"Owain" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:
Been waiting for years to use that one!

As the bishop said to the actress, pointing to the last contraceptive in
the bathroom cabinet

Owain

They don't always work anyway. Scissors do.

sigh

Mary
mother of five in seven years

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:54:35 GMT, "johnnybegood"
wrote:

Whats the best way to deal with ants in our garden ?.

We've tried the usual powdered products, but they keep coming back.

TIA

woodglass....



I kill large swarms of ants on my patio with a blowtorch. They do seem
to like living in small cracks in concrete, so fill those up.

Mr F.

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 11:23:34 +0100, RedOnRed wrote:

[ants]

You can't stop them. Well not at least permanently. That's why they've
been
on this planet longer then us.

If you can track them back to their nest, circling the exit with flowers
of sulphur (which should be available from a chemist - perhaps a couple of
days)ought to do the trick. Sulphur (which I am now told must be spelt
"sulfur" - stuff 'em)is not terribly toxic to mammals(ever heard of
brimstone and treacle?), but sticks to the ants as they cross it so the
carry it down into their nest where it slowly volatilises and finishes
them off. It is pet-friendly, but needs replacement after rain.

John Schmitt

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"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 11:23:34 +0100, RedOnRed wrote:

[ants]

You can't stop them. Well not at least permanently. That's why they've
been
on this planet longer then us.

If you can track them back to their nest, circling the exit with flowers
of sulphur (which should be available from a chemist - perhaps a couple of
days)ought to do the trick. Sulphur (which I am now told must be spelt
"sulfur" - stuff 'em)

Who told you that?

is not terribly toxic to mammals(ever heard of brimstone and treacle?),
but sticks to the ants as they cross it so the carry it down into their
nest where it slowly volatilises and finishes them off. It is
pet-friendly, but needs replacement after rain.

John Schmitt

You still won't stop them permanently, only the ones which are killed. There
are billions more.

Mary

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On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 10:39:30 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

mother of five in seven years

I take it you didn't have a television back then.

John Schmitt

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On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 12:26:44 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

If you can track them back to their nest, circling the exit with flowers
of sulphur (which should be available from a chemist - perhaps a couple
of
days)ought to do the trick. Sulphur (which I am now told must be spelt
"sulfur" - stuff 'em)

Who told you that?

The bit about "sulfur"? IUPAC.

www.iupac.org/


You still won't stop them permanently, only the ones which are killed.
There
are billions more.

It will eradicate the nest, which I think the OP was after.

John Schmitt

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In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:

"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 11:23:34 +0100, RedOnRed wrote:

[ants]

You can't stop them. Well not at least permanently. That's why they've
been
on this planet longer then us.

If you can track them back to their nest, circling the exit with flowers
of sulphur (which should be available from a chemist - perhaps a couple of
days)ought to do the trick. Sulphur (which I am now told must be spelt
"sulfur" - stuff 'em)

Who told you that?

It's an 'allowed' spelling for UK public examinations (along with aluminum) -
presumably because of the contamination from US sources. AFAIK no-one has yet
made it mandatory. Those spellings will not find their way into my
dictionaries.

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On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 13:21:28 +0100, wrote:

On 5 Sep,
"John Schmitt" wrote:

Sulphur (which I am now told must be spelt "sulfur" - stuff 'em)

Who told you that?

The bit about "sulfur"? IUPAC.

www.iupac.org/

Well the americans would say that, they can't spell english.


Yep. It was the silly old fool called Noah Webster who first changed
proper spelling to American spelling. The trouble is he only did it
with some words. He changed aluminium to aluminum but failed change
sodium to sodum and potassium to potassum. Well perhaps he hadn't
heard of them since they were discovered in the England around the
time he was writing his dictionaries and word travels slowly to
america.

Moral of the story: never trust a dictionary that has webster in the
title.

Anyway IUPAC accepted that changing aluminium to aluminum was stupid,
so aluminium is the official spelling.

Mr F.

"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 10:39:30 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

mother of five in seven years

I take it you didn't have a television back then.

Still don't. Your point?

Mary

John Schmitt

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"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 12:26:44 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

If you can track them back to their nest, circling the exit with flowers
of sulphur (which should be available from a chemist - perhaps a couple
of
days)ought to do the trick. Sulphur (which I am now told must be spelt
"sulfur" - stuff 'em)

Who told you that?

The bit about "sulfur"? IUPAC.

www.iupac.org/

And what authority does that have?


You still won't stop them permanently, only the ones which are killed.
There
are billions more.

It will eradicate the nest, which I think the OP was after.

My point is that by destroying one nest - or a hundred nests - there will
still be ants to bother him. Sometimes we have to learn to live with other
creatures - they had to learn to live with us. Ants, wasps and bees among
very many other cretures were here long before we were and didn't feel the
need to destroy us when we happened.

Mary

John Schmitt

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"Mr Fizzion" wrote in message
...

Yep. It was the silly old fool called Noah Webster who first changed
proper spelling to American spelling. The trouble is he only did it
with some words. He changed aluminium to aluminum but failed change
sodium to sodum and potassium to potassum. Well perhaps he hadn't
heard of them since they were discovered in the England around the
time he was writing his dictionaries and word travels slowly to
america.

WHAT??? Your history is faulty.

Mary

"John Cartmell" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:

sul*ur

It's an 'allowed' spelling for UK public examinations (along with
aluminum) -

Hm. I don't think spelling is considered in UK public examinations any more,
even in English papers :-( Mustn't stifle creativity you know ...

presumably because of the contamination from US sources. AFAIK no-one has
yet
made it mandatory. Those spellings will not find their way into my
dictionaries.

Nor mine. But I didn't realise that Al WAS spelt 'aluminum' - I thought it
was just how it was pronounced there. An American doctor friend and I argued
long and frequently (and happily) about this. She spelt it with the second
'u'.

Mary

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:29:26 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

The bit about "sulfur"? IUPAC.

And what authority does that have?

Ample, as Bentley used to describe the power their engines delivered.

It will eradicate the nest, which I think the OP was after.

My point is that by destroying one nest - or a hundred nests - there will
still be ants to bother him. Sometimes we have to learn to live with
other
creatures - they had to learn to live with us. Ants, wasps and bees among
very many other cretures were here long before we were and didn't feel
the
need to destroy us when we happened.

Should mankind decide on a moratorium on any particular species and pursue
it rigidly, history would indicate who exactly will win. Smallpox is
effectively extinct in the wild and other diseases are being targeted.
While it was not men who directly eliminated the dodo, it was their
unwitting actions. As for the passenger pigeon, you can draw your own
conclusions.I am not suggesting that this should be done without a very
careful investigation of the effects on the biosphere.

John Schmitt

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On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:34:18 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:


Nor mine. But I didn't realise that Al WAS spelt 'aluminum' - I thought
it
was just how it was pronounced there. An American doctor friend and I
argued
long and frequently (and happily) about this. She spelt it with the
second
'u'.

Then again, you did not spend part of your schooling there. Between East
and West coast US Italy, Leeds and London education, I think I could
describe my education as bordering on cosmopolitan. Never mind the
spelling, the dialects English has developed are a minefield. Try looking
up the nearly contradictory meanings "blue" has in Australian English.
Closer to home, "cleave" has an interesting dichotomy.

John Schmitt

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On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:54:35 GMT, "johnnybegood"
wrote:

Whats the best way to deal with ants in our garden ?.

We've tried the usual powdered products, but they keep coming back.

Armillatox does the job.

Make hole in ants nest and insert a plastic funnel. Into this pour a
20:1 solution of armillatox and allow to soak into the nest.

It may well kill any surrounding grass but it'll soon grow back.

It's sold as a garden cleaner due to EU laws on garden chemicals..

sponix

"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:29:26 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

The bit about "sulfur"? IUPAC.

And what authority does that have?

Ample, as Bentley used to describe the power their engines delivered.

Wishy washy.


Should mankind decide on a moratorium on any particular species and pursue
it rigidly, history would indicate who exactly will win.

That hasn't worked with locusts.

Smallpox is effectively extinct in the wild and other diseases are being
targeted.

But not being eradicated. smallpox is the exception which proves the rule.

While it was not men who directly eliminated the dodo, it was their
unwitting actions. As for the passenger pigeon, you can draw your own
conclusions.I am not suggesting that this should be done without a very
careful investigation of the effects on the biosphere.

Oh come on! You can't compare the extinction of birds with the extinction of
hymenoptera.

"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:34:18 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:


Nor mine. But I didn't realise that Al WAS spelt 'aluminum' - I thought
it
was just how it was pronounced there. An American doctor friend and I
argued
long and frequently (and happily) about this. She spelt it with the
second
'u'.

Then again, you did not spend part of your schooling there.

I wish you'd make your points clearer.

Between East and West coast US Italy, Leeds and London education, I think
I could describe my education as bordering on cosmopolitan. Never mind
the spelling, the dialects English has developed are a minefield.

No they're not. But we weren't discussing dialects.

Try looking up the nearly contradictory meanings "blue" has in Australian
English. Closer to home, "cleave" has an interesting dichotomy.

So have many words. Your point is?

"s--p--o--n--i--x" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:54:35 GMT, "johnnybegood"
wrote:

Whats the best way to deal with ants in our garden ?.

We've tried the usual powdered products, but they keep coming back.

Armillatox does the job.

Make hole in ants nest and insert a plastic funnel. Into this pour a
20:1 solution of armillatox and allow to soak into the nest.

It may well kill any surrounding grass but it'll soon grow back.

It's sold as a garden cleaner due to EU laws on garden chemicals..

So it's an illegal use of the product.

Mary

sponix

Or contraception ???



"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 10:39:30 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

mother of five in seven years

I take it you didn't have a television back then.

John Schmitt

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woodglass wrote:
Or contraception ???

:¬)

I found a woman in pregnancy far easier to live with for 9 months than a
woman with PMT 1 week in 4 !

Perhaps Mary is(was? the devil incarnate during the evil week(s) !

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"Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk" wrote in message
.uk...
woodglass wrote:
Or contraception ???

:¬)

I found a woman in pregnancy far easier to live with for 9 months than a
woman with PMT 1 week in 4 !

Perhaps Mary is(was? the devil incarnate during the evil week(s) !

PMT hadn't been invented in my day.

I didn't need hormones to bring out the best in me:-)

Mary

Mary Fisher wrote:

PMT hadn't been invented in my day.

I didn't need hormones to bring out the best in me:-)

I think the word is "beast"

:¬)

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"Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk" wrote in message
.uk...
Mary Fisher wrote:

PMT hadn't been invented in my day.

I didn't need hormones to bring out the best in me:-)

I think the word is "beast"

Bestiality has never appealed to me.

Mary

On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 16:31:44 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

It's sold as a garden cleaner due to EU laws on garden chemicals..

So it's an illegal use of the product.

The EU decreed that any garden chemical introduced before 1993 has to
be re-tested, a process that costs many, many tens of thousands of
pounds per product. As armillatox has always been a niche product the
manufacturers simply couldn't afford to have it re-tested.

Hence, it is sold as a cleaner.

It's perfectly legfal to use as a cleaner. Whether it's illegal to use
as a pesticide or not is open to question.

All I know is it's one of the few things that kills ants nests!

sponix

http://www.armillatox.co.uk/

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 16:29:14 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

The bit about "sulfur"? IUPAC.

And what authority does that have?

Ample, as Bentley used to describe the power their engines delivered.

Wishy washy.

Try googling "sulfur" and "sulphur". the "ph" spelling is dying out.

Should mankind decide on a moratorium on any particular species and
pursue
it rigidly, history would indicate who exactly will win.

That hasn't worked with locusts.

Only because of inertia on the part of the authorities. You need a bit
more weltanschauung.

Smallpox is effectively extinct in the wild and other diseases are
being
targeted.

But not being eradicated. smallpox is the exception which proves the
rule.

Smallpox took 20 years and more to be finished off. With international
travel becoming a norm, the problem is more complex, but not
insurpassable. TB and tetanus already have the health services' knee on
their windpipe, as regards their human effect. Even influenzae are being
tightened up on. With the 'flu jab being widely used, the number of
carriers is reduced, so the impact of an epidemic is greatly blunted by
the lack of potential carriers. Derive and conduct the mathematics
independently and we will see if we have the same answers.

While it was not men who directly eliminated the dodo, it was their
unwitting actions. As for the passenger pigeon, you can draw your own
conclusions.I am not suggesting that this should be done without a very
careful investigation of the effects on the biosphere.

Oh come on! You can't compare the extinction of birds with the
extinction of
hymenoptera.

Or virii?

Apparently unintentional but,

http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/endangered/ext-insects.html

lists 13 hymenoptera species in Hawaii alone, plus a large collection of
their companions.

A carefully engineered parasite should suffice to control, if not
eliminate locusts.

John Schmitt

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"John Schmitt" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 16:29:14 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

The bit about "sulfur"? IUPAC.

And what authority does that have?

Ample, as Bentley used to describe the power their engines delivered.

Wishy washy.

Try googling "sulfur" and "sulphur". the "ph" spelling is dying out.

I leave that sort of intellectual pursuit to those who need a hobby.

And the rest.

In article ,
John Schmitt wrote:
Even influenzae are being tightened up on. With the 'flu jab being widely
used, the number of carriers is reduced, so the impact of an epidemic is
greatly blunted by the lack of potential carriers.

Until we get the next 'big one'. :-(

Asian tsunamis and Katrina are small fry ...

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In article , John49
@mdx.ac.uk says...
TB and tetanus already have the health services' knee on
their windpipe, as regards their human effect

http://society.guardian.co.uk/public...275124,00.html
snip

Or virii?

VIRUSES :-)

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 14:14:39 +0100, Rob Morley wrote:

Or virii?

VIRUSES :-)

Depends how low-brow you want to appear. ;-) You should think about the
criterias involved. :-0

John Schmitt

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In article , John49
@mdx.ac.uk says...
On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 14:14:39 +0100, Rob Morley wrote:

Or virii?

VIRUSES :-)

Depends how low-brow you want to appear. ;-)

virii is pseudo-highbrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus

You should think about the criterias involved. :-0

As criteria is the plural of criterion I wonder why you would want to
further pluralise it.

On Tue, 6 Sep 2005 09:52:01 UTC, "John Schmitt"
wrote:

Or virii?

http://homepages.tesco.net./~J.deBoy...-of-virus.html

Especially the last bit!

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On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 14:58:07 +0100, Rob Morley wrote:

virii is pseudo-highbrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus

It is the correct Latin. Unfortunately, I meet so few native speakers that
I am out of practise.

You should think about the criterias involved. :-0

As criteria is the plural of criterion I wonder why you would want to
further pluralise it.

You may notice that wikipedia has omitted the words "irony" and gullible".

John Schmitt

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"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , John49
@mdx.ac.uk says...
TB and tetanus already have the health services' knee on
their windpipe, as regards their human effect

http://society.guardian.co.uk/public...275124,00.html
snip

Or virii?

VIRUSES :-)

:-)))

In article , John49
@mdx.ac.uk says...
On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 14:58:07 +0100, Rob Morley wrote:

virii is pseudo-highbrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus

It is the correct Latin. Unfortunately, I meet so few native speakers that
I am out of practise.

It is not the correct Latin.

You should think about the criterias involved. :-0

As criteria is the plural of criterion I wonder why you would want to
further pluralise it.

You may notice that wikipedia has omitted the words "irony" and gullible".

I realised that you trying to make a point, but it was not altogether
clear what that point was - "criterions" might have been more aposite,
being an incorrectly anglicised plural form of a word with Greek
origins, but something with a Latin root would really have been more
appropriate, don't you think?

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 16:38:38 +0100, Rob Morley wrote:

I realised that you trying to make a point, but it was not altogether
clear what that point was - "criterions" might have been more aposite,
being an incorrectly anglicised plural form of a word with Greek
origins, but something with a Latin root would really have been more
appropriate, don't you think?

As I am familiar with both dead languages (you should have seen the locals
fall about laughing when I used ancient Greek), and they both form a
sigificant part of what has fallen into the OED, the distinction is
relatively trivial to me. Of course my employers have a number of campi.

John Schmitt

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"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , John49
@mdx.ac.uk says...
On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 14:58:07 +0100, Rob Morley
wrote:

virii is pseudo-highbrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus

It is the correct Latin. Unfortunately, I meet so few native speakers
that
I am out of practise.

It is not the correct Latin.

'practise' isn't even the correct English!

Mary

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:04:26 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

I am out of practise.

It is not the correct Latin.

'practise' isn't even the correct English!

Exactly which variety of English are you referring to? I think you will
find that the original Middle French word-root from which the word came
into English used the "S" spelling. The "C" spelling is a neologism.

John Schmitt

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On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 08:46:33 UTC, "John Schmitt"
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:04:26 +0100, Mary Fisher
wrote:

I am out of practise.

It is not the correct Latin.

'practise' isn't even the correct English!

Exactly which variety of English are you referring to? I think you will
find that the original Middle French word-root from which the word came
into English used the "S" spelling. The "C" spelling is a neologism.

As is so often the case, the American English version is the 'purer' of
the two. Fowler says that 'practise' (as the noun and verb) is American
English, and is the verb (but not the noun) in British English.

Mary failed to specify that she was limiting her comment to British
English.

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"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...


As is so often the case, the American English version is the 'purer' of
the two. Fowler says that 'practise' (as the noun and verb) is American
English, and is the verb (but not the noun) in British English.

All the Americans I know use'practice' for both verb and noun.

Mary failed to specify that she was limiting her comment to British
English.

This is UK.diy

Mary