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Recently,afriendsent me an S.O.S. asking if I knew of any natural way to rid an apartment of fleas — a method that would not be toxic to small chil- dren. Treat- ing the ani- mals would be the first step, but surprisingly they have no animals. I headed right for my collection of pest control recipes and retrieved the perfect solution. I thought you might enjoy knowing that, plus how to take care of all kinds of home and garden pests. All-purpose outdoor insect spray. Mix one chopped garlic clove, one chopped small onion and one tablespoon of cay- enne powder into one quart of water. Allow to steep one hour then add one tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap, such as blue Dawn or liquid Ivory. This all-purpose insect spray remains po- tent for only one week, so use it up. Ants. Repel ants by washing countertops, cab- inets and floors with equal parts water and vine- gar. Drive ants from the kitchen by sprinkling shelves or windowsills with cinnamon, cloves or baking soda. Put these in- gredients into crevices, too, and repeat occasion- ally. Aphids. Mix 1 gallon of water, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, and 2 ta- blespoons of liquid Ivory soap. Spray on plants where aphid damage is ev- ident. Bats. The next time you start to wonder what you can do to rid your prop- erty of bats, remember this: A single bat can catch and kill 900 insects an hour — as many as 3,000 in a night. You might want to change your attitude and see them as friendly helpers. Bugs, spiders, ants. To prevent ants, spiders and bugs from entering your home or other structure, spray the foundation and the grout within a foot of the wall with a mixture of cup ground lemon (you can puree the lemon in a blender or food processor) including the rind plus one gallon of water. Apply with a garden sprinkling can. Not only is the weak solution versatile, it's mild, cheap and environmen- tally sound. Cockroach killer. Mix cup of shortening with 1/8 cup of sugar. In a sep- arate container, mix pound powdered boric acid (available at pharma- cies) and cup flour. Add to the shortening mixture. Stir well with enough wa- ter to make a soft dough. Form into small balls the size of marbles and hide in those out-of-the-way places where roaches love to hide. This recipe works far better than commer- cial products. Just make sure you keep this out of reach from children. Cutworms. If your gar- den is infested with ants or cutworms, sprinkle used coffee grounds on the affected area. Flea treatment for the home. Commercial flea ex- terminators charge any- where from $300 to $1,100 to treat your home with a product called food grade diatomaceous earth. You can do this yourself with a flour-sifter and a 5-pound box of diatomaceous earth for about $20. Sift onto your carpet with the sifter, brush or pound it in with a broom. Leave for 24- 36 hours and vacuum up. This is a non-toxic and en- vironmentally safe treat- ment, but wear a face pro- tector because it is fine as powder. The diatomaceous earth you get from a pool supply is NOT food-grade. It has been chemically al- tered and does not kill fleas. Check with a garden supply store or order on- line. Fly and insect spray. Rubbing alcohol makes a great fly and insect spray. The fine mist evaporates quickly and is not harmful to anyone but the pests. This doesn't necessarily kill them, just anesthetizes the little guys, so once they're asleep, dispose of them quickly. Fruit flies. Set out a small dish of apple cider vinegar (white vinegar will not work; it must be ap- ple cider vinegar) to which you've added a few drops of detergent. Cover with plastic wrap then pull back the wrap in a small area of the rim to give an entrance point. Fruit flies fly in and never fly out. Garbage cans. Sprinkle powdered detergent soap or borax into garbage cans after they've been washed and allowed to dry; it acts as a repellent to flies. Mice. Use peanut but- ter as bait for your mouse- traps. You can reset the traps and catch several mice before you need to add bait. Mosquito repellents. Plant basil and pan- sies around the patio and house to repel mosquitoes. Mint planted around the home repels flies. Keep ba- sil well watered so that it produces a stronger scent. Dried ground basil leaves, left in small bowls or hung in muslin bags, are also ef- fective. Moths. Make sachets of dried lavender or equal portions of rosemary and mint. Place in clos- ets, drawers or closed con- tainers to mothproof gar- ments. Natural repellents. Fill vases and pots with ge- raniums or eucalyptus — bugs stay away from their scents. Silverfish. To get rid of silverfish, put about inch of flour in a small, straight-sided glass. Run a strip of adhesive tape from bottom to top on the out- side. Silverfish will travel up the tape and drop into the glass, but they won't be able to get back out. Place one of these traps in each room where you've seen silverfish. Snails and slugs. To keep snails and slugs out of your garden, sink pie pans in the garden so the rims are flush with the ground. Fill with beer. The slugs and snails will be attracted to the beer, which will be their fi- nal undoing as well as a lovely object lesson for kids who think it's cool to drink beer. Simply empty the pie pans when they get full. Snails. Snails will turn around and go the other way rather than cross a protective border of sand, lime, or ashes. Spiders. To discourage spiders, spray rubbing al- cohol on windowsills. Tacky flyswatter. For fruit flies and other tiny flying insects that a reg- ular fly swatter seems to miss, put a few strips of double-backed tape on your flyswatter. Tape that sucker. Don't squash a bug crawling on your wall, drapes or any- where else it can stain. Just "apply" a strip of tape; the bug adheres to it and can be disposed of. Wasps. In a pinch, use hair spray to kill wasps. As long as you get some of the product on their wings, they'll go down. Wasp repellent. Toilet- bowl deodorizers nailed by the door, placed near wastebaskets or set on a windowsill will keep wasps away. They hate the smell. Whiteflies, spider mites, mealybugs, cinch bugs and aphids. Mix 1 cups liq- uid Ivory soap in a gallon of water and combine well. Fill a sprayer with the soapy solution and mist the leaves of plants and bushes to kill these little pests. MaryHuntisthefounder of www.DebtProofLiving. com, a personal finance member website. You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE DIY pest control for home, garden Mary Hunt Findusonline! DAILYNEWSFILEPHOTO Pictured is the 2014Blessing of the Grapes ceremony at New Clairvaux Vineyard in Vina. VINA To kick off the grape harvest at New Clairvaux Vineyard, the 9th annual Blessing of the Grapes cer- emony will take place at the Abbey of New Clair- vaux at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7. The free event is sched- uled at the Abbey's St. James Vineyard, 26240 7th St. in Vina. The monks sing ancient chants to the vineyard, where Abbot Paul Mark Schwan conducts the cen- turies-old European tradi- tion of blessing the grapes for a successful harvest and winemaking sea- son. The ceremony starts promptly and lasts about 15 minutes. Guest can then take a winery tour, sample com- plimentary wines, and en- joy gourmet cheeses, grape freezes and a bounty of just-picked fresh fruits. This winery, whose pro- duction and acreage has increased fourfold since 2000, continues to win top awards in several lead- ing national and interna- tional wine competitions. Most recently, it garnered gold awards in the Sunset International, San Fran- cisco Chronicle and oldest and most prestigious San Diego International com- petition. It also just won numer- ous top medals and best of class designations in the 2015 California State Fair competition. The winery's tasting room is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tasting room will close at 4 p.m. and reopen at 5:45 p.m. the day of the Blessing of the Grapes. Visit www.new- clairvauxvineyard.com for information. New Clairvaux Vineyard is a partnership between the Monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux and the Sunseri wine family. The monks are the first Trappist-Cistercian Mon- astery in the Americas to grow, make and bottle its own wine. The winery is situated on what was once Leland Stanford's Great Vina Ranch, the largest winery in the world in the 1890s. In 2000, the monks de- cided to return to their his- toric viticulture and wine- making roots, while the Sunseris decided to expand theirs. They each planted a vineyard in Vina, which produced the first New Clairvaux Vineyard wines in 2003. "The winery opera- tion has exceeded any of our wildest expectations," says fifth-generation wine- maker Aimée Sunseri. "The regional and na- tional support and de- mand for our wines has been overwhelm- ing. We're part of a long winemaking legacy that the monks and my family plan to continue for years to come." Vineyard to celebrate blessing of grapes NEW CLAIRVAUX Each year the IRS mails millions of notices and let- ters to taxpayers. If you re- ceive a notice from the IRS, here is what you should do: Don't ignore it. You can respond to most IRS no- tices quickly and easily. It is important that you reply right away. Focus on the issue. IRS notices usually deal with a specific issue about your tax return or tax account. Understanding the reason for your notice is impor- tant before you can com- ply. Follow instructions. Read the notice carefully. It will tell you if you need to take any action to resolve the matter. You should fol- low the instructions. Correction notice. If it says that the IRS cor- rected your tax return, you should review the infor- mation provided and com- pare it to your tax return. If you agree, you don't need to reply un- less a payment is due. If you don't agree, it's im- portant that you respond to the IRS. Write a let- ter that explains why you don't agree. Make sure to include information and any documents you want the IRS to consider. In- clude the bottom tear-off portion of the notice with your letter. Mail your re- ply to the IRS at the ad- dress shown in the lower left part of the notice. Al- low at least 30 days for a response from the IRS. Premium Tax Credit. The IRS may send you a letter asking you to clar- ify or verify your premium tax credit information. The letter may ask for a copy of your Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement. 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