With the royal strawberry patch being in full swing for 11 hours a day for 6 days of each of the last 4 weeks, the doors to the palace have been opened a lot more than usual. With the palace located on a farm with a lot of "organic matter" upon which insects thrive, said insects tend to venture into the palace. It did not help that I left the door open while we installed the new royal clothes dryer! So, the common housefly has been a very unwelcome guest in the palace.
With my fly swatter in hand, I declared war on the little buggers. I thought I was fighting a losing battle. I knew that with the in-and-out traffic pattern, I would never win. Then I remembered a simple little trick:
A Bag of Water!!!! Just plain 'ole straight-from-the-tap water. Nothing fancy. I taped a bag to each of our storm doors ... high enough that the prince and princess can't play with it.
I remembered that the ladies at church did this when they were having a "doin's" that involved outside cooking. I thought it was peculiar, so I asked. They said it kept the flies out.
I've heard two schools of thought on how it works: 1) the refracted sunlight confuses the fly's sense of direction, and 2) it weights the door so it closes more quickly. I don't know which, if either, is accurate, but it works for me. For more things that work for folks check out the listings at Works for Me Wednesday.
The grass is green. It is good to be The Cow Queen.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
May 19, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Great tip. I will have to try--I hate flies and they seem to hang out just waiting for my kids to open the door!!!!