Tuesday, May 30, 2006

its not the heat, its the humidity

We have entered the third realm of hell. Our air conditioner is broken, we live in the South and it was over 90 degrees all weekend.

There was no point resting - it was too freaking hot - so I took on a couple of projects - got two rooms done and two more in process.

And to top it all off - the fleas have become resistant to the Frontline I was using on the dogs and cats. So we bug bombed the house on Sunday afternoon - using that time away to sit in a cool theater and watch Benchwarmers ( eh it was okay - luckily it was only a dollar movie).

Apparently the flea mutation knows no bounds - because Yesterday - after the bug bombing - the fleas were hopping all over doing a salsa dance on my floor.

So I did what any farmer would do - I took the vermiculite powder that is used to keep fleas and lice off the goats and chickens - and COATED the floor with it. Those little hoppers slowed down - though I am not sure if it got all of them.

Vermiculite powder uses sharp shells of microscopic animals to cut bugs and kill them.

8 comments:

Madcap said...

Whenever I get too discontented with my climate, I can always comfort myself with the fact that we don't have much in the way of fleas and cockroaches! Good luck with that, and oh Lord, I hope your air-conditioner gets fixed soon!

Anvilcloud said...

It's going up to 90 or just about here today. We just turned he air on. Don't much like to do that before June, but ...

Sarah said...

Do you have wood floors? The fleas love to hide in the cracks... I know from experience... Arrrgggghhh... nasty little buggers..

Dale said...

Gah!! I'm getting itchy all over now!

Loner said...

Dale - ME TOO! Just thinking about them makes me itchy!

Sarah - Of course - I have wood floors in nearly every room. Great.

AC and MuM- right now, Canada sounds pretty dog gone attractive!

Badpatty said...

If it weren't for the fact that Canada has mosquitos that can carry off an infant, I'd be all for the move.

Envoy-ette said...

You are so right about it being HOT there! I thought AZ 110 degrees was hot...but it's a dry heat. Georgia wins for most uncomfortable!!!

taza said...

is vermiculite powder the same thing as diatomaceous earth? sounds like they do the same thing. when i had horses i used to give it to them in their food to help curb intestinal parasites.

when i've had flea-festations before, i always had a small bowl of water with dish soap around. you can pick the fleas off you and flick them into the soapy water, which will kill them.

yeah, it's gross--but gross happens!