Natural Ant Control for it's that time of year!

Add borax to sugar.  The oft quoted concentration is 50:50 but if you start with that, the ants will not likely be too fond of it.  Start with a much lower concentration of borax – maybe 10% and very gradually increase it to 30-40%.  The objective is to have the ants take as much borax as possible into the nest and they’ll take it if it is sweet.  Put it where you see the ants or on the ant trails.

Try baby powder or talcum powder on the ants and their ant trail.

Use vinegar to destroy their trails.  You can use it full strength or dilute it with water.

Cinnamon or black pepper – from the spice rack – is increasingly being used in garden insect control trials and products.  You can dust the indoor and outdoor nests.  Sprinkle it around where you see them coming into the house.

Some gardeners have great luck simply spraying the ant areas – their trail, their entry points etc. with insecticidal soap.  Ivory soap works very well too.

Bay leaves have been used for centuries for ant control.  Put a leaf or two behind canisters on the counter, in your silver drawer, food shelves, anywhere ants have congregated.  Whole cloves are supposed to do the same thing.  

Peppermint sprayed around the edges of your house and ant entry points will deter ants as will growing peppermint and other mints in your foundation planting.  Spraying a mint extract or heavy mint tea might help; as long as it leaves a minty smell behind it is strong enough

Diatomaceous earth will cut up ants as quickly as it cuts up other small insects.  You can scatter this around and it is not dangerous to humans or pets unless breathed in quantity.
 

Red chili pepper paste or hot curry paste:  Spray it or mix it into a paste and put it on their trails.

So there’s the word on natural ant control.  Good luck and happy gardening!

My Life

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights include:

1. The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the College receives a request for access.

A student should submit to the registrar, dean, head of the academic department, or other appropriate official, a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The College official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the College official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

2. The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA.

A student who wishes to ask the College to amend a record should write the College official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed.

If the College decides not to amend the record as requested, the College will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student's right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

3. The right to provide written consent before the College discloses personally identifiable information from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. Disclosures which do not require student consent include, but may not be limited to the following:

a. To school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law en¬forcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using College employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance com¬mittee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.

A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an educa¬tion record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the College.

b. Directory Information, including name, age, dates, and status of enrollment and residence, class, year, major, degrees awarded, awards and honors, campus address and telephone number, home address and telephone number, date and place of birth, relationship to an alumnus or alumna of the College, most recent school previously attended, extracurricular activities, weight and height of members of athletic teams, and other similar information, may be disclosed without restriction unless the student objects in writing to the Office of the Dean of the College. A request not to such as the release directory information remains in effect until the student releases it.

c. To federal and state government agencies specifically entitled to it by law, such as the Comptroller General of the United States, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, and State educational authorities.

d. To the parent(s) of a student, unless the student has filed with the Dean of the College Office a statement certifying that he or she is not financially dependent as defined by the federal income tax laws. All students will be asked whether they are declared as a dependent on a parent or guardian’s tax return at the beginning of the school year. For students who are dependents, education record information may be disclosed to parents or guardians. Students who indicate that they are not dependents, or who do not wish to have student record information disclosed to parents or guardians, will be asked to provide documentation confirming their status. The College may also disclose to a parent; directory information; information in a health and safety emergency and information for violations of law, rule or policy related to the use or possession of alcohol or controlled substances where a student is found responsible for such violation and is under the age of 21.

e. In response to a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena. In such cases the College will attempt to notify the student involved unless prohibited by the terms of the subpoena or court order.

f. To determine the student’s eligibility for financial aid or to enforce the terms or conditions of financial aid that a student has received.

g. To an organization conducting studies for or on behalf of the school, if the organization certifies that (i) the studies will be conducted in a way which will protect the personally identifiable information of the students and (ii) the organization’s record of such information will be destroyed when the study is completed.

h. To appropriate parties, in a health or safety emergency in which the health or safety of a student or other individuals is seriously threatened. Prior to disclosure, the College shall make a finding of an articulable and significant threat based upon the totality of the circumstances and may release information only to individuals in a position to meet the emergency.

i. To officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or to another institution which is part of a student exchange program. Such information may include disciplinary and health records, and may be updated or corrected by the College.

j. To Federal officials in response to a lawful court order regarding terrorism investigations.

k. The College may disclose information received under a community notification program about a student who is required to register as a sex offender.

l. To State auditors when auditing a Federal or State supported education program.

m. The College may return records to the creator of records and to verify the authenticity of those records.

Copies of student records policy, which details the rights summarized above and any applicable federal laws, are available in the Office of the Dean of the College. If a student has a concern about the College’s compliance with applicable federal laws concerning his/ her education record, he or she should bring this to the attention of the Dean of the College. A student has the right to file a complaint concerning alleged compliance failures by the College with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Office (FERPA), Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20202-5920.

Drama

Teenagers know drama. My son's girlfriend broke up with him by texting him on Wednesday. Not only that, but she also texted me, my other son, my ex husband and countless others. She involved everyone for reasons unknown. My son called her numerous times that night though he was advised by several not to. She ignored his telephone calls and text messages. She then changed her cell telephone number. Her break up through a text was unwarranted and cold. Immature to say the least. I had driven 44 miles to pick her up and drive her back to my home so she could visit with my son, her boyfriend, the previous Saturday and the two were fine. Four days later, she texts him a break up message. Thursday, my son convinces his father to drive the 22 miles to her house. I assume he was hoping for reconciliation but instead the two gave each other back the gifts they had given to one another throughout the year, including a ring. She then told my son to “hit the road”. Any mature person would assume that was the end of the relationship. No. She texted my other son to check on her ex ultimately giving my other son her new telephone number. Friday night, she called me in tears because my son would not answer or return her calls and text messages. I gave her some advice while my husband was standing staring at me telling me not to get involved and to hang up the phone. Nice advice but a little too late as I'm already involved whether I want to be or not. Sunday night (Mother's Day), my son asked me if I could drive on Saturday to pick her up because they need to talk. I’m dazed and confused. This is where alcohol fits in nicely in my life. At least, that would be a better reason to be dazed and confused. Oh the drama of it all.

Mother's Day Quotes

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.  ~Tenneva Jordan

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.  ~Author Unknown

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.  ~Chinese Proverb

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  ~Elizabeth Stone

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.  ~William Makepeace Thackeray

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.  ~Jewish Proverb

 

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.  ~Oprah Winfrey 

A mother understands what a child does not say.  ~Author Unknown 

A mother's love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking, it never fails or falters, even though the heart is breaking.

All that I am and hope to be, I owe to my beautiful mother.

Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.
- Lin Yutang

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.
- Honore' de Balzac (1799-1850)

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw.
All I am I owe to my mother.
I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.
- George Washington (1732-1799)

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
- Author Unknown

We only have One Mom, One Mommy, One Mother in this World, One life. Don't wait for the Tomorrow's to tell Mom, you love her.
- Author Unknown

Nobody knows of the work it makes
To keep the home together.
Nobody knows of the steps it takes,
Nobody knows-but Mother.
- Anonymous

Woman knows what man has long forgotten, that the ultimate economic and spiritual unit of any civilization is still the family.
- Clare Boothe Luce

Likely Mother (to son wandering around the room):
"What are you looking for?"
Son: "Nothing."
Mother: "You'll find it in the box where the candy was."

A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.
- Cardinal Mermillod

Children and mothers never truly part -
Bound in the beating of each other's heart.
- Charlotte Gray

You never realize how much your mother loves you till you explore the attic - and find every letter you ever sent her, every finger painting, clay pot, bead necklace, Easter chicken, cardboard Santa Claus, paperlace Mother's Day card and school report since day one.
- Pam Brown

Flowers For Mother
Mother is the heartbeat in the home; and without her, there seems to be no heart throb.
- Leroy Brownlow

I love being a mother...I am more aware. I feel things on a deeper level. I have a kind of understanding about my body, about being a woman.
- Shelley Long

A mother laughs our laughter,
Sheds our tears,
Returns our love,
Fears our fears.
She lives our joys,
Cares our cares,
And all our hopes and dreams she shares.
- Julia Summers

A woman with a child rediscovers the world.
All is changed - politics, loyalties, needs.
For now all is judged by the life of the child ... and of all children.
- Pam Brown

Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate.
- Charlotte Gray

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
- Elizabeth Stone

Everybody knows that a good mother gives her children a feeling of trust and stability. She is their earth. She is the one they can count on for the things that matter most of all. She is their food and their bed and the extra blanket when it grows cold in the night; she is their warmth and their health and their shelter; she is the one they want to be near when they cry. She is the only person in the whole world in a whole lifetime who can be these things to her children. There is no substitute for her. Somehow even her clothes feel different to her children's hands from anybody else's clothes. Only to touch her skirt or her sleeve makes a troubled child feel better.
- Katharine Butler Hathaway

Being a mother is an excitement and enticement and a growth. It is the possibilty that haunts and delights the young girl as she grows to womanhood. It is a part of the fantasy, both her longing for it and her fear of it. The months of pregnancy highlight all the richness of the remembered and internalized experience about mothering. The birth itself brings forth the baby, until now a fantasy, into reality. This real baby is a constant changing, crying, knowing being, and for me the delight of this experience has been one of the most important parts of my life as a women.
- Dr. Beverley Raphael

And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see -- or like a sealed letter they could not plainly read.
- Alice Walker  

Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of life.
- Maureen Hawkins                  

Happy 4th Birthday Bubbles

A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot.

Little girls are the nicest things that happen to people.

A child is God's opinion that life should go on.

I see who I want to be, in my daughter's eyes.

Our daughter is the knot that ties the family together.

She's honey and the bees don't know it!

With moonbeams in hand and stardust in eyes, you're a baby of heaven drifting down from the sky.

A baby girl, one of the most beautiful miracles in life, one of the greatest joys we can ever know, and one of the reasons why there is a little extra sunshine, laughter and happiness in my world today.

You are so precious to me, sweet as can be, baby of mine.

A daughter may outgrow you lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. 

A Daughter: The companion, the friend, and the confidant of her mother, and the object of a pleasure something like the love between the angels to her father.

A wee bit of heaven drifted down from above, a handful of happiness, a heart full of love.


Daughters Dance their Way into Your Heart Whirling on the Tips of Angel Wings; Scattering Kisses & Gold Dust in our Paths 

Giggles,curls,ribbons and bows.  She is so adorable from head to toe!

Daughters are flowers that are forever in bloom.

Daughters are like flowers, they fill the world with beauty.

In your face I see all the beauty of a flower, in your voice I hear all the splendor of the sweetest song. 

Little girls are precious gifts like birds and brooks and streams.  Their hair is tied up with ribbons and bows...their hearts are tied up with dreams. 

Pretty dresses, little Curls! Oh thank heaven for little girls!

I never knew one could eat a cattail but the things you discover while surfing on the internet are astounding. I personally have never eaten a cattail as far as I can recall though I grew up on a small Vermont farm so anything is possible. My grandmother could make a delicious meal out of anything homegrown and wild. Perhaps that is why she lived to be almost 100 years old. There is something to be said about growing your own fruits, vegetables and living on a farm. It's wholesome, good, clean living and not one that is pasteurized and full of preservatives.

Here are two recipes requiring cattails. I have never tried them but may do so in the future. What the hell, right?

Enjoy.

Cattail Casserole

* 2 cups scrapped spikes
* 1 cup bread crumbs
* 1 egg, beaten
* ½ cup milk
* Salt and pepper
* 1 onion diced
* ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese



* Preheat the oven to 350°.
* Blend the scraped off cattail grains with the bread crumbs.
* Beat the egg and stir into the bread crumb mixture.
* Sauté the onions (and other vegetables, such as mushrooms, peppers etc. as you wish).
* Combine the vegetables and the breadcrumb mix, season to taste and pour into a casseroles dish.
* Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve while piping hot.

Cattail Banana Muffins

* 1 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup cattail pollen
* 3 tablespoons buttermilk
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* ¼ teaspoon baking soda
* ½ cup butter, softened
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup honey
* 2 eggs
* 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas
* ½ cup chopped walnuts



* Heat the oven to 350° (175°C). Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
* Combine the dry ingredients: flour, cattail pollen, buttermilk, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl; make a well in the center.
* In separate bowl, cream butter, oil and honey. Add eggs, beating thoroughly. Mix in banana. Pour mixture into well. Mix batter until just moistened; do not over mix. Gently fold in walnuts. If the mixture is too dry, add a little milk.
* Fill prepared muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool on wire rack.