Good News! x 3

 First good news--The reindeer were on the front porch, not a victim of a porch pirate, thankfully. It took both of us, me inside and Tommy outside to get it into the house. I walked it across the living room and put it in the space behind a table that has to be out from the wall for me to use it from my recliner. 

Second good news--Someone is coming tomorrow to help clean. So, she will put together the reindeer. It would be a real struggle for us. If we had an attic, this would be left assembled and stuck there. Well, he does have an attic, but went up there once forty years ago. Neither of us can climb a ladder, anyway. 

Tommy brought in the little flag and the holder that goes into the ground. I took a Dollar Tree scarf I bought for $1 several years ago and tied a big fluffy bow. I have a large, spiky ornament, think six inches across. There is a loop from the cross bar at the vertical rod that goes to ground. He forced the metal loop enough so the ornament is held sturdy. It is not much and did not cost much.

Third good news. If you want Christmas for 75% off, Lowe's is the place for you. I would have bought a little yard flag, but none of the ones left appealed to me. So, I decorated the little flag holder for free. I was shopping to get the reindeer plugged up, so did not pay much attention.

Oh, there was Halloween left over that was available, too. 

I went to the bathroom and there was a mysterious little black speck on the commode seat. I leaned and flicked it into the commode. As I was flicking it, it looked just like a flea. I immediately leaned way down, and it was a flea! Last week, I sat in my chair and as my feet rose up, I saw what looked like two fleas on my foot. I managed to pinch one, put it in a glass of water with a tiny drop of Dawn. It was a flea!!! If you try to look at a flea as you pinch it up, it can escape and it can escape if you put it in the commode or try to drop it into the commode. 

Listen, I am an expert flea catcher and destroyer. I lick my index finger to glue him to me. Then, I immerse my fingers holding the flea into water with soap. It works every time. You are welcome. Now, you will never lose a flea to bite again. The best flea deterrent is an aerosol that on the front states--kills eggs. So, I have it and will spray before the carpet is infested. 

I had Tommy wake me early--11 am. I was exhausted but we left for Tiger Pride. I thought it was Tiger Rag. Tommy said it was that name. Of course, we did not venture to Bama Fever side. He got to pick out his Christmas present. I was disappointed he chose a t-shirt. I wanted him to get another shirt--collar and three button placket. I told him to pick out a jacket. He refused. He said he would rather have a flag or something. He picked out a flag 28" x 40". It is huge. He wants to hang it on the door before football games. I am glad he did not plan it to be living room decor. 

Someone behind me squeaked something. It was a rubber chicken, Roll Tide kind. So, I had them hide as Auburn rubber chicken for me to buy. He left to get the car, so we no longer had to hide it. The woman was so nice, looking for a box so it would not squeak in the car. So, the chicken and flag are wrapped and under the tree. He is going to wash the t-shirt first. Then, he said he wants to wear it new. So, it was dropped into a small gift bag. All done! 

The woman found a box for wind chimes to hold the rubber chicken. She was intent on his not hearing the squeak before Christmas morning. Very nice woman, all smiles at hiding it from him. Tommy will be mystified at wind chimes since he knows I would never purchase wind chimes. 

Tommy was peeling sweet potatoes because these are old--Sept 2022--and they have small black specks inside. I dig them all out, even though most people would eat them. I heard a tremendous noise from the kitchen as the baking pan clattered and potatoes thundered to the floor. I told him I would pick them up. Once he washed them, and I sliced them to encourage them to cook more quickly, he put them in a pot to cook. These will make a sweet potato pie. 

At Lowe's I bought flea killer for adults and eggs, Amdro fire ant bait, 100' extension cord, and a timer. If we did not have a timer, Tommy would have to go outside, down the ramp, around his car, beside mine on a carport off which he could fall, and into the utility room. He has nothing in which to plug anything outdoors! He paid for all this.  At my house, I had an outdoor plug installed at my house. 

Now, I have started to worry that he will accidentally squeak the chicken while I am asleep. 

I remember hiding Santa gifts with children with me while I shopped. That was fun. When the two older were about ten or thereabouts, I knew they would look for their Santa loot, so I put it all in the trunk of the car. That meant for about a month I had to carry three kids in the back seat of a two-door car AND many bags of groceries. They would complain. I told them Daddy had not gotten the lawn chairs from the trunk so there was no room. They complained to him. One day, the older, a boy said, "Just give me the keys and I will remove the chairs!" I had to make excuses--too dark, raining, never mind. It was fun. Twenty years or more later, my daughter asked me where I hid their Santa presents. "In the trunk of the car." She remembered that year when they had to sit crowded with brown grocery bags. 

Dinner tonight will be either chicken, sweet potatoes, and salad or loose ground beef, salad and sweet potatoes. Who knows. Maybe spaghetti, salad. 

Tommy does not know it, but he is making roux for my giblet gravy. I will not be denied. 

What kind of subterfuge happened when you hid gifts from children or spouse or someone else? I think we all have had to hide gifts from someone, especially as children grew up and realized toys might be around the house. 

I know you all have funny stories. 

Carpenter ANTS!

As I got into the car, I noticed the ground was almost solid with ants about a half inch long. They looked like carpenter ant but not as long. I rushed to get into the car.

The next day, all those half inch ants were gone. However, there was carpenter ant about an inch long, no kidding, on the top of my car heading to the open door. He would have come in, I fear!

There is a tree nearby that I have noticed is looking rough at one place at the bottom. I fear the carpenter ants and other ants are eating up the tree. When a tree is stressed, it cannot resist insects. With the drought last year, this may have contributed to this apparent demise of the tree.

This happened to one in the back yard and I made ex spray the ants every day since it was very apparent it was being killed. The tree actually healed and covered the hollow place. I had the hickory tree taken down before it fell in a wind. The inside was hollow, about a 12" hole in the tree.

Then, ants started in on my oak in the front yard. So, I went out and sprayed several times each day. Eventually, the ants and the destruction stopped. It never got into the horrid shape the hickory in the side yard did. I did save it.

For what it's worth, if carpenter ants invade my car, I am selling the car. Or, maybe the flame-thrower idea will work. I have not seen one ant in my car or on me the last few days!

By the way, I do not poison ants until they are an invasion. My next door neighbor, a young woman of 20, told me that when summer came, she would have her bf spray the whole yard and all the trees with insect killers of all sorts because she hated ants and bugs. I WAS HORRIFIED!!! Her yard is about three inches higher than mine. Thankfully, she moved in the spring because she wanted to be in an apartment with a pool. Last time I heard of her or saw her, her mugshot was in the paper for dealing drugs. So, another good reason I am glad she left....

Your turn
Have you ever had ants started destroying a tree or other plant? I know they will eat houses, but mine was treated to prevent that. Do carpenter ants strike fear into you as they do me?

Not much resolution

Last night, I lay down with clothes on to rest and awoke this morning at 4:30, still in clothes I wore yesterday. I decided to rest another minute before I changed to nightgown. Well, that never happened.

One wash got onto the clothesline somehow. Dominique loved the rest of the dinner from yesterday. I had gathered enough from our table for two days of abundance for her.

I went on an ant hunt in the floor of the passenger side of the car. NOT ONE ANT! Still, I don't trust they are gone. The floor has been very wet, and I could not figure out why. Today, I found the culprit. It was not a coke can, not a glass or bottle of water spilled. It seems to be the contents of a spray bottle of Armor All. I suppose a passenger stomped it open. That irks me.

Do ants like Armor ALL? I will test out this theory/question.

I was just going to get the shop to order an alternator instead of having to deal with Auto Zone and hoping the car would go there, to the shop, and not stop along a highway. So, I told the shop to order an alternator. Then, it came to me after a nap. That is stupid since the Auto Zone alternator has a lifetime warranty. It will save me $180 to manage to get one from Auto Zone and get it to the shop. I am going to have a friend follow me to AZ and then to shop to assure I am not stranded along the road.

Dominique gave me an egg today. One day this week when I did not report an egg, I put the egg in my pocket as usual and lay down. Unlike other days I have an egg in my pocket and lie down, I lay on my left side where the egg was. Unbelievably, it did not break. So, for those who say one must give oyster shells to hens to get hard eggs, I am hear to say once again, "No, you don't."

So, there!

No car and not happy!

Accidentally posted. But, I was not finished.

Janet suggested ants could have ruined the alternator. I will ask tomorrow. tana50 suggested opening all the doors and using a flame thrower--best idea yet. Thanks to both of you. Tana you have same fantasies I do...lol.

Ants all over me! & Locksmith Call

The Terro did not work, a first for me. The Commercial ant baits did not work. They are ignored. Now, for the peanut butter and boric acid--Twenty-mule Borax and peanut butter. I don't know how much longer I can stand it before I break down and spray down the car with ant spray!

Because of the fact I have seen an occasional ant here and there, I am quite sure they have built a home in the car.

They are NOT looking for water. Even though we are in a drought, it has rained every few days.

Wednesday, I parked in a business area for a few seconds to walk ten feet, no more than two minutes out of the car at 7 pm. When I returned to the car, my door was locked. I did not lock the car AND the keys were in the ignition. Okay, maybe I hit the inconvenient little tab for the lock. But, there was no warning signal the keys were in the ignition. Plus, the door will not usually lock with the keys in the ignition.

Since it was getting dark, I immediately called my locksmith. Yes, I have a locksmith. It was going to take him about 30 minutes to get to me.  And, I have no place to sit. I had to cross the rather broad street and step up two steps to get to the sidewalk, walk about two stores down to sit outside closed businesses.

When the guy unlocked the door, we both heard the gratifying "click" as the door lock opened. He pulled out the things holding the door apart at the top. He made a gasp and noise and said something. He had to put the things back in the door. Three more times he unlocked the door. He said he had never had this happen before.

Lucky me! I have a unique experience.

When I called exbf as I sat on the bench, he had one word--DAMN! He rarely says anything so strong or so strongly. When the locksmith finished and I was finally sitting in the car, he said he would take exbf's credit card info on the phone. Whew. And, exbf agreed to it. Whew! So, I now owe exbf $60.

The locksmith said there was something wrong since the car actually locked with the keys in the ignition.

The locksmiths have had a little wedge they force into the door so as not to damage the door seal. This guy had two flat plastic things that were bladders. He just pumped them up to force the door open enough for him to put his tool into the car.

Before the last few times, locksmiths used a flat tool to get into the body of the door to unlock the mechanism inside the door. No more.

I keep asking this locksmith company to give me a discount since I am a frequent-flyer, so to speak. Maybe I have them convinced. I am hopeful as it sounds as though something like that is in the works.

Your turn
If the peanut butter and borax mixture does not work, does anyone have another solution other than setting the car on fire or drowning the ants in a lake?  Does anyone have a clue as to why the door kept locking itself after the locksmith unlocked it? Why would my car suddenly lock with the keys in the ignition? Got any locksmith relatives?

ANTS Again!

Tuesday, I looked in the car as I went to exbf's car. Not one of the ant bait positions I placed in the car on Monday had an ant. Usually, ants are lined up at the edges of the blob of Terro. It appears that Tuesday, these ants are not interested. I'm puzzled. Maybe these ants don't eat sweets. Maybe I need a protein-based poison. If I remember correctly, ants are sweet or protein eaters. Maybe some eat both.

As I came to the house on Monday after putting out the Terro, one finger was sticky. I licked it. It was sweet. Then, two fingers were sticky. I licked them. As I got into the house, it became clearly evident that I had sticky sweet something on my whole palm and all but two of my fingers and I could not figure out the flavor! No, I did not lick all the sticky fingers.  I washed my hands and all was well.

The next morning, Tuesday, I remembered I took off my pants and did not take out the keys. So, I went to the laundry and put my hands in the pocket and came out with a key ring with sticky keys, every one of them. Plus, the whole inside of the pocket was sticky! A few hours later, it struck me, I was licking Terro! Well, at least it is not toxic. Don't try this at home. The sticky keys were rinsed. They needed to be immersed in a wash of Dawn! They were.

Wednesday, today, I checked the baits and got a few things out of the car and came back in. RATS!!! The second set of keys and my fingers are sticky. Yesterday, it was the whole left hand. Wednesday, it was my right hand. ???? I put those keys into the bowl of Dawn and water. Washed my hands in Dawn. Thankfully, the inside of the pocket of clean pants are not sticky.

Tonight, I will take a wrung out washcloth full of Dawn and warm water to the car and go to Walmart to get ant poison baits. Since I don't know where the sticky is located, I will wash down the steering wheel and console before I start. I held onto the steering wheel to lean into the passenger floor and opened the center console yesterday and today.

Today, my lighter charger for phone and camera was outside the console. I never leave it out, so I put it back in the console. I suppose I need to see if I made the charger sticky, too.

I'm stumped. It will probably be easier to get rid of the ants than find the sticky. Somewhere in the car is a quarter of a paper plate with Terro and I cannot find it. I feel stupid right now.

Your turn
Any other solutions for ants? Have you ever licked poison off your fingers or something else icky?

Ants in the Car

For the last two months I would be in a store or in the house and find a red ant on my left arm, always on the left arm. I mused to exbf that I thought I had ants in my car. Well, today my fears were confirmed. As I was picking up trash on the floor of the car, I found dozens. Then, I looked at my new waste basket and ants were all over it.

Parking a car in the same place will lead to ants coming in. Having stuff for them to eat helps. However, sometimes ants just need a home and, food or not, they will live in a car.

I once bought a station wagon that had been parked in a field and never detailed or washed. The vehicle was mechanically perfect just cosmetically a disaster! The first time I drove it to a craft show, loaded with my wares, I was surprised on the drive home. When I stopped for gas on the drive home, I discovered I was covered with ants. So, was the interior of the car.

When I jumped out squealing and flopping about my long, full skirt and dusting them off my blouse, and turning my head over and fluffing and hitting my hair, the guys from the gas station and from other cars came running to see what was wrong. This was not a place that sold insect repellent, but they all searched and finally found a can of some sort of insect spray. In the meantime, men tried to knock ants out of the car and smashed ones they found in the car. It was a terrifying drive home since I could feel ants crawling all over me. There may or may not have been ants crawling on me.

That was when the guys explained how ants will just bring the whole colony into a dry place and make it home. GAH! Other people have confirmed this. True? Plus, fire ants will come inside houses to make nests. So, they will live in cars. I am getting the heebie jeebies. I can feel ants on me right now, maybe in my hair.

My car is parked on gravel and hard dirt with bits of weeds that survive until I kill them. It is parked in the same spot in the driveway for an inordinate amount of time since I don't move it often. When I worked, ants and wasps did not use my car as home. Wasps make nests behind the side mirrors!

Now, I must take some Terro out and apply it to my car. Actually, I will put a bit in a white paper bowl, several bowls, and attract ants. I dread this. Remember, I was stung by fire ants when I was ten-years-old. They were at the top of one leg and above the knee on the other leg. These look like fire ants. Whether they are or not, they scare me. ALL ants terrify me. I've mentioned this before.

I understand they will be in the bits of trim that run along the door, so enticing them is the plan. I will move my car to a new spot! Tomorrow, thank goodness, exbf is coming and I will have him drive me around after he drives me to free lunch.

I have tried the boric acid, sugar and water homemade solutions. Obviously, I have never used the right recipe since I never attract ants! Never mind suggesting that...lol.

Here I go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your turn
Have you ever heard of or gotten an ant invasion in your car? Any suggestions? Cleaning food bits out at this point is pointless except for having a clean car! Anyone as terrified of ants as I am? What terrifies you?

Terre Haute, Donna, Mango Smoothies, Whacked in the Head, Ants

Terre Haute
The coupons are appreciated! They will be used.

Donna, whoever you are.
Thanks. I bought a roll of 50'x24", 1/4" holes to attach to the bottom of the chicken pen to thwart raccoon efforts to murder another of my sweet hens. It took me forever to find it locally.

Mango Smoothie
I love a smoothie. Mine always have yogurt and OJ. Not much of either. I never use ice cubes but have a thick, slushy, ice-cold drink/dessert. Banana is the constant fruit. Other fruits involved are strawberries, blueberries, mangoes (all usually frozen, so no ice cubes needed), pineapple, cherries, and peaches.  One night this week, I had a dying banana and wanted a smoothie. I have been resisting the notion of a mango-pineapple smoothie from McD, thinking mine would be better for me and lots cheaper. I think the McD one has fizz. Well, I have fizz in a strawberry soda that I bought, just because. ~sigh~ 

The top to my blender is cracked. I use it anyway. Then, the top to the little hole in the top...you know the little hole where you can throw things in? Well, the little top started falling through the big, cracked top, so I quit using a top. I just get a clean dishcloth and hold it over the blender to catch any upward spurts. NOT the other night.

The frozen mango and a banana went in the blender for a simple, really simple, smoothie. I had counted the pieces of mango--eight. I turned on the blender without allowing the frozen fruit to soften a bit. Yes, I was impatient. That blender blew the dishcloth I was not holding down higher than my head. In my befuddlement of trying to catch the dish cloth and turn off the blender, mango pieces were shooting everywhere like solid golden bottle rockets. Then..

One Whacked me in the Head.
That mango missile really hurt, hitting me on the forehead right above my eyebrow! It rather stunned me.

The Search
This is irritating. Where is the mango? I found two smaller pieces in the blender with the really smooth banana. Then, I found another piece camouflaged by the yellow floor. Another piece was under the edge of the counter. That is four pieces accounted for. Later, I found another piece all gooey, thoroughly melted, dripping on the little net umbrella that goes over food so flies won't land on it outside. That is five pieces. So, there are three pieces, nestled behind a curtain on the window sill, behind canisters, in the silk tree? Where?

My friend Donna (another Donna) was laughing at my tale. I was bemoaning the fact that they could be anywhere, that I would never find them. She reminded me that the fruit flies would. So, now I have to watch for swarms of fruit flies like one would watch vultures flying high above carrion. At least, in the movies, cowboys see vultures flying in a circle and know where to find the body.

That smoothie was not good at all, but I consumed it for the food value. I bought orange juice and yogurt the next day. Tonight, I have no bananas. Maybe I will make a pineapple-mango smoothie....and add a bit of fizz.

Ants
I was at the sink and looked out at the leaves of the tree touching the top of the window sill outside. Light bulb moment coming--I can take everything off the kitchen window sill, get on the sink, pull the top window down, and reach out and break off that branch. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I might fall off the counter. Theoretically, I have found a solution that does not involve a man with a ladder. I won't climb that high, even if my knee was not injured, without a spotter. And, I don't have to spray poison.

Your turn
Ever been hit in the head by frozen, flying mango?