Today's grativibe is about finding the right recipe in an emergency.
On Saturday morning, the temps in Pittsburgh were in the low 70s. It felt amazing after weeks of sticky 90-degree days. Some cool fresh air through the house would be so nice. When I cranked out a window we seldom open, I found this between the sash and frame:
OH. MY. GOD. What are these? Termites?!?! Some of them have wings. I bet they're termites. OMG. OMG.
Listen. Just so ya know. I'm that girl who captures spiders and moths under a glass, shimmies a piece of paper under it, and transports them outside to continue doing good in the world. Wood-eating insects do not enjoy, nor deserve, the same level of grace. They had to GO.
Of course, Doug had just left for Chautauqua to meet with contractors and inch us closer to having water and a septic system at the cottage. This kind of excitement only happens when he's not home.
I quickly found some wasp and hornet killer and thought, "That'll do it." Then I paused for a brief minute to read the label; it said do not to use on plastics or vinyl. DANG IT. Our wood windows have vinyl trim. I didn't want to risk ruining a window, especially on the front of our house, so that was a no.
I took to the world wide web. Time was of the essence. I did some speed-reading on about a dozen home remedies and set about concocting my own recipe for demise.
Three simple ingredients in a spray bottle and EIGHT seconds is all it took. See what happened...
I may or may not have sprayed in excess. There is a slim chance that I simply drowned them. Here's how I know I didn't:
A solitary bug was crawling up the outside of the house, and I gave him a somewhat conservative misting. He continued on his way, then just fell off the house about a few seconds later. DEAD.
Two More Reasons Why It's So Great
The beauty of this recipe, other than its effectiveness, is that I almost always have these ingredients on hand. Two huge pluses are that I don't have to worry about chemical damage -OR- poisonous substances. I can actually use this on the occasional black ant in my kitchen and not worry about it being harmful to us or our pets.
Let us know if you try this. Your comment will make our day!
Note: I found out later that the insects were carpenter ants and not termites. Either way, they're with God now.
Deborah Campbell says
I just love the humor written into your post. Plus, your description of when you first discovered your little pest made me feel like I was right there with you.