Ants weren't Gone

I've been busy eating crow and freaking out the last few days.  My last entry said my ants were gone. Yippee!  NO!  NEIT! NEIN! NOPE! NADA! H.E. TO THE DOUBLE L NO! 

My last post about the ants saying they were gone was a big fat lie.  Yes, I super cleaned my kitchen.  I used all the natural ingredients on Google & Pinterest I could read about. 

*I cleaned...and cleaned, and cleaned

*Bleached

*Squirted lemons since they don't like the smell 

*Used Dawn dish soap for the film it leaves behind. 

*I rubbed bay leaves all over my kitchen

*I chalked my kitchen until it looked like a crack house 

*I even put out Raid ant traps...  Misgrudgingly of course.  Hubby insisted these traps are all the same.  Ooooohhhhhh no! They most definitely aren't. 

Screaming and yelling at my hubby (poor hubby, I was hysterical) to get what I asked for and nothing else. He finally got the Terro Ant Liquid Baits.  I don't drive.  Sorry Hubby!

Gross!  Yes!  But, at least I'm not waking up to ants all over my kitchen but just around the 2 baits out of the 8 put around the kitchen.  

The Raid baits did nothing.  They are now getting more action than they did throughout the past 3 days. 

I'll keep you posted, but the take-a-way  is don't use the o'natural way.  Get the baits!

Ants on the Kitchen Counter... Oh No!

This morning I awoke to a swarm of ants on my kitchen counter.  Yikes!  What to do?  My family doesn't like to use harsh chemicals if we don't have to... Hence, the photo of a lemon, chalk, and bay leaves.  I'm not a extremist, though.  If this doesn't work then the bleach and spray can of chemicals needs to come out!

Today, the first day, I washed the counters down well.  I also washed the walls and kitchen floor, too.   Then I used a damp paper towel and covered it with lemon juice.  Ants supposedly hate lemons & bay leaves.  Well, then I strategically placed bits of bay leaves around the counter.  Next will be chalk rubbed into all the edges and crevices. 

So, stay in touch and see how my journey to get rid of these horrid ants goes.  Oh my!

Pesky Mosquito Bites

    If you're like me and you are plagued with mosquito bites during the summer. You'll want to consider reading this post.  The constant itching and red splotches over your body make summer very uncomfortable.  I go through a tube of After Bite every 3 weeks or so to help relieve the itching.  

   The other week I thought if an aspirin helps the redness in zits it may help these bites.  So, I dissolved one tablet in a couple of drops of water and placed the granules on the bite.  But this left too much leftover aspirin. 

   Instead, I found it works best to run water over the aspirin and then rub it on the bite.

My red and itchy mosquito bite.

Aspirin granules on bite.  Continue to rub aspirin onto bite with a wet finger until it is dissolved.

My bite an hour later.  I haven't had to reapply the aspirin to any of my bites. 

I'm doing a happy dance now that I can enjoy the summer!