Today we have been on the go the whole day. CootieGirl and I left the house at 9 a.m. to go buy some Diatomaceous Earth to lay down around the perimeter of the house. DE is a natural organic powder that is used in food to eliminate pests and insects. To us it’s just powder, but to insects the powder acts as a razor blade on their exoskeletons and slices into them, causing them to dehydrate and die. Farmers feed DE to their animals to get rid of worms and other insects that can infect livestock. Petowners are encouraged to rub DE on their dogs’ fur in order to eliminate fleas (I’ve read that it can eliminate a flea and tick infestation within 24 hours). I have a little bit of DE left from my two pound bag which I’ll use on the section of the house that is currently covered by ivy. I am in the process of eliminating the ivy and don’t want to lay down the DE until I can get right up against the foundation.
But I’ll say this – I have yet to see a single millipede in my kitchen since I laid that stuff down this morning. I don’t know if that’s because I haven’t been home and Denis has been cleaning them up, or what. Either way, I FEEL better having put down the DE.
CootieGirl and I also went to Payless Shoes where we got her new pairs of sneakers and slippers and me two new pairs of shoes for work. My brown shoes got destroyed when we moved down here in July, and my black clogs recently split down the middle. So today I got a new pair of brown and a new pair of comfy black shoes so I don’t have to wear heels every day of the week like I did last week.
Then we hit the grocery store for a few items before heading home. I laid down the DE around the house and then vacuumed the whole first floor the house (dead millipedes EVERYwhere). It was very satisfying to know that I could walk around barefoot for at least a few minutes without worrying about those things being on the floor.
But I wasn’t home long after I finished with that – CootieBoy and I then hit the road for Home Depot to buy a propane tank for our grill. We walked all over the store only to find that they were out of tanks (how does that happen?). So I picked up some weed-b-gone and a rootcutter and CootieBoy and I were on our way. We stopped at K-mart to pick up some shoes for CootieBoy (who is down to one pair of shoes – he’s hard on shoes). I found a cute pair of blue sneakers that will be perfect. I then bought him a few long-sleeved shirts, a few sweaters and some long pants. I initially thought we could wait and have clothes be on CootieBoy’s Christmas list, but he needs long stuff now that colder weather has hit (it maxed out at 58 degrees today). So he’s covered now.
Our last stop was the gas station, to pick up 3 gallons of gas in order to fill the lawn mower and get our forest of a lawn cut. Fortunately the mower started right up when I pulled the cord, and within 20 minutes both front and back were cut and we are no longer an eye-sore to our neighbors. I then sprayed the weed-b-gone on the ivy out front while Denis went out to the park with CootieGirl (CootieBoy was down for a nap although he never slept).
I’m now home with the kids and Denis has gone out to run one more errand. And then I think we’re in for the night.
Wow! Busy day. Oh, well, I’m sure I can still come up with stuff for CootieBoy for Christmas, including more clothes if needed.
I think the spraying of the Outdoor Raid around the doors and perimeter had something to do with the lack of millipedes too.
Denis – I agree. Your spray worked in the short term, and my DE will work in the long term against any bugs that don’t come across the Raid Outdoor that you sprayed.
Ew. Ew, ew. You were squishing millipedes with your bare feet, before?! Hooray for them to be GONE!!