If you are going to erect barriers anyway, you might as well get a few chickens. They are good at keeping the bugs at bay and in my experience, they are a lot less messy than ducks. Chicken poo from healthy chickens dries and hardens into neat little blobs in about a day. You can pick them up intact and throw them at your neighbors poodle. Duck doo is like a large black slimey loogie that stays loogie-like for days, smells remarkable, and seems to spread out towards all the other duck loogies in the vicinity to form a loogie lake. OK, it may not be quite that bad but, deer flies are especially fond of duck doo on those warm summer days and I sure didn't enjoy having ducks. I was forced to find them a new home after a short visit to my yard. I have to admit though, that they all have personalities and it's really hard not to become attached to them as you raise them and watch them mature. And I liked my ducks, but there was just no safe place to walk between the loogie lakes in and around the coop when I went out there. I now have a large pen about 250' from the house, with just chickens. When we want them to do a bug round-up we let them out and lure them down to the fenced garden area. Cheryl

I don't know if scalping is effective against Star of Bethlehem or not (it isn't a weed I have any knowledge of). I would suggest googling on this weed for effective control measures as scalping, depending on your grass type, may do more harm to the turf than the weed. A healthy lawn will be an ally against any weed. Not a cure all, but an aid. I wouldn't do anything to jeapordize or delay it's health and vigor while trying to control a weed as it will usually prove counter productive. I am including a link to a site on control of this weed. The bad news is that it appears chemical controls may be the only viable option other than hand removal which can be a very time consuming effort if the weed is widespread (and it sounds as if it is). Even if you are willing to resort to chemical controls, there aren't many that have tested as providing effective control of this weed. There are a couple listed in the link, but I am not familiar with them, their short and long term toxic effects or any other environmental/safety concerns. The link is for information only, I am not advocating the use of any control measure in the link. If you choose to use them please read the label instructions carefully and head them closely. Consider using a surfactant such as soap to increase the effectiveness and thus (hopefully) reduce the amount you have to use. http://ipm.missouri.edu/ipcm/archives/v14n5/ipmltr1.htm If any organic only adherants have an organic rememdy to suggest, now is the time to do it. I don't know of any organic controls that would work, but I certainly don't know everything, or anywhere close to it.

handyaman, that was helpful. Diana: This is kind of a double edged sword without something in print or writing. Unfortunately once you sign a contract you're bound to the terms. But don't let it go. Particularly if they advertised. They can't legally offer amenities that aren't there. (And don't indicate to anyone you know you're bound to what you signed, otherwise they'll ignore it). You have nothing, no printout, email, nothing in print indicating you'd be given parking? If it's not in your lease, and you have no advertisement or communication or anything in writing mentioning parking available, you're likely on the hook for now. (For future reference, if it's something offered and you need it, ask that it be put in writing if it's not, and have that in hand at least by day of but before signing the lease.) If you move and break your lease, you've probably lost your Deposit. While it's fresh in your mind, write it all down, what was said & by whom, what was in the ad, etc. Use approximate dates and times (such as "evening" if you don't have exact time). Present it to management as if you were keeping notes all along. Check your state landlord tenant laws (e.g. google "Arizona Landlord Tenant Laws"). Or go to your State's web site and look for a consumer affairs or housing division. Those are usually the people you can file a complaint with, short of consulting an attorney. One more thing, do they advertise a lot? Watch CL, see if they do it again with the parking mentioned. I don't know if you can contact CL and ask for a copy or not? That might be something that requires a subpoena.

Thanks to all of you for the tips. I'll try the vinegar tomorrow. Pbrisjar--does it matter if it is white vinegar vs. the brownish cider vinegar? I sprayed the floor and all the walls with a peroxide and baking soda solution yesterday (recommended in a thread that I found on the flooring forum). That seemed to help at first, but I think the smell is coming back. It sounds like I will probably have to buy a lot of primer and seal the odor into the walls and/or the floor. I went to petsmart today and bought a blacklight; hopefully that will help me find the worst areas so that I know where to concentrate my efforts. I have a feeling the walls are worse than the floor; when applying the peroxide solution I noticed some discoloration and residue about 2 feet up from the floor on a few walls, so those may have been major spraying locations. I bought a large bottle of an enzymatic cleaner that sounded like it might help with older stains, but it was $35 and I know it won't be enough for the whole area, so if it's not much different from vinegar I may as well return it for a refund. Yes, I'm sure the prior owners knew about it. I have no idea how they managed to hide it every time that I came to the house (I have a sensitive nose), and it irks me that they did. If I'd known, I could have had a painter seal everything before I moved in, while it was still empty. At the closing, the owner mentioned that the cats had been "stressed" because of the move; I guess she knew that I would soon discover the smell. Thanks again!!