Household: Get Rid Of Ants Without An Exterminator

Household: Get Rid Of Ants Without An Exterminator

The cayanne pepper trails seemed to show an immediate decrease in the ant traffic on the floor en route to the cat food, but was inneffective at keeping the little buggers off the kitchen counter.

Chalk lines on the foundation of the house put an immediate end to the ants sneaking into the bedroom (which was probably bound to be a short lived infestation anyways, since we do not eat in bed!).

Corn meal looks to be an urban legend. While it was amusing to watch the ants delight in carrying off their new found treasure, we didn't see any results.

The winning method was (as some readers suggested) boric acid. We mixed it with maple flavor syrup an filled small containers throughout the house. At first we were discouraged--it was certainly attractive to the ants but did not stop them from entering the house. And then one day, just like that, they were gone. Apparently it takes a couple of weeks to take effect.

Paver Patios

I thought I would insert a quick little video, detailing how pavers are installed professionally.



Today, E is in the "lay the roadbed" stage of installing our patio. He has taken down a chunk of our back fence so that our little 1983 Toyota Pickup can get through to drop off the load. The truck holds 3/4 Ton, and we apparently need 2-3 Tons of road base to create the required sublevel for the pavers.

On the first load, the truck was a little overloaded with 1 Ton of roadbase, making it look like a lowrider (hey, we do live in Thornton!).

How To Open A Jar

As anyone who knows me can attest, there are few things in life that I love so much as a nice snack of chips & salsa. Headed home tonight in a foul mood, I stopped by the store for a little pick me up and decided to try a new brand. I got two jars, each different flavors. I headed home and promptly sat myself down for a snack, only to find the lids on not one but both jars hopelessly stuck.

I found this video on YouTube that pretty much explains how I was feeling:



As I entered "Phase 9", I decided to do some more research and found a very helpful post on YahooAnswers. Here is the best response I found, with a little addition from me:

Tap it. Use a knife or the edge of a counter to knock little notches
in the rim in two or three places. This seems to loosen the seal and has
worked for me more times than not in my salsa eating life.

Burp it. Take a teaspoon or butter knife, look under the rim of the lid for
the areas that like they have been pressed. Wedge your utensil under there and
push on it, sending the rim outward (like a crowbar). Once you break the seal it
will be easy to open.

Spank it. Hold the jar in your left hand while your right hits the bottom
in an upward motion a couple of times.

Ram it. Turn it upside down on the counter, pick it up and making sure it's
level, bang it down hard. Not too hard, you'll break it. Just hard enough to
break the seal.

Today, the Burp It method won.