5 Homemade Bug Killers That Work

Photo: Etsy

My New York City apartment spoils me! I don’t have a bug problem. But when I visit the suburbs -- a house with side-and-back-yards and a garage -- I notice all kinds of critters try to move into the house! Recently I learned how to kill some of them:

1) Ants - Mix 1/2 teaspoon borax with 8 teaspoons of powdered sugar and enough water to dissolve, turning it into a paste. Repurpose empty yogurt cups or any empty container about the size of a cup, leaving the solution in the rooms where ants are spotted (usually in a kitchen or bathroom). The worker ants will take the bait back to the Queen of the colony. Pow, dead!💥🔫💨 I had no idea ants came into a house!

2) Wasps and hornets - They try to build nests on porch ceilings and structures. Vinegar and water chases them away, only to return. Wasps are very persistent. Spray those unwelcome pests with a mix of dish soap and water. The soap disrupts a wasp’s exoskeleton. Pow, gone!💥🔫💨

3) Lizards, spiders, and mice - While a family member’s garage door was up, I saw a lazard run inside and hide! We left the garage door partially open for a couple of hours hoping Mr. Lizard would try to escape back outside, but we didn’t see it. Next we sprayed clean rags with undiluted peppermint essential oil to leave inside the garage. What’s more, according to Home Depot and Reader’s Digest, you can mix 20 drops of peppermint essential oil into a 32-ounce spray bottle filled with water to deter spiders by spraying around your house in corners, near entrances, and along floorboards. Mice I hope never to see but the remedy to deter them from entering a garage is the same as lizards and spiders. Pow, no trespassing!💥🔫💨

4) Weevils - I read that sometimes weevils are already in the flour, rice and pasta we bring home from the supermarket. I aways put these foods in my freezer for several days to kill their eggs or lava before putting them in airtight containers in my cupboard. I toss in bay leaves for good measure. Pow, no worries!💥🔫💨

5) In Manhattan, our building has an exterminator come in every week to spray areas or apartments where roaches are seen. If a tenant sees a roach, we let the super know and the exterminator sets traps and monitors the area.

According to Lowe’s, baking soda mixed with sugar or baking soda sprinkled over an onion left out overnight for roaches to ingest produces carbon dioxide gas that builds up in their digestive tract to kill them. In an emergency, it’s good to know, however a roach infestation calls for a professional treatment. Pow, slain!💥🔫💨

In Manhattan I’m mostly spared from encounters with critters who have spindly legs and an attitude! The city sprays parks. Our building is proactive with pest control visits. Also, there is more concrete than grass, trees and plants. A trip to the suburbs reminds me how I like being spoiled! Out in the burbs residents must become highly effective killing machines to survive! Stay out of the house vermin🕷🐜🐁 or pow!!!💥🔫💨 

You may also enjoy:

Let’s Have A Pillow Talk

Step Into The World Of Ideas

The Best Mosquito Repellents

Eco-Friendly Garden And Pest Control Tips

The Dog Woof Washer 360

The Dog Woof Washer 360 is a clever invention for people who have a hard time getting their furry best friends into the bathtub for baths. Our family was lucky! Our dog weighed about 50 pounds and as long as he didn’t hear the phrase, “need to give the dog a bath,” whereby he hid under the bed and growled warning us not to come near, we would trick him to come into the bathroom where we could lift him up into his bathwater for his weekly scrubb dub, dub. Once in the bathwater, he was fairly docile. Every dog has a different temperament!

Even for a docile dog, this is a practical device for summer mischief. If your dog jumps into a pond or rolls in mud, perhaps you’d like to clean him before he goes into the house.

The cylinder washer 360 attaches to a garden hose. You fill it with dog shampoo, where it mixes with the water and sprays out as subs over the entire body of your dog. It gets mostly 4 or 5 star reviews from customers who say the pressure is adequate, their dogs cooperate, and it’s a much faster way of giving their dogs baths. Adjustable for large and small dogs.

Although the Dog Woof Washer 360 folds up, some dog owners have had to tighten the screws to keep it from folding while in use, so I suggest not folding it if you have the space to store it. Perhaps folding and unfolding it time and again could loosen the screws since the device is quite inexpensive to buy ... as low as $10.49 at Walmart.

Our dog was lucky as he got a lovely warm bath in the bathtub instead of a cold water shower outside, but the Dog Woof Washer 360 is cheap enough to only use in the summer for the times you don’t want to let your dirty dog into the house. With it, you have the means to clean his dirty little butt, underbelly, legs and head before he enters your home.

Spraying our dog with a garden hose alone to him meant, “Let's play.” In his excitement he'd opened his mouth wide and run or jump into the stream of water. Not the ease or speed of pulling a circle spraying a mixture of soap and water over your dog’s body! Use only dog shampoo when giving your dog baths. A dog’s skin is too sensitive for human shampoo.

You may also enjoy:

Shoes For Paws

Calling All Dog Lovers

Happy Father’s Day ... Hmm

Keeping Your Dog Off Your Furniture

Why Don’t Senior Baby Walkers Exist?

 

A senior baby walker would need an opening, comfort, and sturdiness.

Taking care of my senior mom makes me think a lot about aging. Today I’ll discuss an elderly assistance device that doesn’t seem to exist. Calling all entrepreneurs!

An elderly person's ability to walk can change rapidly. My mom’s legs are strong, but her balance has gotten unsteady. If she loses her balance while walking she can't catch herself and will fall without the support of a fast thinking person walking with her.

Seniors lose strength, but I think often the loss of balance paired with not having a young person's strength is what leads to falls and injuries.

Every day I get my mother up on her walker to walk short distances inside the home so she maintains her strength, balance and the ability to walk for as long as possible. If a senior stops walking, she’ll lose her ability to walk ... and likely not regain it.

I wonder why manufacturers offer conventional walkers, transport wheelchairs and indoor wheelchairs for seniors but nothing similar to baby walkers that would let them walk while semi-standing plus lose their balance without harm? Wouldn’t seniors benefit from using their own legs in a baby type of walker made specifically for them over a wheelchair where they don’t use their legs? A senior baby walker would allow the elderly to safely walk, i.e., exercise their legs to maintain their strength, but when they stumble and lose their balance, it would stop them from falling, hitting the ground and sustaining injuries. Brilliant idea, no?

Also like indoor wheelchairs, mobility on a senior’s own steam would prolong their greater sense of independence. Without the fear of falling, they'd move more ... and be stationary less!

When the idea for a senior baby walker 1st popped into my head, I searched the web to try to buy one. Evidently they don’t exist anywhere. Does anyone know why?

You may also enjoy:

Dresses For A Senior Mom

How To Make A Senior Feel At Home

Doctor’s Orders: Is It Time For A Checkup?

Macy’s Herald Square We Love You As You Are

Ground Beef and Cabbage

We’re all familiar with the dish stuffed cabbage, but the only person I know who makes it is my friend, Norma, who learned how from her grandmother. I’m too lazy of a cook to make it.

So when I stumbled across the following recipe from Zestplate, I, the Queen of one-pan dinners, said this dish is for me. A lazy cook need not be a bad or unhealthy cook! It means finding an easier way~

Cabbage and Ground Beef 

Ingredients 

ground beef, 1 lb

onions, 1 cup, chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 large bouillon, any flavor

½ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

cabbage small head, chopped 

diced tomatoes, 15 oz can

I add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chopped red bell peppers, chopped celery, smoked paprika and substitute 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes instead of using cayenne pepper.

Directions: 

1) In a skillet brown the ground beef, onion and after a beat, garlic. Drain if needed.

2) Toss in chopped cabbage, any vegetables you’re adding, a can of diced tomatoes and spices. 

3) Simmer on your stove top, middle heat, for 15 - 20 minutes until the cabbage is tender and the liquid evaporates to the right amount. Eyeball it. Adding 1-2 tablespoons of flour to the liquid makes gravy if you wish to serve the dish over cooked noodles, rice or with a dollop of mashed potatoes. Delish!

You can make this one-pot meal your own by adding or subtracting vegetables and spices to your taste. Eat it spicy or not, plain or with a carbohydrate. When out of cabbage, I’ve used Brussels sprat and diced potatoes with 2 cans of diced tomatoes. 

All the goodness of stuffed cabbage without boiling, stuffing or rolling it. Bon Appetite!

You may also enjoy:

All Beef Salisbury Steak

7 Kitchen Tools Worth Your Money

Stove Top Roast Chicken With Gravy

A 12 Inch Deep Skillet Has Many Uses

Savvy Shoppers Know That Size Matters

It takes a surprising amount of commodities to maintain ourselves! Doesn’t it?! Even a minimalist has to agree. From household germicides to skincare to haircare to personal care, we certainly need to buy a slew of solutions, soaps, lotions, and potions to clean, groom, and perfume our homes and physiques until the day we die!😳 Today and everyday, I mean, stop and what’s next? Germs? Bad smells? Dishevelment? Surely people in their right minds would never just let themselves go!

A reason I love T.J Maxx is the many botanical and organic finds including liquid soaps, moisturizing lotions, shampoos and hair conditioners that are also sold in huge 1 liter or 33 oz sizes for less. My practice is to buy one, plus one to keep on deck for when the first bottle turns into an empty.

I do the exact same thing when buying household cleaners like gallon sizes of distilled white vinegar, a 4 lb box of baking soda, Pinalen (pine oil), ammonia, and bleach from Walmart, Target, Key Food, or C-Town. (I’ve decided not to replace the ammonia because the others do the same jobs. I hardly reach for it anymore. Before switching to white vinegar to clean my floors and counters, I used ammonia to keep from ruining colored rugs with splatters while cleaning.)

Neither overbuying nor underbuying saves you money. Learn which products keep and which lose potency with the passage of time. Then the trick is to figure out what you need and will continue using. We might make a few mistakes before we figure it out, but eventually we do figure it out. 

After we figure it out, buying staples in big ole sizes not only saves time and money, but simplifies our lives. You make fewer trips to the store to restock and instead can do other tasks or pleasures.

Buying huge sizes of non-perishable household and personal care products is always the Savvy Shopper way to go. It’s well worth creating space for them!

You may also enjoy:

Buy Pinalen Instead of Pine-Sol

Difeel Shampoos and Conditioners

Savon De Marseille Beau Terra Soap

White Vinegar: The Perfect Household Cleaner

How To Make A Senior Feel At Home

Drive Medical accessories. We own all this stuff.

My senior Mom was an independent woman while my Dad was alive and I lived at home. Living alone in her senior years, she really held out for a very long time before she and I realized she needed my help to care for her. Up until 4 years ago, she cooked, cleaned, paid her own bills, and went out daily. She was a mover, a worker, an ever-ready bunny. She went somewhere every single day even if it was just to shop for groceries, or stock up on toiletries, or take mail to the post office. Then for her, it changed.

I am quite sensitive to how difficult it is when an independently-minded person can’t engage in her normal activities due to her physical and mental limitations. It can be very frustrating despite the Ward’s awareness that it is no longer mind over matter, and she is slowing down because, well, she got old. It’s not easy to depend on someone else to do the things you at one time did so effortlessly. She gets bored.

I don’t try to solve all my Mom’s issues as I can’t reverse time, nor entertain her every minute of the day. My magic power is to focus on what I can do which is to keep her sqeaky clean, safe and well-fed. My friends are also very kind. They visit and spend time with us. As much as possible, we include my Mom when we have coffee, lunches or dinners. We sit around and chat, and she mostly listens, yet feels included.

When the weather is balmy we take her to a park, or for a drive. Sure she falls asleep, but she loves to go places to see people. It’s how she lived her life when she was young.

In Manhattan I wheel her to the Steuben Day celebrations where there are lots of people dressed in dirndls and lederhosen who bend down to speak German with her. This makes the Party Girl very happy. Sometimes we buy a bratwurst or pretzel. Frankly, I never went before I began caring for my German Mother.

Every so often I tell her, “We’re family, or it’s Mama and Debra” -- a phrase I borrow from her. She would hate living in a nursing home, and I think from time to time, it’s good she hears me say, "I don't mind taking care of you.” Lightheartedly, nothing dramatic

After Mom wakes in the mornings, I let her linger in bed until she’s ready to rise. This also gives me a chance to drink my coffee alone before we get busy with grooming, dressing and breakfast. She is a late breakfast eater, so I plan accordingly. It’s the benefit of living at home, and not in a senior facility.

So far, so good. If my Mother were in a nursing home, I’d dislike making trips to the nursing home as much as she’d hate living in one. The two choices have different challenges, and you will be involved either way. Fortunately she doesn’t need skilled nursing care at the present time. Old age is her only pre-existing condition. 

Caring for my Mother makes me think about old age. Certainly, the USA needs a healthcare system overhaul so more seniors who wish it, could live at home. It would benefit our country to establish more at home support for the elderly and caregivers before we -- who are headed in the same direction -- become seniors. Who would favor spending your last days in a facility if you had the resources to stay at home? Seniors on Social Security and Medicare should have the choice. Unless tragedy strives, the day will come when that senior is you!

You may also enjoy:

Watches, Tales And Sprouts

What I’m Feeding My Senior Mom

Old Navy’s Vintage Mini T-Shirt Dresses

Senior Goods That Make Caregiving Easier

I Love My New Bowl Cozy

Despite her busy life, my friend and schoolmate, Teresa, sews Bowl Cozies in her spare time. Recently a group of us classmates had a fun Saturday lunch chatting and catching up in her beautiful home. When we were leaving to return to our homes, she gave us one of her Bowl Cozies. Perhaps I'm the last person on earth who didn't know of their existence, but instantly I fall in love with them! They are so darn cute and useful. In addition to preventing burns while carrying a hot bowl of soup, the cozy keeps the soup warm for a longer period of time. When not in use, bowl cozies look super adorable sitting on your kitchen counter. Your house, co-op, or apartment becomes a home!

In life there are always new things for me to discover, but the knowledge that my friend, Teresa, is a women with many talents and a warm heart, is not one of them! The old saying, "If you want something done, ask a busy person," applies to her.

Our school must have done many things right. My schoolmates are a cool bunch of women. You feel proud to know them!😍😎

🥕🥕🥕My Impromptu Crock-Pot Soup🧅🧅🧅

Ingredients: 

frozen butternut squash, 10 oz 

frozen mixed vegetables, 12 oz

1 large onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 can pinto beans (Use any bean.)

7 cups water

2 large chicken-tomato bouillon cubes (Use any bouillon flavor or stock. If you use bouillon cubes, no need to add salt.)

1 teaspoon dried garlic
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf
1/4 cup of organic cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
a sprinkle Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cups of brown rice

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

This is a forgiving soup, use vegetables and the starch of your choice. Feel free to make the soup with whatever you happen to have, fresh, frozen or leftover. Spice as you like it, and the soup cooks as well on a stovetop.

Directions:

1) Toss everything but the brown rice into a Crockpot and let cook on high for 4 - 5 hours.

2) Add the brown rice and cook for another 2- 3 hours. Although I didn't time it, avoid over cooked rice by tossing it in later. I also thought about diced raw potatoes, but went with the rice. Less work! :)

3) After the green beans, celery and rice are tender, dip some of the liquid out into a cup, let it cool, and mix it with 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour to add back into the Crockpot and cook for a final hour.

After thickening, it is ready to eat. You can top the soup with diced smoked ham if you wish. Brown rice with beans are a complete protein if you decide to eat lighter by skipping the meat.

 Bon appètit!

You may also enjoy:

DIY: Cork Bulletin Board

DIY: Drop Cloth Curtains

Ralph Lauren Come Decorate My Apartment

DIY: Bookcase Using Narrow Wooden Crates 

Happy Easter 2025

Photo: Getty

Here we are again, celebrating hope, optimism, and human perseverance, along with starting with a clean slate. Let's take a break from any stresses, challenges, or hardships in life to enjoy a festive meal with family and friends.

Photo: iStock
♪♪♪"Morning has broken like the first morning 
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird 
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning 
Praise for them springing fresh from the world" ~ Cat Stevens ♪♪♪

Let's put our work aside on Easter Sunday and enjoy the company of our besties. Catch up. Break bread. Share a laugh. Whatever floats your boat today, enjoy! A day of leisure, a good meal, and a celebratory spirit await you.

In spring, life begins anew. The next images are posted for their cuteness.

Photo: Alamy

Please excuse the impolite word in the bubble below, and yet it's a common human expression, isn't it? You can't help but laugh at the cleverness. Sometimes humor is rude, and the little baby chick is adorable.

Who are you going to pick out of the lineup?

✝ Happy Easter, Everyone!🐥🐇🐑

The Easter Holiday

Happy Easter Weekend

Easter Sunday Thoughts

Happy Easter Sunday 2024

12 Stain Removers For Clothing

Sometimes life is messy, but we can't let stains ruin our favorite blouses, t-shirts, dresses, or trousers. Your 1st line of defense is to run to a sink before the stain dries and then sets. I like to use a drop of dish soap, water, and a brush, sometimes an extra toothbrush, to gently scrub a stain out. I keep dish soap with Oxi-Clean as one of its ingredients in my bathroom for this purpose.

Thread Up recommends using the following aids to best treat certain stains:

1) Soak a red wine stain in white wine, cover with baking soda, let sit, and rinse.

2) Flush the back of a chocolate stain with cold water, dab with dish soap, and soak.

3) Soak grass stains in white vinegar, then clean with dish soap and that trusty small brush.

4) For foundation stains, apply shaving cream and carefully work it in with a washcloth.

5) To remove lipstick, saturate the stain with hair spray and dab to remove.

6) Gently blot a deodorant stain away with a dryer sheet or the protective foam used on dry cleaning hangers. (Btw: I've switched to a stainless deodorant stick that also works to keep me dry. This one.)

Several more stains I can think of include:

7) For blood stains, rinse in cold water, then soak in detergent and cold water. For stubborn stains, use peroxide or a paste of baking soda and white vinegar. Sprinkling meat tenderizer on the stain sometimes removes it.

8) Tomato sauce, ketchup, vegetable, or fruit stains are tough stains to remove once they dry and set. Act quickly and use cold water, dish soap, and possibly vinegar or lemon juice to help lift out the stain. Sparkling water can help too.

Photo: Pexels

9) For coffee stains, apply a paste of dish soap, white vinegar, and water. Rinse with cold water.

10) Tackle grease stains with dish soap, let it set, and rinse with hot water. Toss in a washing machine quickly if possible. You can also try a solution of baking soda and white vinegar if all else fails.

11) Rubbing alcohol or solutions containing alcohol, such as hand sanitizer or hair spray, will break down ink stains. Spray and blot.

12) A spatter of toothpaste is maddeningly difficult to remove without tossing the garment into a washing machine. Even if you clean the spot immediately with dish soap and water, it leaves a faint white residue. The only thing I know to do is to repeat the process to get as much of the residue out as possible. 

I don't wear dresses until I've brushed my teeth, but in the summer I usually have my t-shirt on already. What do you do to get out a teethpaste stain? What about grease or tomato sauce stains?

You may also enjoy:

Laundry Stain Removers

Homemade OxiClean Is Cheap

The Best Homemade Jewelry Cleaner

Dry Cleaning Mindfully Saves Time, Money, And Clothing

Mainstays Is Walmart's Private Label

Mainstays is Walmart's brand of home goods offered at affordable prices. A wide range of furnishings includes bedding, bath, furniture, home décor, kitchen, dining, patio and garden, mattresses, and arts & crafts. The products are probably made by different vendors for Walmart.

In helping my senior Mom, I've had to buy several home goods that she has overlooked in her elder years. I found some of her kitchen tools to be either outdated, inconvenient to use, or simply in need of replacement. So, I've become familiar with Mainstays' line of kitchenware and am duly impressed! You get decent quality without breaking the bank. In making decisions for her, I am relearning a lesson in getting good value for the money! 

A Mainstays kitchen tool is a great deal! Buying the top-of-the-line isn't always the right decision. Good value for the money is based on an item's purpose and frequency of use, as well as our judgment of "do we need the top-of-the-line or an item that's good enough?" If a good enough article can be replaced 25-30 times before reaching the top-of-the-line's price, we will come out ahead even if we must replace it.

Speaking from experience, we've replaced 2 12-cup  programmable Black & Decker coffeemakers with a 12-cup programmable Mainstrays coffeemaker which was offered for a rollback price of $12. The former is a great brand and we can say the same for Mainstrays, which was 1/3 of the price. Our latest coffeemaker does everything a customer needs it to do! You couldn't pay me to be in the same room if my mom sips anything less than a hot cup of good coffee in the mornings!😳

Some of Mainstays' prices seem too good to be true. We haven't tried its full line of products, and yet we haven't bought anything from the brand that has disappointed us! I'd recommend Mainstays as comparable to name brands of like commodities. When we need good enough housewares, we'll always consider Mainstrays.

You may also enjoy:

Laytner's Linen & Home

Washcloths, Save Or Splurge?

Home Goods As Gifts For Less

The Best Places To Go For Antiques And Home Decor