HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[PanBiker]

Reminds me of an episode in Sally's bedroom when we were courting. Sally lived in a cottage in Carleton and bordering on the countryside they had the odd mouse from time to time. Sally saw one in her bedroom and it scampered under a small bedside rug. Sally got one of her knee length boots which were the fashion of the day and set to bashing the lump under the rug. On inspecting the result, it was a bit like the Tom & Jerry Cartoon when one of them gets run over with a steam roller! Never realised until then how big a tiny little mouse can be when flattened.

[Stanley]

A parrot would make a big pancake.....

[Stanley]

Do not put poison down for mice in a house. Use a cat or mouse traps. There is only one thing worse than a mouse running in the ceiling space and that's a dead one putrefying! Once smelt never forgotten and it lasts for about ten days.....

[LizG]

My in-laws once had a possum fall down in the wall cavity and die. OMG that was revolting for months.

[Stanley]

I'll bet it was! It was a dead mouse in a water tank at Denmark in WA that gave me my worst episode of food poisoning since Berlin and the Botulism. I flew out of Perth to LA carrying it and finished up in an Emergency Room. Luckily I had a gold plated insurance policy! Martha eventually cured me in Northfield by forcing me to take the course of antibiotics I had been resisting and putting me on a diet of chicken soup and toast. When she judged I was ready, she and Roger took me to a swanky restaurant in St Paul and treated me to beer and steak! Best meal of my life!

[Stanley]

One of the things I have learned over the years is the best way to treat violent stomach upsets. Stopping eating won't kill you. Drink plenty of water and avoid all dairy based products. In Oz, travellers to Thailand and similar holiday destinations take the cheapest red cordial you can buy with them. Evidently the red colouring is a very effective killer of food poisoning bugs.... The cheaper the better!

[Cathy]

When my daughter was very young she used lo love red cordial and everyone said it was associated with kids getting ADD, but it never affected her.
Apparently it used to be given to pigs to stop their diarrhea.

[Tizer]

Raspberry seems to be the ingredient to which the anti-bacterial activity is attributed. Here is what the Budgie Breeders Club say about it:
http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/ind ... opic=28416
and here's a scientific paper (PDF file) confirming anti-bacterial effects:
file:///tmp/Raspberry_Res_Vet_Sci.pdf

[Stanley]

Let's hear it for raspberries and cheap red cordial!

[Stanley]

When it's as cold as it is now, not a bad idea to go round checking for draughts!
Just for fun I took the temperature of the cold water from the tap. 43F! This would be great for Maz and Cathy and my kids.....

[Stanley]

-9C at Shap this morning. Check the condensate pipe on your gas CH boiler.....

[Stanley]

One of the reasons why we survived weather like the current cold spell without CH and double glazing was that we wore vests! Remember the Liberty Bodice? And the rubber buttons that withstood repeated washing.....

[Stanley]

One of the best accessories you can have in the home is an old fashioned shaving brush. Just the thing for dusting nooks and crannies in ornate objects. If they are ceramic, brush hot water and detergent on them then rinse in hot water and leave to dry. They will sparkle!

[Stanley]

If an acrylic knit garment has relaxed to the point where it is a sloppy fit, try washing it in a very hot wash.... It can sometimes tighten it up.

[Stanley]

A policeman's helmet on the hat-stand in the hall can be a useful deterrent against burglars.....

[Tizer]

A policeman's helmet on the hat-stand in the hall can be a useful deterrent against burglars.....

Mrs Tiz has bought a very brightly patterned doormat and I think she's hopes that will be a deterrent against burglars. It certainly frightens me!

[Cathy]

For single ladies - put a pair of workmens boots on your front door-step to deter unwanted male visitors. For those going on holidays, leave some washing on your clothesline to deter burglars. Not sure if these work either.

[Stanley]

I like the boots Cathy! I've always said that if I was a woman driver I would cover the rear window with the 3M one way film. It's legal and means that you can't be seen by a following motorist. Unfortunately many men drive more aggressively if following a woman driver.

[Stanley]

If you want to get one up on the neighbours, get hold of some donkey stone and to the doorstep with it!

[Stanley]

For knife edge creases, run a dry bar of soap down the inside of the cloth at the crease before ironing. An old army trick....

[Cathy]

If you don't want to go to 'all that trouble' just dampen a piece of cloth ( a well-used clean tea towel), place onto where you want the crease and iron over. No-one is going to come along and Inspect it, not too closely anyway, hehe.

[Stanley]

It was a competition in the army Cathy. Another way of improving the crease was to shave the nap off the cloth on the inside of the trouser leg.

[Cathy]

And in the Navy too, I seem to remember 7 pleats on the Bell-Bottoms... ?

[Stanley]

When uniforms got worn they lost their nap and some people shaved their uniforms so they would look like old soldiers....

[Stanley]

Wintergreen oil is a forgotten item these days. A very penetrating oil with a clean scent. Used widely in rubbing embrocation and also by engineers as a very effective penetrating oil for loosening joints seized by rust or other impurities. I have some and it's probably illegal these days. The outside of the bottle is always oily....