My friend John Brown on facebook caused me to remember moving into this ol’ house 30 years ago, and the mess we had to cope with.
About the house itself, original two rooms-built more than 100 years ago. Rooms were added a couple of different times, the last ones in the 1950’s. When we bought it (for $10,000) it was in pretty sad condition. The yard was overgrown with weeds and locust trees, Infested with ticks and fleas, and God only knows what else. To make a long story a little shorter, we did a lot of remodeling, including new electical wiring and plumbing, storm windows, carpets, and central heat and air. More minor things also.
And now for the yucky part. The house was infested with roaches. There were dead ones in all the cabinets, and live ones running rampant. If there is one thing I hate it’s having nast bugs in my kitchen. At that time Paul Harvey was advertising a product called Roach Prufe so I decided to try that, after having an exterminator fail to rid us of the problem. It was a little pricey for the time (1983) but it seemed to work well. Well guess what? The main ingredient was boric acid. Very cheap stuff. Since then I have kept a bottle of it on hand, and periodically spread more in the corners of cabinets, under bathroom sink, behind stove and refrigerator, anyplace they might invade. The good news, it works.
Some internet recipes recommend mixing it with powdered sugar, or flour, or various other ingredients, which is fine, but I just put the boric acid powder where they will crawl through it, and it zaps them! My house has been bug free for years.
Except for spiders and the occasional scorpion, but that’s another story.
Okiewife, offering a buggy solution
okiewife has been married 54 years, has 2 children, 1 step-daughter, 4 grandchildren, and 4 great grand-children. Lives in a small town and most of the time loves it there. 
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