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Post by Bean on Oct 4, 2022 7:19:10 GMT
Just remembered it's October - that's all I've got for now!
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Post by bazookagoof on Oct 4, 2022 13:10:00 GMT
I certainly wouldn't have remembered- I've got enough on my own plate as it is, so thanks, Bean!
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 4, 2022 20:18:48 GMT
I was well aware it was October, but never carried that over to here! Oy!
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Post by bazookagoof on Oct 5, 2022 0:13:43 GMT
The only thing worth reporting today was that I'd had a cricket trapped in my basement for a few weeks now- I finally located him and managed to get him outside where he belonged! This means no more chirping in my basement long after the sun has come up. The guys are probably grateful they can get some sleep without all the racket now.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 5, 2022 20:04:32 GMT
Cricket's probably happy to be back outside, too!
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Post by Bean on Oct 6, 2022 6:40:56 GMT
I wrote a reply to this but must have forgotten to post it - I was only saying that the image of Baz strutting round the basement trying to locate the source of the chirping amused me! And also that I'm glad you found it in time to recue it.
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Post by bazookagoof on Oct 6, 2022 14:27:08 GMT
I wrote a reply to this but must have forgotten to post it - I was only saying that the image of Baz strutting round the basement trying to locate the source of the chirping amused me! And also that I'm glad you found it in time to recue it. I wouldn't say I was strutting! More like sneaking around to locate the sound, then freezing as soon as he heard me coming, like in the old cartoons! That's how it went down several times, until the little guy decided to go for a stroll out in the open! I was astonished, but managed to scoop him up with a plastic tub and safely get him outside before he could jump out! Speaking of little critters, I have half a dozen spiders hanging over my head now that I'm in the basement. I've made a habit of occasionally looking up, or at least out of the corners of my eyes because one of them sometimes lowers himself down and I have to jump out of the way before he lands on me! Then, I have to wait while he gets close to the ground, then scurries back up his thread all the way to the ceiling again. A harder-hearted person would just kill them all and be done with it, but I still stick to my beliefs that spiders are our friends, and they're killing off bad bugs in my home. I'll pay the price of being vigilant if it means the truly dangerous pests get eliminated at no charge. I'd like to think Jo would be proud.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 6, 2022 22:54:23 GMT
Once you mentioned the cartoon approach, I envisioned you sneaking around on your tippy toes, the way cartoon characters do, with the toes doing all the work, lol If you have some peppermint or mint oil, even extract from the kitchen, put some on your desk or where ever you're sitting. The spiders will move away from it, so won't be directly overhead. They can still share the basement with you, but not that specific area
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Post by Bean on Oct 7, 2022 7:23:31 GMT
I was in a contorted yoga move the other day, looking up at the ceiling, when I noticed a large spider lowering itself down from the ceiling. As soon as I got the opportunity, I gently moved the thread over to let him hang off something else in the room - I'd much rather have spiders than flies!
We had a problem with fruit flies a few weeks back, as did lots of people I knew - it was strange (usually they're worst when it's warm, but the temperatures had dropped). I had to temporarily move the little veg waste bin just outside the door, as no matter if we emptied and washed it every day, they were always hanging around it. I found a great natural solution though, given the spiders didn't seem to be in a rush to relocate by them, which was a dish of cider vinegar, with a couple of drops of washing up liquid added (not stirred, just dropped in). They're attracted to the smell of the cider vinegar, but the washing up liquid puts a film on the surface that they can't get back up through, so that's that (very sad for them, but I'm not having flies in a food area!). Problem sorted.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 7, 2022 19:39:02 GMT
I have those traps set up around the house in the winter. Not all of the little flies are fruit flies, but it does seem to attract enough to make a dent in their population.
I also have some plug-in bug lights that have a blue light that attracts the flies to a sticky surface. I have to buy more surfaces, because they've definitely done their job.
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Post by Bean on Oct 12, 2022 6:47:02 GMT
Are they the ones you get in the soil in your plants, the ones you move inside for winter?
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 12, 2022 20:01:18 GMT
The bug zappers? No. I bought THESE: INDOOR BUG ZAPPERSThere's a sticky sheet inside. The light attracts them to the sheet, where they get stuck.
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Post by Bean on Oct 13, 2022 7:03:30 GMT
No, I meant the flies! I thought you'd mentioned thinking they came from the soil.
The bug zappers look good - my image when you fist mentioned them had the dead bug filter on view, that's much better!
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 14, 2022 19:48:47 GMT
Ah, I don't know if they came from the soil or went into the soil. We've seen them swarming outside on hot days, and know they come right through the screen, so I don't know if they ever did come out of the soil. We bought the plants indoors when it got cold enough outside to drive the swarming bugs through the screen, so it seemed to Vic as if we brought in the plants and started getting the bugs. True, but that didn't mean they came from the soil. We tried all sorts of things to kill them in the soil, and nothing worked, which may have been because they weren't in there. They were just around the plants, as that's where their food was.
Either way, if they fly around anywhere in the house, the blue light attracts them, and they get stuck to the sticky paper. It should help this winter.
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Post by bazookagoof on Oct 31, 2022 23:45:56 GMT
Halloween was a bit of a bummer as far as trick or treating goes! Our hours were from 3-7pm, and I walked away from the door for ten minutes to attend to Stilgar around 4:15, and that's when someone showed up. My wife gave them candy, and since then there's been no one at all. I have two bags of candy that I have to eat by myself now. I've seen a few kids down the block, but nobody comes to the door. I enjoy seeing the kids' costumes and I have no idea what's popular this year.
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Post by Bean on Nov 1, 2022 7:35:12 GMT
Sorry you missed your only callers!
It's been so much quieter on the trick or treat front for the last few years here. We saw one group of kids early in the evening, but they were only going to decorated houses (which is brilliant - I wish everyone would follow that rule here), and ours wasn't - we didn't have anything in to give them anyway.
We've watched a couple of spooky films to mark the occasion, so that's been fun. After 20+ years, I rewatched Ringu, pretty much the only horror film that's given me the willies. I coped with it much better this time round!
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Post by bazookagoof on Nov 1, 2022 21:45:44 GMT
We've watched a couple of spooky films to mark the occasion, so that's been fun. After 20+ years, I rewatched Ringu, pretty much the only horror film that's given me the willies. I coped with it much better this time round! If Ringu gets under your skin, try the Korean movie The Eye. It's even creepier! Unless, of course, you'd rather not see anything scarier! I watched it with a buddy who adores horror films and is never frightened of anything happening onscreen. When we watched The Eye, he actually drew his feet up under him and sat way back on the couch- he admitted it was off the charts!
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Post by Bean on Nov 2, 2022 7:22:31 GMT
Ooh thanks for the tip, I haven't seen that one. I quite enjoy being a bit creeped out by films, but there has been a notable lack of people in my life who feel the same way, so I've not ending up watching many over the last couple of decades. But now the kids are older, they seem up for it!
I saw Smile at the weekend. It was more of a jump scare horror film, and while it wasn't a great film by any means, it was certainly entertaining, and they did the jumps well. I'm not usually too susceptible to jump scares, but it got me a couple of times! The cinema was full, and after a good jump, you could hear an interesting mixture of shrieks, deep breathing and laughter!
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 4, 2022 19:03:00 GMT
Is Ringu the same as The Ring? If so, I watched that. It was spooky scary, with a lot of camera techniques to enhance the spookiness of it. Sadly, so many spooky film directors have copied that, since, so it's gotten kind of old school. The Blair Witch Project techniques had the same result, and are really over used.
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Post by bazookagoof on Nov 5, 2022 0:12:10 GMT
Is Ringu the same as The Ring? If so, I watched that. It was spooky scary, with a lot of camera techniques to enhance the spookiness of it. Sadly, so many spooky film directors have copied that, since, so it's gotten kind of old school. The Blair Witch Project techniques had the same result, and are really over used. The Ring is the American remake of the Japanese original. I've seen clips of the remake, and the original is far scarier. The Japanese movie was a bit more inventive with its technique; the ghost at the end was filmed backwards to give its movements a creepier feel, for example.
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