Ants Problem : Ants hate cucumbers. Keep the skin of cucumbers near the place or ant hole.
To get pure and clean ice : Boil water first before freezing.
To make the mirror shine : Clean with spirit
To remove chewing gum from clothes : Keep the cloth in the freezer for an hour.
To whiten white clothes : Soak white clothes in hot water with a slice of lemon for 10 minutes
To give a shine to hair : Add one teaspoon of vinegar to hair, then wash hair.
To get maximum juice out of lemons : Soak lemons in hot water for one hour, and then juice them.
To avoid smell of cabbage while cooking : Keep a piece of bread on the cabbage in the vessel while cooking. 
To avoid tears while cutting onions : Chew gum.
To boil potatoes quickly : Skin one potato from one side only before boiling.
To remove ink from clothes : Put toothpaste on the ink spots generously and let it dry completely, then wash.
To skin sweet potatoes quickly : Soak in cold water immediately after boiling.
To get rid of mice or rats : sprinkle black pepper in places where you find mice or rats. They will run away.

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and i found loads of stuff….

you can learn to make a quilt from http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Quilt and also much more about quilting at http://www.quilting101.com/making/

a few pics of the bed and rug that I made…

The embroidery I designed on my rug

The rug

The bedding

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I tried finding something that could help her….

The most popular response was…keeping a doll of an owl on the balcony….The pigeons are frightened by the owl ….

but the owl must be moved around often (once in 2 or 3 days)…..otherwise the pigeons get used to it and get an idea that its a doll.

I guess any kind of doll that is big enough would work…..like a scare crow…scare pigeon:)

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Ganesh chaturthi is coming up an

d so I though I’ll help some interested people with some kolam patterns drawn by my aunt….

all these are pics of the kolams drawn by kadambari perimma…the ratham is drawn by another aunt bhama (lovingly called as baby chitti)

hopefully these are useful to people who want to draw some nice designs for the upcoming festivals

Kolam 1

Kolam 3

Kolam 4

Kolam 7

Kolam 8

Kolam 9

Kolam 10

 

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I have always thought that if I build a house, I would dhave a nice green garden in front….A house witout garden is not really nice…..because I have grown up in a house full of greenery…
But then….if you have a garden in front of your house……you tend to just look at it as a garden…and not really use it much…
The reason for this could be that you have a main road in front of your house and a lot of vehicles…hence dust and pollution…
or it may be lack of privacy due to road facing

Instead…if you could have a garden in your backyard…..???

of course the front side of the house should have plant…this gives a very good green look to the house…
but the more elaborate garden could be in the backyard…

as of today…most of us use the backyard as a storage area…or for drying clothes…or just as a utility space..
why dont we change this idea…
we can have the backyard with a small lawn, tall plants that would give you privacy from the neigbours…
you could have a sheet (as a roof) that gives you a cover from rain and sun …and you could have a nice coffee table under it
you could also have a swing ….

The furnishing a decorating is up to you….depending on how you want it and how much you can spend…

The idea is that…if you have a quiet garden like this…you would be able to sit here and have tea…or enjoy a breakfast…
the greenery that you grow will make you feel good…

of course you can still dry clothes etc…no one stops you from that….

Just a thought….u can try it if interested

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I finally did it….and guess what I used…..thinner

this is something that available in a herdware shop. This gets all greasy stuff out…. it also gets out paint that is stuck the taps or anything else (which  might have happened during paiting of the house)

you just have to take some thinner one a cloth and rub it on the affected portion.

it worked like a charm….

of course…it has an odour that is not too good. so try not to do it for too long.

also try using gloves when working with it as it makes your skin rough.

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I thought  I will put down a post with the knowledge that I have gained so that someone else who reads this would have a better head start….
Caution: This is for a repaint only. I am not aware of specifics of fresh painting

The problem comes when we get labourers to do it. They would quote a lot for the labour charge itself….and then would come the materials.

Try to get all the paints and other materials yourself from a hardware shop. It is very simple….there is no rocket science in it.
The materials could be
POP = plaster of paris. This is filling up cracks, places on the wall where it has chipped off
Waster = nothing but some waste cloth…you dont even need to buy this
brush
roller
turpentine –> for washing the brushes
Primer –> it is white coloured paint that could be required if you plan to change the colour of your wall. Then sometimes, they put a white coating and then put the newer colour. But this is not always the case. If there is a colour lighter than the existing wall colour and if you want the exact shade…then you would get this.
Patti blades –> thin strips of metal used for putting the POP on the wall

then comes the actual paint colour. I know about Asian paints as that is what I have used.
You have 3 varieities…..Tractor, premium and royal….quality differes.
Premium is an average one…costing anywhere between 150 to 200 per litre.
each of these varities differ in price by about 100 RS.(tractor being abt 100<premium which is about 100< royal) per litre.
you get a shade card in the shop. When you choose the shade you want ..they have a ssoftware that gets that exact amount of colour that needs to be mixed with the white so that you get this colour. this setting is done and then the white can is kept in front of the machine. The colouring agent pours through a nozzle into this container of white.
then this colour is put into another machine clled mixer where the paint is mixed well.
All you have to remember is the shade number…so that if you want extra paint you could get the same colour from any other shop also.

The procedure that would be followed is….
First they would rub the wall to make it even. then the POP (locally called patti) will be applied to fill cracks and chippings. Then if required the primer will be applied. After this, will be actual painting.Sometimes 2 coats of paint will be required (if it is too dirty or if it is a new colour). If not, one coat would suffice.
There would be mixing of paint with some water….this is normal procedure.

Extra tips:
Painting the window grills would be with a different paint….that is called enamel paint and you would be able to buy it in smaller quantities compared to the wall paint.
Paint for the outside wall …exterior of the house….is totally different. This paint mentioned all this while cannot be used.

try not to buy too much paint….paints get dried in the containers in 6 months to 1 year time. They become unusable after that.
Keep the container lid tightly closed to avoid earlier dry up of paint.

Hope this was useful. ……Happy painting.

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Someone told me that I could sprinkle some vinegar and then wipe it off with a cloth and this would remove the grease. Got to try it.

My doors are all wooden…and So I am not sure which is the right remedy to use…not sure what suits wood..

However …got to try it and check.

Also heard that kerosene can be used the same way by sprinkling and wiping away….

If someone has done this please let me know if it works

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To remove odor from a flask, put half cup vinegar in it and wash with cold water after half hour.

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