Partners in Thyme

We've noticed a few unwanted guests coming in our house lately and one or two spiders is too many for me. Venomous or not, I hate all spiders. Until yesterday I'd seen only the daddy long legs type but a small black and red one was climbing up the wall near Ryot's food bowl and it looked very ferocious. Not a black widow, don't worry. I know how to spot those. I freaked out and smashed it, not feeling one ounce of remorse. Black and red spiders are exceptionally repulsive so I wanted to know what kind it was, just in case it was venomous. Turns out this one was a red spotted ant mimic spider and although it probably would bite, it doesn't kill people. Good to know. I've heard there are a lot of scorpions around the area here in Palm Coast. I just hope I never see one, that'd be worse than a spider. So I did more research to find a way to keep these nasty abominations out in the woods where they belong and further away from my nice, fluffy pillow. Here's a quick and easy recipe that I'm going to try.

Keep Bugs Outside Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 can of chewing tobacco, any flavor
• 1 gallon of boiling water
• A small bottle of lemon dish soap

Directions
Add the chaw to boiling water and set aside until it cools. Strain liquid into a clean container. With the ratio of 1 cup liquid to 1/2 cup soap, use either a hose-end sprayer or a gallon sprayer and spray the perimeter of your house and patio. This is supposed to keep all types of creepy crawlies out of the house.

1/2 cup sounds like too much soap to me, I am going to try using more water and see if it will spray liquid instead of bubbles. I'll post an update after I make it to the store and actually remember to buy chaw.

I also read about Thai Lemongrass which is a natural mosquito repellent, similar to citronella except you don't have to light 5600 candles AFTER you noticed the mosquitoes were biting. This plant keeps them away all the time so you don't even have to worry about itching and scratching. If you want to rub some of the plant juice on exposed skin, that works just as well as bug spray. An added bonus for me was the goofy acronym HOMeR on the Web site I link to above... Halfway down the page you get the global warming mindwarp nonsense, which was also laughable. Can't wait to try some Thai Lemongrass though, I hate skeeters!!!