In the Gutter

...over the damned up gutters. Two simple bits of technology can make gutter cleaning easier. We have inexpensive strainer baskets made out of 1/4 inch hardware cloth in each of the downspouts to keep them from clogging up. Some may wish to consider leaf guards which run along the top of the gutter to keep out leaves and other debris. The problem with leaf guards is that in order to clean out your gutters you must tediously remove the guards along t...

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How to Remove Bees from a Wall

...p made with a 50/50 mix of water and white sugar. This keeps the bees busy cleaning themselves so that you can gently brush them into a dust pan and transfer them into their new bee box. Some people use specially adapted vacuums to suck the bees off the comb and out of cavities. You have to be careful if you do this as it’s easy to injure the bees. Once the comb and as many stray worker bees as you can coax out of the wall cavity were in the box,...

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How to Deal With the Dreaded Pantry Moth

...tation as well as reduce the population, but they are not a substitute for cleaning and putting things in jars. Incidentally, what we call “pantry moths” encompass a variety of different insects with colorful names such as the Drugstore Beetle, and the Confused Flour Beetle. All these bug-a-boos just love post-agricultural human habits of storin’ up food. Like cats, roaches and mice they’re with us until we devolve away from our agricultural ways,...

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Making It Available in Overdrive App

...ecommend that you ask your local librarian about your local library’s digital resources. In addition to apps like Overdrive, many libraries have powerful online research tools. Your librarian can also step you through how to download and use apps like Overdrive. As I’ve been blathering about cleaning and de-clutering on the blog lately, I hope it’s obvious to see how getting books at the library can free up shelf space and save money. Downloading...

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Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up

...he illustrations are Japanese-cute line drawings. It doesn’t look like any cleaning or organization book I’ve ever seen, and that is what makes it special. Kondo understands that tidying is a spiritual activity, not an organizational activity. The same week we got this book, we also had a library book out about home organization. Erik had grabbed it off the new book shelf at the library without looking at it until we got home. It shall remain name...

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