Creepy Crawlies

My constant struggle: Cockroaches and Mildew

I am in a perpetual battle with both.

It's true.  'Roaches will survive any holocaust, apocalypse, Armageddon, nuclear bomb, spray, trap and me. 

I have learned to live with the roaches, but I am not willing to let them run unfettered and will not succumb to their bullying and arrogance.  I am not sure which species we have, American or German and it doesn't matter.  They are all nasty.  Just when I think I have them under control I find them living comfortably in the oven door.  I light the oven, and with a spray can in hand,   attack as they scurry in retreat from the fire and heat.  They also like the toaster.  Same deal.  I put the toaster on empty, they run, I spray, and then toast.   I find them in the freezer of the fridge.  I believe they live in the insulation in the freezer door.  Both my oven and fridge are very old so the seals are corroded and coming away and they can slip in.  I have chased, smacked, poisoned and tried all the various remedies.  Borax is good.   I arduously prevent their proliferation keeping everything as clean and dry and off the floor as I possibly can.  Everything is in sealed containers and stored in the fridge. I do not allow cardboard boxes in the apartment, and I make McDowell shake out his bag when he comes home from the Bar where they abound!  I am somewhat paranoid about them and see them even when they are not there.  Several weeks ago I chased one around the counter only to realize that it was a raisin, not a roach! They are under control, but troublesome.

Mildew is a fact of life in the humid tropics.  The bathroom never really dries out and black mould grows between the tiles in the shower stall. I scrub with Clorox once a week.   Clothes in the closet and drawers get musty.  There is a wonderful product called Damp Rid that keeps this from getting out of hand, but I have never seen it in Dominica.  I usually bring half a dozen boxes when I come.

💪

UPDATE, May 22, 2019

Boiling water will kill them.  I turned out the kitchen, emptied the cupboards and drawers, pulled out the stove and fridge and threw scalding water in the corners.  It kills the eggs.  It was a pleasure to clean up the mess.  It is wonderful to open a drawer and not see scurrying horrors.  However, I am not so naive as to think they will not be back, or that there are not a few who have escaped, or that the neighbours don't harbour them,  but for now it is quiet.

The mildew and mould march on but we have come to a detente.

October , 20.......

Still fighting the good fight.