Raccoons are known for being intelligent. They are also known for their destructive behavior. Knowing what to do and what not to do when it comes to raccoon repellents and trapping will give you the upper hand. Read this post for tips on how you can stop raccoons from damaging your property.

Dos and Don’ts of Raccoon Repellents
 
Do use a repellent that repels by taste, scent and touch. Repellents that target three of a raccoon’s highly developed senses are much more effective than those that only target one. Look for repellents that contain products that will irritate the raccoon if it smells, tastes or touches the product. One of the best combinations is oil of black pepper, capsaicin and piperine.

[Read more…]

Every spring I get a flood of emails from people asking when they can start planting their gardens, and my answer is always the same: “As soon as the ground can be worked.” No, seriously, that’s my answer!

The fact of the matter is you can plant some vegetable as early as January, and plenty others in March. Of course what you plant will be determined by what you like to eat, so simply choose from the following list and have at it!

Here are some of the most common vegetables that folks plant in their gardens along with their earliest planting times:

[Read more…]

It is very easy to practice your own pest control in and around your home. It is one of the most important responsibilities that you will have to hone for your own home.  And it will save you tons of money in the long run.  You might be afraid of all the skills you may have to learn and the study that you will need to do, but when you learn the know-how and get the right pest control products and instruments at your disposal then you can take care of nearly any problem.

When you first start investing in the pesticides and instruments needed and other products you will use, you should check your needs and what kinds of pests you have around your home and need to control. It’s best to study your particular insect problem and to check what kinds of products will be best to use against them. The two best methods of treating pests is the use of dusts and liquids. Dusts work very well because they work against their nature because crawling insects will dwell in small and tight spaces. Using dusts and dusters you can treat these tight spots, and with just one ‘puff’ you can control and treat these areas. You cannot and should not treat areas by hand however. You will need to invest into a good duster, one that looks like a bulb with a long needle type of instrument to use. The needle will help reach areas that you cannot reach.

[Read more…]

Choosing paint colors for dark rooms is a real decorating dilemma!  Choose a dark color and you might end up feeling like you live in a dungeon, choose a color that is too light and you will think you live in the land of the bland! 

So your first step will be to determine why your room is so dark and what, if anything, there is you can do to remedy the situation. 

• Does the room have a Northern exposure?  Installing/adding more lighting sources will dramatically improve the room’s ambiance. 

• Are there trees blocking the light?  If so, can they be trimmed or removed? 

• Are your windows covered with layers of drapes?  Decide how your windows will be dressed when the room is complete and make changes to your decorating plans now, to get a realistic picture of the amount of light available in the room.

[Read more…]

It all started innocently enough – according to Wikipedia modern advertising started when the ancient Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages. Later, various advertisements for commercial products and even politicians were used in ancient Arabia. From those simple beginnings we are now headed for this: anything that can be used to deliver a commercial message to any human anywhere will become a panel for advertising.
 
How did I arrive at this conclusion? Seattle based Amazon.com today announced that it will offer a special version of its Kindle reader which will display ”special offers” and be sold at a discount relative to the regular Kindle reader. The product is named ‘Kindle with Special Offers’ and is priced 25 dollars less than an ad-free Kindle. So basically, Amazon is willing to pay you 25 bucks to view ads on your Kindle screen saver and at the bottom of the home screen.
 
To take a step back for a moment, let me tell you a story. A couple of years ago I went to buy gasoline at a local Shell station. You know the drill well if you drive a car: you pull up, scan your credit card, punch in your zip code, and then wait patiently for the gas to spill into the car. Then you drive away. But wait! This particular station had a video screen built into the pump. As soon as I began to pump gas – the video screen sprang to life with an endless loop of Shell advertising. There was no way to turn the video off – or even to mute it. I was literally held captive to that advertising until my tank was full, or I decided that I could no longer take it and just stopped pumping gas to get out of there.

[Read more…]