Antsy-pants

I hope you never get plagued by an ant infestation. Ever.

We came back from Singapore to find piles of what looked like sand in a few of the corners in our hallway and numerous trails of ants in those corners. A quick google search revealed that ants were likely to have been digging tunnels and nestling in our walls. We also found large holes in the wall that neither of us noticed before. The hubs tried pouring water into one of said holes, and about 200ml went in without overflowing. We don’t want to think about what this means about how deep the hole runs and whether the water will have any affect on the wall/floor. (Please don’t try this at home.)

What you can try, however, is a home solution for getting rid of these ants that we decided on trying after doing some research online. We have tested it and have found it to be effective, so here it is…

We followed this recipe we found:

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of water

2 tablespoons of boric acid

The trick is to have enough sugar to lure the ants and just enough boric acid to poison them slowly enough for them to have time to bring the poison home for their colony. Heat ingredients and stir until everything dissolves, then put the solution into small saucers (we use bottle caps) at the corners with the ants. Keep away from children or pets because it is poisonous.

When ants started discovering the cap |Photo credit: Juxxtapose

The result, although effective, was not pretty. Within the hour, nearly the entire surface area of the bottle cap was covered with ants. No photos of that, cos just thinking of it makes me feel like ants are crawling up my legs. We thought the ants drowned in the solution or died immediately upon ingesting the poison and were disappointed because the plan was for them to bring the stuff back to their nest. But the next morning, we found only a few ants left in the same bottle cap. Either they left during the night or they got carried away by their co-workers. Either way, the ants disappeared.

Culinary Misadventure: How to treat a burn

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

I got burnt by hot oil while cooking… again. Only this time, the burnt marks are ten times more than the last time and they cover bigger areas too. Blisters have formed on three of the largest spots, which in my opinion, the worst part of the whole healing process.

Getting burnt also means that we learnt how to respond to future burns. So for your benefit, because it’s actually basic first aid that everyone should know, here’s what you do if you ever get scalded by your dinner:

1. Immediately run the burn under cool running water for 10-15 minutes. This is to stop the heat from penetrating and burning the deeper skin layers. Do not put ice on it.

2. Apply aloe vera, from the plant or in the form of gels, onto the burnt spots. Make sure the aloe vera content in your gel in as high as possible. Do not put toothpaste or any other household product that is said to work.

3. Wait for the blisters to appear ): This may take a day or more. I was hoping this could be prevented but it can’t, or at least I haven’t found out how to. If you decide to burst the blisters, use alcohol swaps to sterilise both blister and needle before doing it. Apply antiseptic cream to prevent infections.

4. Let the skin under the blister grow to form new skin. The old blister skin will dry up and fall off. If it gets accidentally scraped off before the new skin grows, take care of the exposed wound with antiseptic cream, keeping it clean to avoid infections. Infections can be disastrous so prevent it at all cost.

5. It gets really really itchy if you’re on track. Itch means the wound is healing. Don’t scratch it though!

6. You’ll have a scar at the end of it. I’m still trying to get rid of the one I have from my first burn which was maybe 4 months ago? It’s fading but I’m not sure whether it’s ever going away.

Effective Home Remedy for Repelling Pigeons

Some of you may remember my pigeon in the balcony problem.

Countless pigeons land on the railing of my balcony daily. More than a couple of times, they have wriggled past the net and have gotten themselves trapped within the balcony.

Two days ago, I tried this home remedy I stumbled upon for ‘repelling’ pigeons. I happened to read this in a comment section, in which the poster mentioned using this to successfully ward off pigeons.

Image from: http://www.listerine.com/

That’s right, she used Listerine, the mouthwash. And I am happy to announce, that in the past two days, a grand total of 2 pigeons have landed on my balcony.

Well, I was supposed to get a spray bottle to spray the Listerine over the railing but I didn’t have one, so I just carefully poured it along the edges of the balcony (trying to avoid excess Listerine flowing down to my neighbour’s balcony). And I guess it worked!

Apparently, pigeons hate the smell of Listerine. I usually avoid home remedies that involve vinegar because of the stench. But Listerine smells sterile, so that was fine by me.

It’s working out really well so far! Hope this helps those of you out there with pigeon problems.