I seem to have convinced the ants that were invading my house to hang out somewhere else for a while. Soapy water and a powerful vacuum cleaner seems to have done the trick.
When I moved into my house, the blades in the ceiling fan in the kitchen were greasy and grimy beyond cleaning. I cleaned one as best I could and kept it as a reference incase I ever decided to buy new ones. Yesterday, instead of buying them, I cut new ones out of oak ply. A quick test yesterday shows that they are adequately balanced and today I have been putting the finish on them. I used a Van Dyke brown stain and garnett shellac which nicely emphasizes the grain.
Some critter has been eating my lettuce. Yesterday, I sprinkled some powdered white chili pepper over the plants. I'm pretty sure the criter came back because some pots were knocked over where it would have to climb up to get to the lettuce, but the lettuce doesn't seem to have been eaten further. Hopefully the critter doesn't develop a taste for spicy food.
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Never let the weeds get higher than the garden,
Always keep a sapphire in your mind.
(Tom Waits "Get Behind the Mule")