Update: The Ant Crisis

So far the preliminary results are startling. Sugar soaked cotton balls have virtually stopped ants on counter and in cat food bowl. I don't know if that is due to being diverted by peanut butter bait though. When given the choice between sugar/cotton and peanut butter they greatly prefer sugar/cotton. This is good because peanut butter bait seems ineffective, or at least slow acting. They continue to eat it but their numbers aren't diminishing on peanut butter front. Maybe we can declare a truce, peanut butter smeared walls for staying out of my kitchen. No, that will be a last effort resort. For now I'll stick with the cotton balls.

Special Bulletin: The War on Ants

Now that the weather has broken and heat is upon up (...yay) the kitchen has suddenly become infested with ants. They have become annoying very quickly. And not only are they attacking the human food supply, but the food supply of the animals too. And as my poor kitties look upon me with sad eyes asking 'why, oh why food giver is my kibble crawling' I know that it is time to eliminate the insect menace. Point of attack one: poison bait. Boric acid is supposedly a the chief ingredient in home made pesticide. It kills the ants slowly so they take it back to their nest and feed it to their ant babies. Bwah, ha, ha.

Sugar water and boric acid, applied to cotton balls

Tainted peanut butter, not as effective as tainted love, but it'll due

I am experimenting with liquefying some cat food and adding boric acid to that since they can't see to keep their greedy little ant paws off it. Later we are going to apply Ant Shield outside. Die, fuckers.

My experimental traps

Ha, even as I type the ants are gathering around one of the cotton balls. Yes, feast my tiny friends.

Just me and my bucket of death

I mixed up this a little concoction today to get rid of the weeds on the driveway:

1 gallon vinegar
1 cup salt
2 tbsp dish soap

It's too potent to the yard. I think this shit will kill just about anything. We'll see the results.

So this weekend, despite the pitiful amount of work I got done on the yard, I did some research on the cost of a bunch of the work that needs to be done. Tony and I agreed on green siding (when we get the money to get it done) with maroon shutters. Siding costs a mere $1 per sq. foot (not including any supplies for attaching or labor). We have about 1300 sq. feet of siding that needs to be done. We plan on doing the windows at the same time and they cost about $200 a piece. We need ten. A new carport is debatable since they can cost between $1000 to $3000.

I was thinking about doing a brick facade on the lower part of the exterior wall where the foundation was showing. There would be about 510 sq. feet (low estimate) but I've seen estimates that it costs between $5 to $12 per sq. foot. So even at a low end figure it will cost more to do the foundation than to put up new siding. So, I think we'll stick with paint for now. I'm now looking into the feasibility of molding facade bricks on my own. So the plan is seal cracks, paint, put down a new border for the plant beds, then add dirt to the sides.

The yard itself is going to be a lot of work too. I guess I didn't figure that in order to plant seeds I need to loosen the soil, put down some new soil and then plant seeds. That's going to take some work. Go, go mighty muscles! I guess it's all a bit overwhelming. Tony also thinks we should try fixing the fence, for now, and repainting it. I still say knock the thing down.

Anyway, sprayed the last of the weed killer over the weekend. weeds in the front yard are looking very dead. The back isn't looking as good as the front, but it has had less time to work. I am overall pleased with the spray. I didn't get a chance to caulk because Tony was sick and didn't get to show me how. Got part of the front beds tilled.

Sprayed front yard for the second time today. I was scared a little that the weeds were recovering. They are looking like they are drought stressed. The strange thing is that larger plants shrivel up faster than the smaller ones. It makes me wonder how the weed killer actually works. It must have something to do with surface area, not getting sucked up by the roots.

Four weeks until I can plant new grass on the front yard. I'm planning on doing a second coat on the back this weekend.

Weed Update: Day 5

Weed Status: shriveling

Most are pretty withered. Even the tougher weeds are feeling the pain. Catnip is starting to shrink. Clover isn't dying, but isn't getting larger either. Going to douse the backyard Monday and then re-apply next week for good measure.

Die weeds, die!

Healthy catnip plants not sprayed

Sprayed catnip

Healthy dandelion plants not sprayed

Sprayed dandelion

Also I finished hanging the towel rack in the bathroom (yay, minor victory). The wall needs a little sanding, but it looks good.

Weed Status: Day 4

Condition: distressed

Most of the weeds are taking a turn for the worst. The large leafed weeds are curled up and withering. Most of the others have taken a turn for the worst. The only things that haven't shown any real signs of death are clover and dandelions.

I finished spraying the rest of the front yard today. I'll be starting on the back this weekend.