques available but there's no getting around the fact that you're face to face and working in someone's mouth. Our dentist has added plastic dividers between the exam rooms and the hall, a big filtration system for the whole office, fogging of the room after each patient, pre-treatment rinse, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Oh, and they've also discontinued use of the ultrasonic tool in favor of old-school descaling with a pick, to minimize the amount of spray that goes into the air. Anyhow, glad that's done for the year.

    Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

    -Yvonne in TX

Categories