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That I did! I had a nice salad with some raspberry hazelnut vinaigrette dressing, and a hefty pinch of Chesapeake Bay seasoning (Same as Old Bay, but just a bit off brand.) and Adobo seasoning. Delicious. >w<

@Sunset: Relieved that you are ok. The news here says that the damage in Joplin is awful. I have been watching that storm, also. I am back in Houston for the moment, but will be going back up to my place in a couple of days. It looks like the severe stuff probably missed me as it passed through Texas. I hope we have seen the last of these severe storms for a while. Meanwhile, Houston is still in a terrible drought.

About those ants: I vacuumed them up. I also found out where they were coming from; One of my windows is stuck open a crack (I hadn't noticed.) I taped a trash bag in the window until I can get it fixed. At least I had a white bag and it doesn't show. *sigh* I don't think I can run a steamer since I have limited electrical power (it is a travel trailer) but it is tempting and I'll look into it if they keep up. Thanks for the suggestions!

There are two ways to get ants control and are more or less 'green'

But I'm not sure if it will work in the house. I know they work in the garden.

1> Train them with food and sweets away from the site they are attacking. Build a little ant house where you treat them to sugar like honey, syrup or whatever from a small cup. If you want them dead add some BORAX to the solution after you've gotten their trust up.

2> Ground coffee beans. I used this to ward off and feed the ants away from my sunflowers.

I bought a cheap bag of cheap whole coffee beans, crushed them and sprinkled them around my bed and flowers. They end up carrying and these crumbs back to the nest.

Whether or not they die from the caffeine I have no idea, but they stopped munching on my sun flowers.

Electricity is back on! Just checking in, thank you for your prayers for everyone in this whole part of the country. I have been unable to check lists for people that I love, so I will be doing that next.

I woke up at 6am today, and spent hours sitting and listening, having my head and neck burn in the sun until 1pm, only learning that the 'hood' that was given to me makes a better wizard shade producing hat than a silly thing that hangs off your shoulders when you stand in that silly red gown.

smile

I graduated from my undergraduate school today with Bachelors of Science and Arts, General Biology.

So cool! I have no idea how that happened, but hey, I'm not complaining.

Congratulations on your graduation. You must be very happy. <3


Nice! ... but this year? You have at least five more months of glorious biking! Speaking of riding, I ride my bike to work and on Friday had to stop for a bear. Saw another one today on the trail but in the other direction so no stopping this time!

@ ants - I hear sugar mix with baking soda does a good job.

Thanks for the update. That's terrible about the house, not only to lose something that's old, but that's been in the family.

Glad to hear you're okay. heart

You're like my brother in law. Shorts when there's snow on the ground. Crazy!!!

So jealous! Any grand plans?


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I got leashes for the cats and have created two "Out" Monsters. When I get home Bones meows and paws at the door to get out. He didn't go out today because I was tired and he pestered and pestered, even when I was showering he's sitting on the toilet meowing and pestering. He walks like a dog and is pretty good. Evangeline is a bit skitch. Skateboarder scared her the other day. Of course I had just finished laundry too. Oi.

Also am watching Twin Peaks. So good. And IT Crowd. So funny.

Sorry if this is a bit discombobulated!

@Pirhan- just to clarify, the house was no longer owned by the family. I believe it was actually owned by either a historical society or possibly the City of Joplin as a part of a preservation effort. I'd have to double check. It is sad either way crying but the good news is that it was no longer lived in and most likely nobody was there at the time.

@ Ta Lu- Congrats!!!!!

@Sunset- Yay for electricity! I know the clean-up will be a long process, but everything is better with electricity. I remember what it was like to come back to Houston for the first time after Hurricane Ike hit. Our home was ok, but our beautiful city took so much damage. Slowly, though, things got back to normal. There were wonderful new things built where old things were lost. Today, really the only signs are, well, signs that were damaged by the storm that were for businesses which were already gone (or disappeared shortly after.) Just remember that it gets better and we are all thinking of you and hoping for your continued safety and that of your loved ones.


Made it back to Houston after a very long and not particularly productive day at my house. And what do I hear the moment I get back to town? Thunderstorms rolling in. I actually drove through one of them, but it wasn't so bad. Apparently there is a tornado on the ground just north of town in Liberty, though. I'm on the south side of town so it is well away from me. (Just in case the news elsewhere isn't specific and says that the tornado is in Houston. Not far, but not here.) Hopefully we'll get a little rain at my house minus any funnel clouds. I am having a terrible time getting anything to grow this year with the ground so dry.