Baking soda, powdered sugar and peppermint!

Okay! I hate cockroaches and mice! I hate them more than snakes and tarantulas--those big, black hairy spiders that can jump a mile at least!! Snakes...well, you don't really see them up close too often and tarantulas don't hurt people much and if you are fast, you can kill them pretty easily. But cockroaches multiply and multiply and get in everywhere. Mice...if I put out poison, I might kill them, but then I run the risk of having them die somewhere and stink up the whole house OR have one of the dogs find them, try to eat them and maybe get poisoned too. Usually, you just manage to see the hind legs and tail as they run and escape. So, yes, I hate cockroaches and mice!

Well, I found some help for getting rid of both cockroaches and mice! I am willing to try just about anything. So, I hear that peppermint chases mice away. Supposedly, they hate peppermint. I put peppermint candy around in the kitchen.......and yes, mice seem to be gone. I haven't seen any in a long time.

Now, I am also told that if you mix equal amounts of baking soda and powdered sugar and put it around the baseboards and other places where cockroaches hide, you can get rid of them. AND LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THAT IDEA! You can try it if you'd like...but the roaches that were in my kitchen have multiplied and now spread to the bathroom. I put the mix in the bathroom and they appeared in my craft room. I do NOT dare try it anywhere else. I guess it does make them leave one area....but they move somewhere else and multiply. I really should have known that because when the neighbors have the exterminators come, they are suddenly roach-free and then all the rest of us are suddenly generously roach-endowed. I guess I will be going back to insect sprays and exterminators. (Sorry, neighbors!)

Yes, I still hate cockroaches and mice.