Getting Rid of Pesky Ants Without Chemicals

Although I am enjoying the arrival of spring, I have not been enjoying the pesky ants, which seemed to be marching through our home in droves.  They are worse than ever this year!  My husband sprayed around the foundation on the outside of our house twice to no avail.  Because we don't use chemical insecticides inside our home, the problem eventually worsened until I found a foolproof, inexpensive, chemical-free way to get rid of the ants.  It's fast and very effective!

Supplies:

• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Borax
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• cotton balls

Instructions:

1. Mix the Borax and sugar together in a jar or covered plastic container until well blended. (You can purchase Borax in the laundry detergent aisle of your local grocery store.  )
2. Add the warm water and mix thoroughly until the powder is completely dissolved.
3. Dip a few cotton balls into the liquid mixture until they're saturated.  Squeeze out excess moisture just enough so they're not dripping.
4. Place the cotton balls on window and door casings in the rooms where you see the ants.  Try to place them close to the point of entry, if possible.
5. Cover the container of Borax/sugar mixture to save for future use.  Be sure to label the container.  

Within several hours of placing the cotton balls, you'll notice the ants will have a feeding frenzy.  After feeding for awhile, they almost appear to be drunk.  However, the next day, there will be very few ants on the cotton balls.  This is because they eventually return to their nest, bringing home the mixture to feed the other ants.  This is a good thing, as soon the entire nest will be wiped out! 

It is wise to repeat the above process daily until the ants are gone, which is usually within 2-3 days. 

It is also a good idea to seal up the point of entry, so the ants can no longer get into the house.  In our case, they were entering our home through a gap in the casing above the back door.  We plan to seal this gap over the weekend using some caulking.  

Now that the ants problem has been remedied, it's time to move on to more exciting things, such as finishing the fire pit area, freshening up the décor on the back deck, planting the vegetable garden and eventually putting together the new greenhouse.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome Spring!

It's finally starting to feel like spring here in the northeast!  The weather started warming up  nicely earlier in the week.  In preparation, last weekend, my husband and I uncovered the patio furniture on the back deck.   We brought out the outdoor patio rugs and the new, large market umbrella I found for $35.00 at the Christmas Tree Shop.  The propane tank is back on the gas grill, and we've already enjoyed some grilled stir-fried shrimp and vegetables and juicy burgers this week.

We've also turned our attention to gardening.  I have been longing to invest in a backyard greenhouse, so we can grown organic vegetables and medicinal herbs year 'round.  After researching greenhouses for quite some time, I finally ordered this 8 x 12' greenhouse from Wayfair, using the 10% off coupon they offer when you sign up for their mailing list.  I can't wait for it to arrive, even though I know it will have to be assembled!

My husband also tilled our raised garden bed and added a new layer of compost, in anticipation of today's rain.  A few April showers will help it to work into the soil, in preparation for planting season.  We are looking forward to seeing some happy veggie and herb plants like these from last summer.

We are also planning on working on the fire pit project during the upcoming long holiday weekend.  I decided to spend the extra money and ordered 4 Forever Phat Tommy Recycled Poly Folding Adirondack Chairs from Overstock.com.  They should be arriving sometime next week.  The pillows I ordered from overstock.com are beautiful.  The lime green beach towels were a bit lighter than the pictures online, but their quality certainly makes up for it.  We plan to shop for the landscaping materials soon, so we can begin the project. I'm looking forward to sharing photos here when we are done.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy spring!

Thinking of Spring

It's been a long, cold, snowy winter here in New England.  I can't wait until spring! With that said, I am already thinking about outdoor projects. 

I love this fire pit area I saw on a pilot episode of Spontaneous Construction on HGTV.  I showed it to my husband, and we figure we can probably do something similar in our backyard, minus the pathway. We bought a new fire pit last summer and already have a pile of pea stone left over from another landscaping project; we can use that as the base.  We'll just need to get some pavers, a few bushes for around the edge and some mulch. 

I've been looking around at adirondack chairs online, and they can be pricey, depending on the material they're made of.   I'm not sure if we'll go for solid wood adirondack chairs, or cheap out and get four of these resin chairs ($18.88 each) from Lowe's.  The nice thing about resin chairs is they can be cleaned with the power washer, and they'll never need painting. There are also adirondack chairs made of poly wood. However, I really don't want to pay $269.00 apiece for four outdoor chairs.  I think we may go with the resin chairs from Lowe's for now, as we can always upgrade them at some point.

Of course, the best part of any decorating project is accessorizing.  I've already ordered these great lumbar pillows for the chairs at overstock.com.  The were only $23.71 for a two-pack.  The blue in the pattern goes with both the deck and the pool area, and I really like the added pop of green color.

A couple of these solid lime green beach towels from amazon.com will be great draped on some of the chairs, in case guests decide to go for a swim.   

As soon as the weather warms up and the snow melts, we plan to begin working on the fire pit area.  In the meantime, I've got a couple of projects I am working on in the dining room.  I will post pictures when I am done.


Thanks for stopping by!