Home Improvement: Just Add Love

I'm sitting in my own living room reading a book with only my aging cat to keep me company. I wake up before daylight now and I can't remember when I started doing that. And when did I start taking afternoon naps? Then I notice that my house is silent. There is only the ticking of an old clock on my wall to break the abyssal nothingness around me.

My daughter was only eleven years old not very long ago. Now she is almost 19 and preparing for her wedding. I was only 19 not too long ago. When did time start to slip by so quickly? 

Before it had seemed an eternity to become old enough to escape my parent's home to live my own life. I left home as quickly as I could and didn't come back until years later. When I had returned, my mother's home was just as I had left it. I didn't notice how silent it was when I stepped through the door. All I remembered was how happy my mother was to see me.

We recently moved my aunt into a nursing home. I took a moment to walk through the closed café downstairs. This had once been where everyone in town came for lunch to socialize and be seen. I grew up there and a large portion of my life's memories were there. Bobby stepped up beside me. He looked around at the tables, chairs and menu placeholders still where they should be. He began to cry. My aunt was his mother. It occurred to me then over three generations of our family had grown up here and now it was to be dark and silent from this day on. It was difficult to fathom the cruelty of passing time.

I had visited my aunt but not as often as I should have. Her home had been silent until the day came she could no longer live on her own. I felt I had missed out on a rare opportunity to learn about their lives and hear their stories. I immediately wanted to return home to my own mother. I left my contact information with Bobby and promised I would visit as often as I could. We weren't really sure how things would be for my aunt once she was in her living facility. Soon after, I did visit my aunt and made the trip to see her at least once a month.

I soon negotiated a price with a neighbor on her rental home beside my mother's house. As I stood outside the old house the irony had not escaped me. I would never have thought I'd only move a few yards from the home I regarded as a prison as a teen. My daughter bounced by me with her box of things. Her auburn hair tied with a pink ribbon swaying as she trotted up the porch steps. In my mind this was only a moment ago. Hadn't she only recently been studying on the floor not far from where I sat now?

I made it a point to learn everything about our family from my elders. I wrote down their amazing stories and who they were affected by the changes that became our American history. This is how I returned to my love of writing and made a budding career of it. It wasn't only me intrigued by the lives of my elders but the country as well. I admit with some guilt now that I have made my family members literary celebrities among our community.

My silence is disturbed as my mother enters my door without knocking. I had lost track of time in my thoughts. The sun had not forgotten. It was now peaking over the high pines and shining into my living room window. My daughter came in behind my mother and gave me a kiss on the head. I apologized for having not made tea or coffee. Bobby, his wife and my aunt entered now. I smiled wide at my aunt, now well into her 80's. "I was just thinking of you, Love."

"You generally think of me when you want something." She chided me. She took a place beside me as three families merged at my home. My daughter's wedding had become a community event. The church on our country road had been reserved for the ceremony. My home had become the new family hub for holidays and reunions. My aunt leaned next to me and whispered, "The children are a tad loud aren't they?"

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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How To Get Rid of Roaches: Tips To Rid Your Home of Pests

I know this is a touchy subject for many but today we are going to tackle it head on. We will first cover some tried and true methods, and then move toward some of the more exotic ways.

Before spending any money on expensive insecticides, calling the exterminator or moving out, determine where the roaches are coming from. Cockroaches typically enter a home from an opening to the outside. If cockroaches are your problem, locate and seal any openings to the outside. Apply a barrier to the bottom of all the exterior doorways and around any windows.

Roaches will enter from the bottom not the top so ensure that basement windows and openings around the exterior piping are adequately sealed. In all cases ensure there is no standing water. This includes leaking pipes, faucets and upon counter tops. Keep all exterior vents closed when not in use.

We typically wait for garbage day to take out our trash. Maintain an area outside the home to store trash and keep trash within the home to a minimum. Ensure no food or food residue is left remaining on counter tops or floors. Only after completing the steps should we use insecticides.

A tried and true home remedy consists of a mixture of boric acid sugar and white flour. Mix equal parts and grind them into a fine powder. Although boric acid is not particularly toxic pets will eat this sweet mixture so it should not be applied to open areas where pets can easily get to it. Apply the powder along the inside edges of cabinets and drawers. Re-apply the powder every two weeks.

We typically apply foggers to the middle of a room. But this greatly reduces the concentration. Instead, when using foggers, place them in the basements, within interior vents and cabinets preferably lower to the ground.  This will greatly increase the concentration delivered to where the roaches live within the walls.

When using insecticide sprays, note that due to health guidelines the active ingredient of insecticides has been greatly reduced from that of years past. The strongest insecticides on the market typically are the wasp and hornet sprays. Spray the entire contents of the hornet spray into a plastic spray bottle and lightly dilute it with a water and boric acid solution.

Plastic spray bottles having a cord spray nozzle can be found cheaply at any hardware store. Or you can simply use an empty cleanser or window cleaner bottle. Apply the solution to all inside corners of cabinets, drawers, basements and behind the stove and refrigerator.

Note that while greatly less toxic than a professional insecticide, this is a more toxic solution than typical roach sprays and should never be sprayed in areas where children or pets can get into it.

This is a safe and very cost effective, efficient way to rid your home of roaches and keep them out.

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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Making My Old House a Home

We stood in the front yard looking at the face of our new house. It was new to us but certainly not new in any other sense of the word. Only the 3.5 acres included with the house made it worth the price. And the owner is a family friend so it was only a matter of payments on a handshake. But it was close to family and in the same school district. I honestly could not have hoped for a more perfect location. My daughter made it a point to stand in one of the many barren patches in the pitiful lawn. She kicked at the dust with her pretty pink tennis shoes. She peered across the road to see my mother waving at us from her front porch and stated dryly, "I'm staying with Gramz."

I mentioned how nice it would be if my daughter's room remained its original lime green after we repainted everything else. She quickly reconsidered her decision to desert me and became 100% supportive of our remodeling project. The foundation was in good shape and the house had a new roof. Everything in between would be up to us. We rolled up our sleeves and ventured inside.

Once everything was cleared out and sent to salvage a solid hardwood floor was revealed. I envisioned how it would look after sanding and a coat of varnish. I saw the whole house through the pristine lens of southern living. I saw photographers coming take pictures of my home for magazines. I was overreaching somewhat but I saw potential in the old structure. My mother stepped in with a pitcher of iced tea. Her words of encouragement were just what I needed for inspiration. "You've certainly got your hands full. Claire, do you want to stay with me until your dad gets this place livable? "

The ladies began scrubbing the walls while I removed all the floor vents to prepare for sanding the hardwood. Every window and doorway was opened and the house filled with sunlight and fresh autumn air. Chawnee pranced about happily. She had been a contemporary city cat most of her life and seemed to be adjusting well with the change to country life. I heard shrieks of horror and looked up to see my mother and daughter rushing out the front door!

An opossum living under the house had climbed through the open floor vent and chased my family out. I took a broom and met him in the hallway. He was fierce and displayed his wide jaws and jagged teeth. Chawnee crept beside me for back up with her tail properly fuzzed. I poked the beast with the broom and he fell right over. Apparently my assault was too much for his old heart. He opened his eye and saw me staring back at him. He quickly closed his eye again. That trick never gets old.

Once the opossum was safely moved to the tree line of our back yard our project could continue. My father arrived with the grill and I helped him put the steaks and burgers into the fridge. Claire was useless beyond this point. She absolutely adored my father and never left his side. As he picked her up and swung her gleefully around in the air I was reminded of my own childhood. After a brutal day of tending to horses and clear cutting fence line, I was never twirled in the air. My father gave me a stern eye and dryly stated we could go in the yard now for a twirl if I liked. I respectfully declined.

My brothers would be fashionably late as expected. Our first day of work was nearly completed as they drove up with a full cooler of iced adult beverages. Again, shrieks issued from within the house. Had the opossum returned? I entered with my father and brothers to see my newly sanded hardwood floor. Claire had left her paint pan on the floor. We now a trail of white paw prints from her room to the kitchen. Chawnee's paws had dried but the evidence remained.

You contractors and home improvement gurus would certainly scoff but we decided as a family to leave the paw prints as they were. Chawnee was a member of our family and she made her mark to make the house her home as well. Her paw prints were varnished over a now serves as a fun conversation piece for visiting guests.

The weeks went by and our family continued to toil over the old house. The days were quickly getting colder but we completed the major work on time. Claire had an enlarged window with a recessed sill that she could sit in while she read. From her perch at the window, the sun washed over her in the mornings. And she could peer into the clear starry sky at night. The sunrise through the large living room window filled the whole house with a warm glow each morning. It opened on hinges and could be a serving counter for guest relaxing on the front porch. There was a porch swing on the front and a tire swing in the back hanging from an old shade tree.

We hung all our family portraits on the wall in the den beginning with my great grandfather and ending with a smirking school picture of Claire. Nothing we could have purchased at the hardware store could have achieved this feat of home improvement. Every inch of our new home displayed the fine craftsmanship that could have only been created by a loving family.

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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Fireproof Your Family

We had just moved into our current house in our new neighborhood and getting to know our neighbors. We had settled in and gotten all our belongings moved in and placed. Our new house was beginning to feel like home. Then we had the fire.

It started in the basement when an old wire had shorted out behind our water heater. The previous owners had left stacks of old newspapers, boxes of rags and assorted other trash down there and it caught flame. Before we even smelled smoke, the entire basement was inflamed and threatening the rest of the house. We had just bedded down for the night when our newly installed fire alarm sounded. Was a bit of luck that saved our house but it could have easily been much worse. One cool head in the family was able to put out the large fire but the rest of us were shocked into confusion and disarray.

We had a large fish tank that we had decided would look perfect in the center of the den rather than near a window. We pulled the water hose in through a window and filled the tank with water. By the time we had finished the project it was late and we simply closed the window on the hose before bed. The hose was what saved us. When we were alerted of the fire in the basement we simply turned on the hose outside and sprayed the fire until it was extinguished. We were lucky to have survived and save our home. Although we could have placed a smoke sensor in the basement, our alarms did warn us with plenty of time to act. What we were most aware of was that we had no plan in the event of fire.

The Route

At the time, we were a family of five. My mom, dad and us three brothers. After the near tragedy, we developed our fire plan. We designated a meeting place outside where we would go if we had to escape the house quickly. Along our route from our bedrooms, we would gather up someone on our way making as much noise as possible and yelling, "Fire!, Fire!, Fire!" The new rule was that anything left in the hallway along our fire route would be confiscated to the garage for a month. The fire route was to remain clear at all times. We moved small tables and stands to the rooms.

The Windows

Same as the route, the windows had to be left unobstructed. No dressers or cabinets or tables could block access to them. We ensured they were easily opened with a simple flick of the lock and wide enough for us to crawl through should we become cut off from our route.

Drills and Maintenance

We were young so these were always fun. We never knew when our parents were going to call an unexpected drill but we grew to expect one at times we were all together and during the night just before bed on weekends. The more time that went by between drills we began to anticipate them.

Oddly, we didn't realize we were actually remaining vigilant. When we cut the grass or raked leaves we also checked the batteries in flashlights, and tested the fire alarms. A checklist was kept on the refrigerator door we marked off after doing our part to keep the system up and running. After our drills we were each assigned a fire alarm and we would press the test button and call out, "Bedroom checked!, Kitchen checked!, Hallway checked!"

Looking back, that fire brought us closer as a family and provided us with something we used as an activity to do together. But it was not our family's last encounter with fire. My dad's home caught fire with four in his home and we lost him and my elder brother's small son. My elder brother was the one to take action. He alone had used what we were taught and was able to save two in the home. Although it was a tragedy, had he not remembered the plan we could have lost them all.

Sources/Resources

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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