FORT Koffee Klatch

[Lucy]

Before "flipping" was what it was called, my parents had a friend who would buy and restore houses, then sell and move. And so when they found our house, that's what they planned to do too -- it was over 100 years old, bad paint jobs on good old wood, etc. They restored some of the wood but then put 1976-style carpet and paint on other stuff. Yeah, that was 30 years ago. We're still "fixing it up." We've had to undo our own paint and carpet jobs to restore the original wood in a lot of the house, etc.

By "we" I mostly mean "my mother."

[PhoneGrrrl]

Stupid question: When did Papa John's start charging to deliver pizzas? I haven't ordered one for delivery in years, but tonight I'm drugged up on Zyrtec big-time for my serious sinus issues, and it's probably not safe for me to operate a computer, let alone a car. I awoke from my initial allergy drug stupor around 8 and was starving, so I ordered a pizza. Low & behold they now charge $2 to deliver. It's not really the cost--because, believe me, it's worth $2 to keep me off the roads tonight--but they always delivered free before. Maybe it was the gas price hike?

[MamaC]

My guess is that it is due to the price of gas these days.

I know that when the gas prices were starting to creep up, the news would mention how some places were starting to tack on a few bucks to offset what they have to pay out for gas when making deliveries.

[misskitty]

...But the good news is the prep work is all done and my new stuff goes in tomorrow!!! I can't wait!

I wish you great installation of all materials in all your rooms! I'm sure that was awfully hard work that you and hubby did. But it will be so worth it when you have all the new stuff in! Did you take before and after pics?

roseskid: Ewwwww. I hate ants in the house. Poor you!

[ScoutMom]

misskitty - I never remember to take pictures (before OR after). The install is done, and they're looking gorgeous!

roseskid - Ants! Yuck! We get them sometimes in the spring. My husband decided it's because they're looking for water. Somehow, I just don't get the logic in that, but I just nod my head and say "yes, dear". I hope you're ant-free soon.

[roseskid]

ScoutMom, that's a good idea to snap some photos as you go because it's always fun to look back and say, "how in the hell is it we managed to stay married while doing that."

I got up this morning at 2:00a and thought I'd stroll downstairs just to check on our ant situation. That was a mistake. I've been vacuuming and destroying ants for almost two hours now. Grrrrr. I think it's time to get those ant traps again. Yesterday was our hottest day yet at 101°, and I think they're trying to avoid the heat. It's 4:00a now, so I'm going back to bed, that is if I can release this rage that's cursing through my body.

[Newfherder]

I got up this morning at 2:00a and thought I'd stroll downstairs just to check on our ant situation. That was a mistake. I've been vacuuming and destroying ants for almost two hours now. Grrrrr. I think it's time to get those ant traps again. Yesterday was our hottest day yet at 101°, and I think they're trying to avoid the heat. It's 4:00a now, so I'm going back to bed, that is if I can release this rage that's cursing through my body.

It's like my momma used to say: If you can't stand the heat, go into the kitchen

[misskitty]

Newf: thanks for the giggle this morning!

roseskid: Try sprinkling cornmeal all over your kitchen. They kill ants. Apparently, they eat the cornmeal and then cannot digest it and die. It worked for me outside on the lawn. It didn't take long either. I'ts kinda an old Ukrainian method, when company comes...feed them! LOL

Just FYI while you are drinking your Starbucks coffee today: Starbucks takes its name from the British explorer Starbuck McAffee who brought the coffee bean back to Europe.

[MissThing]

roseskid: Try sprinkling cornmeal all over your kitchen. They kill ants. Apparently, they eat the cornmeal and then cannot digest it and die. It worked for me outside on the lawn. It didn't take long either. I'ts kinda an old Ukrainian method, when company comes...feed them! LOL

I've tried two similar methods, when I get ants around the catfood. The first was cinamon, but that just moved them elsewhere (in this case, into my kitchen).

But, grits work for me, although a bit more slowly than I'd like (say 2 weeks to get them all). They bring the grits back to the hive, and once the grits are eaten, they expand. I have had no exploding ant bodies to contend with, either, .

[queenb]

Sorry to be a naysayer, but really, feeding ants corn meal or grits won't kill them .
This information is from killfireants.com
There are many myths concerning fireant or ant mound elimination or colony elimination. None of the foods (grits, oatmeal, etc.) will cause any type of internal problems with an ant. They do not get fatal flatulence; they do not blow up --it just does not work that way!In the first place, adult ants cannot digest solid foods. Worker ants can be seen going back to their colony with either a swollen belly (from liquid foods) or carrying a solid piece of food. Solids are fed to ant larvae in the nursery; larvae digest the solids and immediately regurgitate the nutrients back to the adult worker ants. These ants, in turn, feed other ants in the colony. On the average, each worker ant will feed 10 other ants. This unique transfer of nutrients insures that any poisons or bad foods are filtered out before reaching the queen and the workers around her.
Second, ants love corn! Many farmers have severely damaged their machinery while running into or over large fireant mounds in the fields. Thousands of pounds of grain products are tossed into the trash by home owners each year, because ants invaded the containers in which grains are stored. Ants love corn and it does not kill them!
The myth with grits (and other grains) began when the general public discovered that small grains of ground corn (in essence, grits!) are the carrier in many ant baits. The carrier is just that -- the product on which the attractant (soybean oil, etc.) and the pesticide (Hydramethylnon, etc.) are placed. The carrier is just the vehicle with which we disperse granular pesticides and baits.
When people dump grits or other such objects onto an ant mound, the ants do not appreciate the door of their home being disturbed. They then build another door (mound) to their colony, deserting the one covered with grains. Ants have many uses for their mound (incubating young, etc.) and do not appreciate it when you dump things on top! When all is said and done, the colony did not even move (as most people believe), it just built another doorway to the colony.This is good to remember when using an ant bait: do not dump the product on top of the ant mound or nest. Instead, broadcast your baits around the mound and in other areas where ants are seen foraging for food.

Anyway, roseskid, you have my sympathy; I've had an ant problem for a while, but not so bad as yours, it's just in the cat food bowl. It took me nearly a month to catch a 'line' of ants coming to the bowl so I could follow it to their entry place, though. Lucky me, it was behind the freezer so I wasn't endangering my pets to spray some Carpenter Ant killer all over behind there. I know they will probably be back though, so I went toYour Pest Control Supplies Site! to get some traps and gel insecticide. Their products seem to work much better than what I've gotten from the stores, and they also have descriptions of more kinds of ants than you want to know about, to aid in product selection (mine appear to be Pharoah Ants) . I used to have luck with Grant's Ant Killer, but these particular ants won't use it if there's cat food around. Anyway, good luck.