It’s been going on eight years since I adopted my adorable and loving dog Sophie, a blonde medium-size dog. I did not know at that time that most apartments that allow pets have a weight restriction on what dogs they will allow — I confess I’ve fudged the numbers in prior apartment applications just to be able to apply. Nor did I know that I would have to pay a special deposit/monthly fee or hundreds of dollars more per month to find an apartment that takes pets.

I would estimate that having a pet makes at least a $200/month difference in terms of the costs I would otherwise be paying for an apartment if I did not have a pet.

Well, it’s come that time in my life again when I need to move. This time it’s because my parents are planning to move and they need me to take back my upright piano.  (It would not be possible to get the piano into my basement apartment without killing or seriously injuring someone in the process  and/or destroying the piano.)

With the added need to have an apartment on the ground level — to make it easier to move in a piano — I estimate my future rent will be at least another $200 higher.

Oh well, I guess it’s all part of having a pet.

I would not trade Sophie in for any discount I might otherwise recieve.

In addition to being a rather unattractive sight on my skin, it means I spend a lot of money on anti-itch gels and other treatments for those bites.

In past years, I’ve used all kinds of bug killers and non-natural options to try to decrease their population, in addition to reducing/eliminating any puddles or standing water for them to breed in. But it hasn’t worked.

This year I’m trying a whole new technique, if it can be called that.

I’m building up my outdoor population of spiders to reduce the mosquito population. The way I see it, all those insecticides also killed of the natural predators of mosquitoes — spiders.

So this year, I’m not going to put down any pesticides in the stairwell or nearby ground. Moreover, I’m going to do what I can to keep my basement stairwell hospitable to spiders — leave a few leaves lying around, etc.

This tactic also solves another dilemma for me.

In living in a basement, I sometimes find a spider of substantial size in my bathtub in the morning. This usually occurs at least on weekly basis.  I guess they crawl in to get some water from the bottom of the tub and then can’t climb back out.

Instead of killing these spiders, I am now tossing them into my outside stairwell in hopes that they will set up home there. As of now I know of three different spiders that use my stairwell as home and it doesn’t bother me in the least.

I have seen one or two mosquitoes in my stairwell so far this year. The problem is that I can’t recall when in the spring/summer the blood suckers really start breeding. Therefore, I guess I won’t know if my strategy is successful until July or August.

I have one more tactic to try.  I will buy plants that attract birds and put out a squirrel-proof bird feeder. I’ve heard that having lots of birds in one’s yard is also a natural defense against mosquitoes and other flying pests.

What tricks have you tried to reduce the bug population?

These two enjoyments over the years have led me to collect dozens of skeins of yarn of various colors, weights and textures. The problem is that for most yarns in my house, I have only one or two of each type.

One contributor to this collection is that for some time I was buying only one or two skeins of any color. That was before I realized that a lot of yarn is needed for most projects of any substance.

Worse,  sometimes I would buy yarn because I liked it but with no idea of when or how it would be used.

The last time I gathered all my yarn in one place the collection took up all of my full-length couch and was piled higher than the arm rests. In other words, I have more yarn than I could crochet in a year if I worked hard at it every day.

For each type of yarn, I usually have enough for small projects such as gloves, hats, scarves, small clutch bags, baby things, and a couple dozen afghan squares (a lot less than what would be needed to comprise a full-size afghan), but not enough for a project of any substance or for anything that requires a thin yarn.

I tend to gather the chunkier/bulkier yarns because, for a long time, I valued speed/quantity of completing projects over quality — at least to some extent. You see, the thinner the yarn, the less space each stitch takes and the more stitches required to take up the diameter or length needed.

Now, as part of home/life project declutter, I am debating what to do with my yarn collection. My sister has offered to take some of it off my hands and there are some yarns I still have plans to use.

I believe the wise thing to do would be to give away my yarns through freecycle or donate it to a thrift store, and that will most likely be my decision.

I think I will better be able to enjoy the yarn I have, find the yarn I need when I have a reduced collection and be happier when my yarn isn’t taking up a fourth of my living room like a giant rainbow hairball.

It may also be wise to have a plan to prevent such a collection from accumulating again.

Once I get rid of the majority of my yarn, I will only buy yarn when I know exactly how much I need and what it will be used for. In addition, I will give away or toss whatever yarn of my new purchases that I do not use to complete the project.

Finally, I will limit my number of ongoing crochet projects to six — I can think of three that are currently unfinished.

Do you have any suggestions, thoughts on what I might do here both to deal with what I have and rules for going forward?