Okay, this is a little off-topic from food or Amish things, but gotta keep life interesting, so we'll talk bugs.
Long-time readers of this site know that I spent a portion of my childhood living in Saudi Arabia, because my Dad's job in steel sales took us all over there. It was an exotic, unforgettable experience - for the most part. The local food was spiced with aromatic amazing-ness that my palate longs for today (Amish cooking is mouth-watering, but its culinary profile lacks the diversity of spices that come naturally to Middle Eastern cooking). The bartering at the bazaar beat the big box experience here in the States any day. And warm Gulf breezes nurtured a culture cauldron that allowed one to learn about so many different types of religions and cultures. What a wonderful experience for a child!
One of the enduring memories, though, aren't the most pleasant: roaches. Huge cockroaches. Didn't matter how clean or dirty you kept your house, you were going to occasionally get roaches (and lizards also, but those were pretty cool!). The roaches were several inches long and could fly. And they always seemed to pick the most visible, unwelcome spots to settle, as if they were taunting us. We had cockroaches on toothbrushes, in the beds, in shoes. They'd never settle on top of a bookshelf or other out of the way place, it always seemed to be in a visible, vital spot: like my pillow. I would when Mom stumbled upon one of the roaches because I would hear a shriek of terror emanating from wherever in the house she was. Dad, or my older brother, would come and dutifully dispatch the unwelcome guests.
At least in our house roaches weren't a daily occurrence, but their appearance happened enough that one was always had to be on guard. I remember my brother Geoff and I playing one day and Geoff was on his "Sit N Spin" toy (the kind that you spin yourself round and round churning your insides like butter) when he saw what he thought was a brown-colored matchbox car he had been looking for. But then the "car" moved and he quickly recoiled. It was a roach.
Fast-forward to today and our house here in Ohio is getting its share of unwelcome guests: the brown marmorated stink bugs. If they havent' shown up at your house yet, rest assured they likely will. I don't think I had ever seen one until this past winter. They don't really bother me, although it can be unsettling to have these bugs prowling around our house. They seem to especially like our bathroom where this one took up residence on the faucet handle. They seem to our like our bathroom and our living room lamp the best (both sources of heat and light, their favorite vices). A month or so ago we had one get into our television set somehow so occasionally we'd see this silhouette of a stink bug skittering across the screen. I usually just scoop them up on a piece of paper and dump them outside (apparently if you squash them, they emanate a stinky odor) although Rachel suspects I do that and they just come right back in. She's thinking of putting a dot of nailpolish on one to test her theory.
Just curious if anyone else is experiencing these nuisance guests? If so, how do you deal with them?
Becky wellington
Let me know if the bail polish works. We head back to IN tomorrow. Those stink bugs look NASTY! Becky
Kevin
Safe travels, Becky!
Carol Phillips
We have had one kind of these as long as I can remember and my mother remembered them from when she was little (in the 1930's). We used to only rarely see them indoors. Usually it was in the garden and yes! they really do stink if you squish one. Recently, we have been hearing about a new kind of these in our area and been having them in the house all the time. They really look the same to me. We usually just catch them and carefully put them out, too. Maybe they do come right back in. I might try the nail polish myself! HaHa! I bet there is a natural repellant for them though since they are a garden pest, too. As for the roaches, I think the ones we have here are more than big enough and totally gross!! Definitely would not want to have those huge ones and certainly not on my pillow. I'd be washing the pillowcase before sleeping on it again!!
Patty Sines
Gross, gross, gross!! I alternately hate/am terrified of stink bugs. Here in NE Indiana...Shipshewana area...we've had them in the house since last fall. I can scoop them up in a paper towel if they are still, but flying, forget-about-it! Funny you should bring them up today, because last night one dive-bombed me while I was calmly relaxing with my laptop, and in my wild flailings I knocked my glasses off my face and bent an earpiece. So I will be off to the optometrist's office to get them re-adjusted. DH was already in bed so I was on my own. By the time I calmed myself down enough to go searching for it, he was gone. So the creepy thing is lurking somewhere, waiting for me...
Oh, once I capture them in the paper tower, I put them in a zip lock baggy and into the trash. No way is it gonna live to escape and "bug" me another day!
Kevin
Patty, hmmmm, I like the Ziploc idea, I'll have to try that!
sheri culver robinson
I heard that if you smash them ,it attracts more because of the small,we were infested with them last summer and I have had on trapped between the window and screen in the dinning room for a few weeks now,I keep hoping it starves
lincolnlady1121
When I lived in Florida, I had roaches in my house. I even called the bug people and they couldn't get them all out. They told me that is natural in Florida. Bug spray didn't work either. Finally I told my Mother. She said when her and Dad first moved to Florida they had them. Mom mixed up some stuff and brought it over to my house. She sprayed it all over the house. It smelled so bad, I had to open the windows. I never had a roach again as long as I sprayed that a couple times a year. It's been years ago and my Mom passed away. I can't remember what it was.
Marilyn