I love to place lavender sachets among my linen. They leave a lovely fragrance and work just
as well as mothballs when it comes to repelling insects.
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| Lavender ready for picking and drying |
Years ago I used to use mothballs to stop insect damage in
anything that was being packaged up and stored.
Naphthalene flakes were sprinkled beneath bookcases to stop silverfish
infestations in the books.
My mother-in-law swore by the use of DDT for killing all
bugs and used to sprinkle it around the skirting boards of her rooms.
My uncle and his father regularly used horticultural sprays
without any protective clothing.
It is a wonder any of us have survived!
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| Lichen will only grow like this when it lives in a healthy environment |
Schools are open again today after being “mothballed” for a
couple of months. Grand-daughter set off
with some trepidation about what school would be like – some girls (she goes to
a girls’ school) were wearing masks but most were not. The school has asked only that each student
carries their own bottle of hand sanitizer.
She was looking forward to seeing her friends again, in
person instead of via a screen. It will
be interesting to hear what she has to report this evening.
 |
| A typical New Zealand country primary school |
Stay healthy and happy, and have a great day J
Margaret.
I hope that her first day back works well for her - and all the other students too.
ReplyDeleteShe was happy with how it went. They kept themselves in small groups of friends but otherwise it was pretty much school as usual.
DeleteI hope your granddaughter has a good re-entry week. Here there hasn't been anything definite said about classes starting up. We'll have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteI hope your grand daughter enjoys her first day back at school. Love that Lavender.
ReplyDeleteI hope you Grand had a wonderful day at school! That lavender is just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI think all our worries have come to the top as life starts to reopen and we go out in the world.
ReplyDeleteEvery day is a school day as they say. Which is ironic in the current situation. However I was referring to lavender keeping moths away. I didn't know that. I though Mum had it in the cupboards because it smelt nice.
ReplyDeleteOur air here on Lewis is relatively clean and pure too and we have incredible lichens.
My Dad had been an Auxilliary Fireman on the Liverpool Docks during the war and for small fires they used CTC (Carbon tetra chloride) fire extinguishers. How anyone survived them is a miracle. It was, I think still used in dry cleaning until not that long ago. The damage it could, and did, do was astonishing.
I remember my mother having a bottle of CTC on the laundry shelf. She used it instead of sending garments to the drycleaner! It was banned here quite a while ago.
DeleteOne of my grandchildren went back today too. The younger one at primary school won't go back this year and two opted to stay at home and continue lessons online.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple more weeks and it's summer hols here.
All my m in laws clothes used to drink of mothballs but they disappeared completely here, thank goodness.
Lavender is a much nicer smell
It is astonishing how many dangerous chemicals we have used in our homes over the years.
DeleteHello, your header photo has me wishing I could just walk into that scene and photo. Just beautiful. I am happy your granddaughter is able to go back to school, I wish her well. Our schools here closed for the rest of the school year. The lavender is beautiful, I love the scent. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!
ReplyDeleteLOL I could join you on that walk! It looks warm and summery and it is cold and wintry here this morning.
DeleteBack in its day, DDT was used for everything! It is scary to think about. I do hope all goes well with the children going back to school.
ReplyDeleteLove your photo of the lavender...is it one you took? It is so beautiful!
I took all the photos. The lavender was growing almost wild, along a bank below a house we used to rent. It was gorgeous - and I dried a lot of lavender that year!
DeleteI am so happy that your granddaughter is going back to school! At least some people in the world are getting back to normal and that gives me so much hope even if we here in the Philippines is way way far from it yet.
ReplyDeleteI love to think about lavender sachets because lavenders don't really grow here. Though I've seen some in California and thought of picking a flower stalk and squishing them with my fingers and was thrilled to know it smells a bit lemony actually :)
LOL. My parents smoked in the car. In winter, too, windows closed, us kids in the back.
ReplyDeleteGuess schools have opened today, here, too. Do I dare to call? ;-)
Let´s stay safe and sane, I xx
LOL yes, we need to stay sane! I wonder what we are using in and around our homes today that will make future generations shudder :)
DeleteSchools are out here until September at least And we didn’t have any community transmission on this island. Oh well. Hope it goes well in New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteMany children have been eager to be with other children, but, it's a brave new world for them all. Margaret - I would add asbestos behind the stove, the nerve gas purchased from the usa after ww2 for the pukekohe growers to use on our vegetables, the 6 o'clock swill. I could go on.... yes, it does make one wonder about surviving...... Beautiful beach - where is it?
ReplyDeleteIt is Tapotupotu Beach, in Northland. It is beautiful, isn't it?
DeleteI am happy to read that your granddaughter is seeing her friends again. Happy Day! I love lavender too!
ReplyDeleteWe used to spray DDT around the house and yard in the evenings to keep the mosquitoes at bay! And there was asbestos in our ceilings! No wonder I ended up getting cancer!
ReplyDelete