GNATS

When I was cleaning my basement I had to find a solution for gnats. Anyone who gardens and brings produce into the house for the winter will understand. A few stragglers come in on the food (onions, potatoes, squash, etc.) and then they multiply. No matter how often you pick out any food that is starting to go bad; you still cannot get rid of them.

Well, I had hundreds of gnats to get rid of before our get together. Not willing to fumigate, I got to thinking about something that works for apple trees to keep the worms out. I put one cup of vinegar in a jar, with a cup of sugar. Worked like a charm. Within a couple of days I had a jar full of drowned gnats. ( I had a picture too- but the computer... Ah well, it was pretty gross anyhow!)

Decluttering the Basement

Part of my to-do list to get ready for Christmas was to declutter the downstair/basement. I've been working at it for 2 days now. These are just a few of my before and after pics. Here is the toy area under the stairs.
Basically it just didn't all fit. So while everyone else was busy. I cleaned up. This area alone required 1 1/2 lawn size garbage bags. The tubs on the top shelf still need going through, but much better.
This is what will eventually be a family room. I didn't have much to work with here, as there is as yet no better place to store the box spring. We are keeping it in case the girls decide to ditch the bunks.
Much better. It really is hard because this is all yet unfinished. The only actual room down here is the girls' bedroom which is on the other side of that wall. Hubby did a beautiful job. We have lots of plans for down here, but we need to wait until we can afford to do the work.
This wall is almost entirely filled with shelves and storage items. Baby clothes, decorations, and school books. For some reason I didn't get all of the shelves in the before pic, but they were just as bad. Lots of garbage bags here.

This area is still not finished. The desk is not being used and needs to find a new home, though I don't think that will happen before Christmas.



I wonder what the trash collecter thought when he stopped. Lots of extra bags, an old car seat, and a rolled up matteress.



There are still a lot of areas down here that need to be decluttered. The good news is I got rid of a lot and didn't just shuffle it to another part of the basement. Maybe I'll update as I go.



Oh, and just for comparison sake, our upstairs is NOTHING like the down stairs. We actually have peaceful looking living areas.