JillFlorio

I live in an RV and some parks have a LOT of flies. I found the Pic Window Fly Trap to be easy to use and fairly effective. As advertised, there are no vapors, is sticky and catches flying insects. 

It’s also advertised as transparent on windows, which isn’t exactly correct; it’s translucent, like a foggy shower stall. This doesn’t detract from the usefulness of the product, however; it eventually fills up with dead fly bodies. 

The pack of four traps is easy to use: you remove the red strip from the back and place it on the window or other clean, hard surface of your choice. Once applied, then you remove the front sticker that contains the gel-like bait. Unless very carefully applied, you do get some on your fingers. Just wash that off. 

The trap takes a while to work. It’s not like the flies will zoom right at it. As I watched the first trap, it took about 45 for the first fly to get stuck on the goo. Slowly, more flies approached and got stuck. Some enterprising flies managed to unstick themselves and fly off, but for the most part, the trap works as I’d hoped. 

It seems to work best if you stick the trap to the top of each window, where flies are apt to congregate. I put three traps on various windows…by the end of several days I had dozens of dead and dying flies on the traps. While not a pretty sight, it does work. 

The package does not list any ingredients but offers assurances it is non-toxic and can be used in food preparation areas. I would have preferred to check the toxicity myself via ingredients listings. What exactly attracts the flies? What if my dog licks the patch? 

For people in a big hurry to trap flies, this isn’t the right product: it seems to take time (hours and days) to really entice its prey. However, I do recommend it as much cleaner and simpler to handle than old fashioned fly paper. It applies easily, cleans up quickly, and has room on each patch for dozens of flies. For people in RVs, for barns, or for those with an annoying fly problem at home/the office, I’d suggest stocking up on a six pack of these packages.  Apply liberally to windows and forget about it!

Amazon sells these, as well as my local RV country store:
Window Fly Trap, 4 pack

This is a pretty unusual resource and a very exciting guide to growing your own potpourri garden.

The book highlights which herbs, bulbs, annuals, perennials, shrubs and - of course - roses, to grow for your potpourri making enjoyment. There are also chapters detailing how to plant, grow, harvest, dry, store and prepare those plants for potpourri use.

Specific kinds of potpourri recipes are provided, along with everything you need for stocking your workshop. Recipes are divided by seasonal mood - Spring mixes are different than Winter mixes. Pictures show how to decorate with the different potpourris as well.

If you’ve ever wanted to set aside some of your garden as a potpourri harvesting smörgåsbord, then this is the right book for getting started.

The Potpourri Gardener

Ooh, I was practically smelling the nutmeg already when I got my hands on this book. I love spiced winter beers and hot buttered rum, pumpkin pies and cinnamon sticks, potpourri and new pine branch wreaths. What these all have in common are their evocative scents, traditionally associated with the Christmas season.

*Raffia Wreath *Buy From Art.com

Adding scents to Christmas crafting seems a natural idea. This book is a marvelous fount of aromatic wisdom for decking the halls or holiday hosting. I appreciated the plethora of gift ideas that will smell good through the gift-wrapped box.

The ideas in The Scented Christmas offer the chance to express deeply buried holiday fantasies: making rosemary Yule logs, decking the halls, dipping bayberry candles and making rich, spicy Christmas pudding.

There are hundreds of crafty ideas - scented place names, cards and garlands. Spice ribbons, scented pine cones and citrus pomanders. Advent potpourri. Scented teddy bears and angel dolls.

Then there are the classier projects - scented finger bowls (use herb infusions or scented oils in warm water, topped with a sprig of herbs in a small pretty bowl at each place setting); Christmas incense (with scents of frankincense, sandalwood, rosemary, clove and lavender); potpourri of the Three Kings (you guessed it - gold, frankincense and myrrh); spiced bath oils, skin-softening body vinegars, spicy colognes and rose petal toilet waters. Scented talcum powder gifts! I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Most of these projects would be super to work on with children. Since the olfactory areas of the brain are intimately tied in with memory, you will be actively tracing your children’s future holiday scent paths home to you.

A Scented Christmas

I got my hands on a copy of a most unusual title while browsing my favorite used bookstore. The title was arresting enough, reading, in large print, BAKING SODA. Hmmm. It was lengthly subtitled, Over 500 fabulous, fun and frugal uses you’ve probably never thought of.

It sounded like a challenge. And if you are anything like me, you’d happily spend hours reading the thing, highlighter in hand to memorize new uses for an old household staple. How could I pass this up?

Vicki Lansky’s one-woman tribute to sodium bicarbonate boggles the mind. In her own mother’s words, “Who would believe she could have come up with all these uses?”

Everyone knows you can cook with baking soda: it makes bread rise. It’s a natural antacid. Dentists say you can brush your teeth with it. And it’s quite common for to see an open box in the fridge for food odor absorption.

But did you know that fridge box is only good for 3 months? After that, its freshening properties are used up. Get another box. What to do with the used-up, old box? Well, Lansky’s got ideas for that, such as sprinkling the powder around the soil of tomato plants to lower their acidity and discourage pests. I haven’t tried this one, yet.

So, okay, I’m game. I tried a few of these ‘uses’ and hard a darned good time doing it. My fiance thinks I’m nuts for getting so excited over baking soda, but likes that the product is undeniably cheap.

Here are the ideas from the book that I tried, and how it all went.

* Laundry Booster – On the book’s recommendation, I added a ½ cup to my washer load, along with my detergent. Not only did my colors and whites come out brighter, but even my workout clothes smelled nice when I took them out. Lanksy notes this boosting effect only works with liquid laundry detergents, however. I suspect the deodorizing effect works with either kind.

* Garbage Disposal Maintenance – When I noticed a stink arising from the disposal afer a weekend away, I immediately poured a ½ cup down the drain, followed by vinegar. It bubbled and frothed and took the nasty scent away. I didn’t even need to run water after it.

* Garbage Can Odors – This one’s easy – sprinkle over wet, nasty garbage to remove the odor. My take is that you need too much soda to really get the odor out. It’s better to just take out the garbage. But I did find that sprinkling a little soda in the garbage can bottom, between changing the bags, was helpful.

* Carpet Cleaner – Sprinkle over the carpet and let sit overnight. Use a cheese shaker or flour sifter to spread it evenly - otherwise it either clumps, or all comes out at once. Vacuum in the morning. This old technique still works great. As the proud owner of two dogs, I can verify how well baking soda works to dissolve canine odor.

* Tarnished Silver – I tried two baking soda techniques for cleaning silver and was pleasantly surprised with both.

In the past, I used harsh-smelling chemical products, the kind that’s impregnated in a wad of wool, to scrub, scrub, scrub my silver. The process was always messy and stinky. On really old, dirty, heirloom silver, it didn’t even work at all, besides stripping away my silver plate to reveal the copper beneath.

Blech. These methods are MUCH better:

1. Baking soda and water, mixed into a paste, cleans the tarnish right away. Spread the goop all over your silver item, let it sit for ten minutes, then rub with your fingers (or an old toothbrush) until dirty baking soda paste falls away. Rinse, buff – and if necessary – repeat. This method cleaning and safely bids the grime begone from my stemware and plates.

2. The other method is great for utensils. Fill a plastic bucket, or your sink with hot water. Add a square of aluminum foil. Sprinkle your silver with baking soda, drop into hot water, and let sit 15 minutes. Take out the silver and buff with a soft cloth. My silver turned clean and shiny with very little effort!

Baking Soda: Over 500 Fabulous, Fun, and Frugal Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of (Lansky, Vicki)

Drinking tea is an age-old way to pamper yourself. Simple Pleasures of Tea is a delightful book about one of life’s most cozy and comforting activities. The book’s introduction sets up the lovely premise of using teas to enjoy a simpler lifestyle.

Many wonderful ideas for infusions, types of honey and recipes for cooking wonderful baked goods that go well with tea follow. I love the quietly festive recipes, like Red Velvet Cake, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Lemon Tea Bread, Buttermilk Biscuits, Rhubard-Strawberry Crisp, Pumpkin Bread and Raisin Scones. Yum - comfort foods for chilly afternoons with tea. There also are recipes for homemade teas, sun teas and steaming tea facials.

The Simple Pleasures of Tea book also FEELS good. The pages have a nice clay coating and really gorgeous pictures. Great quotes from Emily Post, the Wind in the Willows and Thoreau spice up the content. It’s a pretty lovely little kitchen, breakfast nook, or tea shelf book.

Simple Pleasures Of Tea (Simple Pleasures)

When I moved into my new house, the previous tenants left behind several unopened packages of Lysol toilet clings. Since I had not used them previously (the item is over packaged and is not a particularly eco-friendly way to add scent to the bathroom), I was interested in giving my freebies a try.

Once you rip open the the plastic on the (recyclable) cardstock, it’s super intuitive to figure out where to place the scented cling into the toilet. There are also directions on the back of the card to help you determine the most effective placement inside the toilet bowl rim.

I found the scent lasts several weeks. The smell is fresh without being cloying or overwhelming, so that’s a big plus.

My only beef with the product is how much waste is created to add a nice smell. A highly-scented candle does the same thing, lasts longer and looks nice as decor/ambiance in the bathroom. I also use scented oils placed in glass jars with balsam reeds to diffuse scent - those can actually last many months, especially if you turn the reeds every few days - and are refillable.

Since the product is made by Lysol and is marketed as a cleanser/deodorizer, I would imagine that some helpful cleaning power comes from using the cling. Watching the flushing action, I am not convinced extra cleaning *does* occur. But it does *smell* clean!

My recommendation - buy three or four of these to keep in your linen closet: grab and use just before guests come over. The bright fresh scent will convince your guests that you keep things clean and tidy. Just wipe down the toilet and insert the cling!

Lysol Cling Clip-On 2in1 Toilet Bowl Freshener and Cleaner: Spring Waterfall

This tabletop fan is powerful enough to use on the floor. It’s loud without being obnoxiously so (although, to be fair, we *like* white noise). We found it helps make our home office bearable in the summer heat.

There are three settings and we tend to just use the strongest one. We’ve used the fan both on the floor and also in the window to cool things off: I prefer the fan blowing air on me right by the foot of my desk, and my husband prefers to use it in the window to circulate cooler air into the room in general. We found that Putting a shirt on the windowsill, under the fan, keeps the vibration/rattling sound to a minimum.

The fan itself arrives fully assembled and has a nice dynamic look. It’s pretty sturdy for the price. There’s a carry handle behind the back of the fan head and the fan housing is adjustable for upwards and down. The head of the fan can be directed straight forward, slightly upward, halfway upward, mostly upward and directly overhead.

Instructions on the fan box and in the manual offer placement suggestions for circulating either cool or warm air as needed. For example, a drawing of the fan shows that by directing the fan straight up to the ceiling, it helps heated air come back down into the room. One needs to use the slower settings to help with the convection process.

The box shows a picture that the fan can also be attached to the wall to save space - something I would not have thought of!

The manual states that the fan can help save on heating and AC bills when used year-round. I’m not sure how that balances out - does running the fan all day, all year balance out not having to turn up the heat or AC units? This probably depends on the efficiency of one’s home heating and/or cooling units. This fan would probably work very well in conjunction with window AC units, fireplaces and wood burning stoves.

Honeywell HT800 Super Turbo High Performance Fan, Black