Weeds & Seeds Swap

After many an attempt, the simplest of solutions has worked in getting rid of an unwelcome guest at my hummingbird feeder.  I’m sure you don’t need a picture to guess who these guests were.  I had tried everything to get rid of the ants that were climbing down the wire from which our feeder hangs…off the eave of our house, and onto the feeder.  They then proceed to climb into the holes…and meet their fate in the sweet liquid within.  This of course leads to NO hummingbirds at my feeder.  Very sad.   Then the idea hit me…I slather Skin So Soft on my skin to repel bugs, I wonder if it will repel ants?  So (and I’m not an Avon representative and this is not a sponsored post) I took my large bottle of Skin So Soft outside, and a couple of paper towels, poured the SSS on the paper towels and wiped the eave and any wood around the area that the ants would use to make their way to the feeder….and IT WORKED!  I have not seen an ant since I did this just a few days ago…and they have been a daily annoyance.  I went out and re-applied today.

Just another thought…there was a spill from the feeder once, and zillions of ants gathered around it, so I took Diatomaceous Earth (all natural solution) and sprinkled it all over the area.  This didn’t hinder the ants from coming to eat what they could, which kills the ants.

I hope this helps someone!

(The picture is use under Creative Commons License, downloaded from here on Flickr.)

When we were looking for our first home, no one had home computers or access to the internet. We knew that there was a large, thick book that Real Estate Agents had, that they didn’t particularly want you to get your hands on, because then you could go out looking at homes without them…and they wanted to be with you in order to make their commission. I called it the secret real estate book. We had a friend who was in the real estate business, and thanks to her, we were able to get our hands on one of those books, and drive around ourselves to get an idea of what was out there. I knew we wanted to live in a rural area, because, as you know from this blog, I love all things green…there had to be trees, a place to garden, nature to enjoy.

Now you can find anything you want on the internet, and the Real Estate Market is so challenged that people are trying many things to sell, including rent-to-own options, I don’t know a lot about this, but you can find more about it at this link – Long Beach Owner Financed Homes – and by the way just because it says Long Beach doesn’t mean there aren’t other areas covered, there are thousands upon thousands of users, and an Owner Financing Guide available at the site. I searched my town, and came up with almost 1,500 homes available for under $150,000. and we are in the northeast so that is a LOT of homes for a very good price.

You can also find helpful information at this Government Homes for Sale site.

(This post contains both personal and sponsored information.)

Call me “goofy”, but this weekend for Father’s Day I gave my husband some ornamental grasses to begin something we’ve been talking about for some time.  He’s been looking for a long time at various ornamental grasses growing in yards for the past few years, and have and idea of a few different varieties he might like.  Now my husband doesn’t do much gardening, but was a bit inspired by tending to the forsythia that we have growing between our house and the house next door.

So, I picked up some Red Fountain grass to further inspire him…and jokingly told him that it was my answer to the flowers he gave me for Mother’s Day.  We’ll be picking up some more with coupons that are good starting July 1st, the ones given by our garden shop when we buy in the spring through July 1.  I get the coupons when I shop for my annuals, and use them to add to my Perennials each year…usually, especially this year since our growing season started early, the Perennials are looking pretty sad, but they come up beautifully the next year…as did my Lambs Ear, Sweet Woodruff (herb) and a few others that I added to the collection last year.

Image from flickr.com

Though my thoughts are outside more than inside during days like today when the sun was shining and everything that isn’t blooming yet is just about to, there are those rainy days when I do get to look around inside and see what needs to be improved.

In fact, a rainy day can make a dingy house in need of repair or updating look even worse than usual, and rather than be something that brings me down, should be an inspiration to do something to improve it.  The kitchen is the heart of the home, they say, and in our small cabin, it’s an extension of our living room…you can view the whole kitchen from the living room.  We did redo the kitchen some time ago, with one stainless steel sink…I do miss having a double stainless steel undermount kitchen sink. Stainless steel sinks are so easy to maintain, they clean up like new for years.

So, if you’ve got a rainy day on your hands, take a little look at undermount kitchen sinks, if you’re in need of updating your kitchen.

This post contains both personal and sponsored information.

Without a home, there may be no garden, unless you have a rental in an area that offers a community garden. The housing market continues to be a challenge for some…sellers because they cannot get the money they used to for their homes, and buyers because their jobs may be insecure and there are stricter guidelines for getting mortgages…the risk may seem too great.  Maybe an alternative for both seller and buyer is looking into Lease To Buy homes. Perhaps this alternative provides less risk for both parties…it’s an option worth looking into.

HUD provides helpful information on a variety of topics related to buying a home, including an Overview on Buying a Home and other helpful resources. In times like these, you can use all the help that you can get, and there is a lot out there. I wish you the best whether you are selling or buying a home.