Alternative ways to deal with household insects

Most household insecticides such as ant and fly killers as well as mothballs are poisonous if swallowed or inhaled. Many contain chlorine or hydrocarbons (naphthalene in mothballs is a hydrocarbon). Even when correctly used they can cause irritating rashes, allergies, breathing problems and eye, nose and throat irritations. Here are some alternative ways to deal with household insects.

Ants

Ants do not necessarily spread any diseases but they thrive on any food or food debris making themselves nuisances. To deter them, block up any visible ant holes, and then sprinkle a mixture of equal parts of mint, chili powder, and borax where they are coming into the house.

Cockroaches

In the case of cockroaches, they can spread diseases as their droppings can contaminate food. To deter them, put down a mixture in equal parts of cocoa powder, borax, and flour, or a mixture in equal parts of icing sugar and sodium bicarbonate.

Flies

Flies spread bacteria and can be a health hazard. Make up bunches of bay leaves, mint, and eucalyptus leaves and sew them into cheesecloth bags with some cloves and a few drops of citrus oil. Hang it in windows or doorways to deter flies.

Moths

We all know what destruction moths can cause to any kind of fabric. The irony is that moths are not a health hazards, but mothballs are! Place sachets filled with lavender, camphor, rosemary, peppercorns and cedar chips in storage places of clothes, linen, and blankets.

Weevils

A weevil is an insect that eats grain and are therefore found in places where grain and other starchy foodstuffs are stored. Place a bay leaf in each container of rice, lentils, or any dry goods, including flour.

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Tips for effective stretching

Stretching is the most important factor of exercising. Effective stretching helps prevent muscle pulls and tears.

 

The following are tips for effective stretching:

·         Run or walk on a treadmill, or ride a stationary bike to warm up your muscles before stretching.

·         Then, stretch all the basic muscle groups, including arms, buttocks, abs, neck, shoulders, legs, hips, and back.

·         Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds with a soft amount of tension. Do not bounce in a stretch!

·         When stretching your muscle groups, you should not feel any pain.

·         After you have finished your cardiovascular or strength-building exercise, be sure to stretch out again as part of your cool-down.

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Beautiful love

Love, love changes everything! True words. Here are some famous and not so famous peoples’ views on love.

1. A man reserves his true and deepest love not for the species of woman in whose company he finds himself electrified and enkindled, but for that one in whose company he may feel tenderly drowsy. George Jean Nathan

2. You will find, as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. Henry Drummond

3. True love is not about the hugs and kisses, the 'I love you's' or the 'I miss you's', but about the chills that hit every part of your spine when you think about him. P Lauren

4. Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same. Flavia Weedn

5. What we need to know about loving is no great mystery. We all know what constitutes loving behaviour; we need but act upon it, not continually question it. Over-analysis often confuses the issue and in the end brings us no closer to insight. We sometimes become too busy classifying, separating, and examining, to remember that love is easy. We make it complicated. Leo Buscaglia

Remember, love is beautiful!!

The healing powers of lemon

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Five short recipes for easy salads

A salad can make an ordinary dish into something extraordinary or it can even be meal on its own. Here is my top five easy to make salads – and they are delicious too!

Bacon salad

You will need:

·         250 g (1 cup) cooked bacon

·         2 apples

·         1 carrot

·         1 cucumber

·         1 beetroot

·         A few capers

·         250 g (1 cup) mayonnaise

·         1 small lettuce

·         2 hard-boiled eggs

·         3 tomatoes

·         1 stalk celery

1. Dice the bacon, celery, and apples.

2. Grate carrot and shred the cucumber and beetroot.

3. Mix the bacon, celery, carrot, apples and capers together.

4. Toss in the mayonnaise.

5. Pile up onto a lettuce leave and decorate with the eggs, cucumber and beetroot.

Crab salad

You will need:

·         1 can grab

·         1 small lettuce

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         2 hard-boiled eggs

·         250 g (1 cup) mayonnaise

·         Paprika

1. Flake the grab meat into a bed of crisp lettuce leaves.

2. Add salt and pepper.

3. Sieve yolks of eggs and sprinkle over grab meat.

4. Chop egg whites and sprinkle around the grab meat.

5. Add a spoon of mayonnaise to each portion of grab meat and a dash of paprika.

Tomato anchovy salad

1. Cut the top off large firm tomatoes, turn upside down, and allow to drain, having removed the centre pulp.

2. Chop this pulp and mix with chopped canned anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, and cress.

3. Pile back into the tomato cases and serve on a bed of lettuce.

Winter salad

You will need:

·         1 young cabbage

·         Seasoning

·         1 stalk celery

·         2 sweet apples

·         2 hard-boiled eggs

·         1 beetroot

·         2 carrots

1. Shred the heart of the cabbage.

2. Season well and place into a salad bowl with the diced celery and thinly sliced apple.

3. Decorate with rings of the boiled eggs, diced beetroot, and grated carrots.

Tomato fish salad

1. Cut the tops off large tomatoes and scoop out the centre pulp.

2. Rub the insides of the cases with crushed garlic.

3. Chop the centre pulp and blend with flaked cooked white fish, diced cucumber, chopped watercress, and lemon juice. Season well.

4. Pile back into the tomato cases and garnish with sliced cucumber.

Beautiful body

How to understand women

Women are complex creatures, sometimes frustratingly so. There are times when we make the men in our lives want to throw up their hands in defeat and say, "I'll just never understand what women want!"

Do not give up hope. Sometimes the key to understanding a woman is to read between the lines of what she is saying to discover what she really means.

It is not entirely our fault that we have this round about way of communicating. Men are taught from a young age that asking for what they want is the best way to get it, while girls are encouraged to use our "feminine wiles" to manoeuvre our way into what our heart desires.

It does not help that a straightforward persistent woman is often tagged with unfair labels like "bitch" or "ball breaker". So instead of being direct, we sometimes take the long way to getting to what we really mean.

When your girl complains about her long hard day, there is a good chance it's not just to get it off her chest. She wants you help her relax, but instead of just asking you for a back massage, or to run her a hot bath, she feigns helplessness so you will be able to sweep in as her man and fix everything for her.

It is sometimes hard for a woman to ask for help from her man. We all want to believe we can take care of ourselves, but there are times when we just want to be cuddled a little bit. Therefore, instead of being annoyed by her whining, do the smart thing and ask her what she needs to unwind.

You can tell something is bothering a woman, but when you ask she says nothing is wrong. Do not be fooled, she really does need to talk. She just wants you to press her a little. If you insist on asking what is wrong it convinces her that you really want to hear about her problems and help resolve them.

Try to encourage her to open up without nagging. Instead, let her know that you are concerned and open to listening. She really does want to tell you about the fight she had with her best friend or how much getting passed over for that promotion at work upset her, but unless you show genuine interest, she will probably keep it bottled up.

The only time this translation may not be accurate is when she is upset about something you did. In this case, she may really need some space and time to think before she confronts you with it.

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Are we icebergs?

An iceberg is a good analogy of our character and personality. The tip of the iceberg is what is seen first by other people, our personality. The part that lies underneath the water is our character, which lays unseen and hidden. Our personality is our image, techniques and skills that influence our outward success, but our true success will come from the goodness of our character that lies beneath the surface.

Anorexia nervosa – you must read this!

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Robben Island

I am wrong!

Powerful words but unfortunately no too often uttered by a boss! Here is advice on how to use these words more often:

Admit to your staff when you have made a wrong decision, because chances are they already know. Not being able to say when you are wrong diminishes your effectiveness in the work place. Managers who narrow in on the blame and refuse to admit that they are wrong are viewed by their employees as weak and dishonest. Eventually, employees lose respect for the manager and good workers move on. People openly respect a person when they are big enough to admit that they erred in some way or other.

Robben Island

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The catalytic exhaust

The need for lead-free petrol has revived interest in an invention that was first patented on 17 April 1909 by Michel Frenkel of France; the ‘method of deodorising exhaust fumes’. The catalytic exhaust was developed by General Motors in 1974 and has become compulsory in the United States.

In October 1987, Switzerland also made the catalytic exhaust compulsory in an attempt to combat the harmful effects of pollution, in particular the destruction of her forests, which have been reduced by 40 percent.

At the end of 1988 the American company Ford produced a new platinum-free catalytic exhaust which complied with the required standards but is much less expensive, and which has been fitted on some models of their cars since 1989. The catalytic exhaust converts the polluting exhaust fumes into harmless substances by means of a series of chemical reactions. In the  final stages of these reactions, a precious metal, usually platinum, is used.

The barelegged looked

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Breaking down Hate

Here is a very true life-lesson:

"Take it as a reminder: The enemy is not Arab people or the Muslim religion. The enemy is fanaticism, extremism, intolerance, hate. The madmen who commandeered those planes don´t represent the followers of Islam any more than the madmen who blow up abortion clinics represent the followers of Christ."

Leonard Pitts, Jr., Miami Herald columnist

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Travel SA

Why you need a financial plan

From a financial planning point of view, most people face four or five common risks. They are:

·         Dying too soon and leaving debt or dependents

·         Living too long (insufficient funds on which to retire)

·         Disability (over a short or extended period)

·         Funds for short-term emergencies.

·         Debt!

A financial plan should identify the potential impact of any of these areas (as well as any others) and should be designed to minimise negative impact.

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Beautiful women!