DIY Detergent, Lego Cake, Eagle

Battling a cold and preparing for my oldest son’s sixth birthday, my do-it-yourself projects took a little different form this past weekend.

DIY Laundry Detergent

I have read a few blog posts lately about people making their own laundry soap, and with my detergent running low, I decided to give it a try.  There are lots of laundry soap recipes online, but I used one I found over at Tipnut.  In addition to the Fels-Naptha soap, Borax and washing soda, I also mixed in some Oxyclean powder for extra stain fighting.

Is that a photo of the world’s largest urine sample?  No!  It’s just my homemade detergent.  As you can see, the resulting soap mixture separates quickly and requires stirring or shaking before use.  I washed a few loads of laundry over the weekend and the results seemed as clean and fresh-smelling as when using commercial detergent, at a substantially cheaper cost.

Birthday Block Cake

I’ve blogged in the past about my childhood lifelong love of Legos.  Now my kids are getting started with Legos of their own.  For his sixth birthday, my older boy requested a Lego party, so of course I needed to build him a Lego cake.

The frosting was a bit of a challenge, but, all things considered, I think it turned out pretty well.  More importantly, my son couldn’t wait to blow out his candles.

Backyard Eagle

I continue to deal with persistent pigeons roosting on my roof, but now I have proof that I don’t struggle alone against these pests.  Check out the sweet raptor I managed to catch on film while it paused on the garden fence in my backyard.

I had to snap the picture quickly through the screen window and I unfortunately didn’t get a second shot to fix the focus.  Even blurry, it’s clear that is one wicked bird.  My bird identification skills are lousy– can anyone make out exactly what kind of raptor this is?  I just hope he likes pigeons.

Tags: backyard, birthday, cake, diy, eagle, laundry, lego, soap

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The Mouse and The Dinner Party

Travel two days back in time with me.  I was cleaning in the kitchen and I noticed that a small section of baseboard trim at the edge of the cabinets was loose– just held in place with friction against the underside of the cabinet toe kick.  I removed the baseboard and discovered a piece of tin, which was nailed against the underside of the cabinet between the face frame and the toe kick, was now hanging down.  I tried to put the baseboard back and secure the tin but found that a small pile of mouse droppings had fallen out of the opening created by the loose tin.

I haven’t seen any evidence of mice in the house since I sealed up the areas above the stove and around the dishwasher a few years ago, so I assumed that these droppings were just unfound traces from that earlier rodent episode.

…

Jumping ahead to last night, we were entertaining friends and enjoying dinner around the kitchen table.  Between bites of my overcooked mahi mahi, my friend Maria glances across the kitchen and says, “Looks like we have a visitor.”  We all turn to see a tiny mouse scamper in front of the stove, stop to watch us for a moment, then run under the refrigerator.  

Grossed out and mortified, we spend the next 15 minutes discussing the relative merits of glue and spring traps, rats as pets, and my exploits as an amateur pigeon exterminator.  Do we know how to entertain or what?

Today’s agenda: 

1. Remove that piece of tin under the cabinet and fill the void with steel wool and expanding foam.
2. Set mouse traps.
3. Laugh it off in thank you notes to my dinner guests.

Tags: grrrr, humor, kitchen, Pests

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Locally-Sourced All-Natural Pigeon Control

Some fellow Minneapolitans may have found the answer to my pigeon problems. Best of all, this pigeon control solution is completely green, VOC-free, locally-sourced and all-natural.

It’s a predator!

This video was shot by netclift about a mile from my place:

And Lost Forest After Dark shows what happens when a pigeon meets a hawk.

This isn’t a very selective pigeon-control treatment, so populations of squirrels, rabbits, and smaller birds might also decline after introducing a predator. Nevertheless, if a fake owl can be good pigeon control, a real owl must be fantastic!

Tags: green, Local, Pests

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The Man On The Street

I was playing with my older son on the front sidewalk a couple days ago when a guy walking by stopped to ask me about the neighborhood. It turns out he’s been looking at properties in the area and is thinking of buying a house just up the block from us.

Ms. Bungalow and I made a similar inquiry of some of our future neighbors before we bought Bungalow ‘23, so I thought it was neat to be on the other side of the question. I started off by telling him about the nearby parks, walkable businesses, friendly neighbors, and relatively low airport noise for our part of town.

Then he says, “So that’s your place, right?” pointing at my house.

“Yeah,” I reply.

“It’s nice,” he says, “except for those pigeons crapping all over the roof.”

Me, through gritted teeth back to him: “Yeah, I’m working on that.”

Tags: grrrr, Neighborhood, Pests

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Dam, Pigeons

A biology textbook might tell you that beavers are nature’s dam builders, but the pigeons at my place merit at least a footnote in that chapter.

Behold the Disgusting Roof Dam of Pigeon Filth!

Continue reading »

Tags: Pests, roof

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