DIY: 21 Uses for All Kinds of Plastic Jugs: Part 1

DIY 4 Minutes

I found this article on Family Handyman that details some helpful and amazing uses for those plastic bottles you might have.

From Family Handyman:

Give those otherwise useless plastic jugs and bottles new life in your home or workshop. And the best part, these super-resourceful ideas don’t cost a thing!

Make a Paint Tray with a Handle

For small paint jobs, I find that a 4-in. paint roller works great with an old gallon-size iced tea jug serving as a disposable roller tray. I just cut out part of the plastic to create a place to dip the roller. It even has a built-in carrying handle. When I’m done, I just throw the empty gallon jug away. — reader Fred Thies.

Simple Skinny Funnel

If you’re in need an easy to make disposable funnel, we have the perfect solution for you.

Simply cut off the handle from a gallon water (or milk) jug, and use this to serve as a disposable funnel. This funnel will help you to drain anything from your left over wood glue to the old oil in your leaf blower. This handle funnel will help you get to hard to reach places and small bottle openings. When using this funnel to drain old oil, it directs the oil to the drain pan without spilling a drop. It’s also smart to use this disposable funnel for messy projects because you can just throw it away once you are done. It’s so simple and effective!

Soda-Bottle Bee Trap

My husband stumbled on this cheap, effective bee and wasp trap. (Never thought I’d be glad he drinks soda all the time.) Cut the upper one-third off the top of a 2-liter plastic soda bottle with a utility knife. Pour a few ounces of soda pop into the bottom, then invert the top of the bottle and nest it inside the bottom part. Bees and wasps are attracted to the sweet smell and find their way through the bottleneck but can’t find their way out. Eventually they get exhausted, fall into the water and drown. — reader J. Chamberlain

Tangle-Free Twine Storage

Can’t find your twine to bundle that pile of recyclables? Try reader Norm Hoch’s slick solution. Cut the bottom 4 in. off a 1/2-gallon plastic milk or orange juice jug and load the container with a fresh spool of twine that unwinds from the middle. Then thread the twine through the jug opening and tape the jug back together. Cut an “X” in the cap with a utility knife to keep the twine from falling back into the jug.

Portable Storage for Free

You can drop a few bills buying storage totes for supplies like nails, screws and plumbing parts. Or you can make your own with laundry detergent jugs and a utility knife. They’re big, tough and mobile—and they’ll make your workshop stink nice.

Touch-Up Bottle

When there’s only a little bit of latex paint left in the can and I want to save it for touch-ups, I put a half-dozen marbles in an empty water bottle and pour in the leftover paint. When I’m ready to do a touch-up, I shake the bottle and the marbles mix the paint. A roll of tape with a rag draped over it helps hold the bottle steady while I pour the paint into it. Just be sure to use a funnel or you’ll have a mess on your hands. — reader Ron Hazelton

Protect Sprouting Plants

If you cut an empty gallon jug (like a classic plastic milk jug) about two-thirds down the bottom, you can create an effective enclosure to protect planted seeds and new shoots from birds and rodents, which is faster and more effective than trying to use sprays and traps. For busy gardens, get a marker and write the name of the plant on the jug so you know what’s growing beneath without needing to check your seed packets: Remember to eventually take the jugs off as shoots develop to avoid mold. 

Oil Bottle Hardware Storage

Here’s a fun little project to keep your screws, nails, nuts and electrical whatsits handy and neatly organized.

Pet Food Scoop

I’ve read many hints that advise the reader to cut off the tops of gallon-size plastic jugs and use them for funnels. I’ve found that if you replace the cap after cutting the top off, you can use the top for a scoop for handling potting soil, fertilizer or pet food. The no-scratch plastic also makes the jug/scoop ideal for bailing water out of your boat. — reader Ray Dean

For this scoop, we used an empty half-gallon milk jug and angled the cut so that the side opposite the handle is slightly longer, more like a scoop than a funnel. However, as Ray notes above, this scoop can also be used as a funnel by simply removing the milk jug cap. It helps to draw the cut line with a marker first, and then clean up any sharp or rough edges with the scissors after the initial cut.

Dish Soap Glue Bottle

Reuse an empty dish soap container as a refillable glue bottle. The small size and screw-on top with attached cap are perfect for squeezing out wood glue. Be sure to rinse the inside of the container thoroughly (including the lid) and let it dry completely before filling it with glue.

Milk Jug Furniture Movers

When you have to move heavy furniture on carpeting, don’t just drag it around. That’s hard on carpet and you might damage the furniture legs. Make the job easier with these homemade moving pads. Cut the bottoms off four plastic water or milk jugs with a utility knife and rest each furniture leg on its own slider. The rounded, slippery bottoms make them perfect for furniture moving. Yes, you can buy fancier versions of these things—for 15 bucks or more! But these work just as well, and best of all, they’re free!

Tomorrow: PART 2

SOURCE: FAMILY HANDYMAN: Jenny Stanley Updated: Dec. 01, 2023

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Published by pat frederick

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110 thoughts on “DIY: 21 Uses for All Kinds of Plastic Jugs: Part 1”

  4. Liked by 1 person

  7. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

    @RepMTG

    Mike Johnson’s Speakership is OVER! He has betrayed Republicans by handing the gavel to Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and the rest of the Democrats. He betrayed us on border security. He betrayed us on funding endless foreign wars. He betrayed us on FISA. He betrayed us on fully funding Biden’s DOJ. And Mike Johnson did it all by working with the Democrats. It’s time for him to resign, so Republicans can elect a Speaker who will work for our party.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. T. Turtle

      April 22, 2024 1:28 am

      Reply to  Feisty Hayseed

      Joshua (Josh) Morott (R) is running against Johnson.

      “As a Congressional candidate, I see the agenda of the U.N. & NATO share no commonality with America; therefore, I am for the USA exiting both! NATO is trying to start a war with Russia”

      From BallotPedia:

      As an everyday American tired of the abuse of power in Washington, I’ve decided to take a stand against the status quo by running to unseat Mike Johnson. The American people have endured far too long the wasteful spending and constant nickel-and-diming by politicians while they sell out to special interests and prioritize pet projects over our needs. It’s time for a change.

      https://ballotpedia.org/Joshua_Morott

      Liked by 1 person

  8. so maggot surrenders AGAIN

    @amuse

    @amuse

    WAR: Niger’s Russian-backed military junta has agreed to release 1,000 US troops it was effectively holding hostage in exchange for Biden’s agreement to turn over our $100M airbase to Niger and Russian forces. The US media will barely mention this humiliation today.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Liked by 1 person

      1. Liked by 1 person

  11. 🇺🇸Travis Media Group🇺🇸

    @TMGPolitics

    Tomorrow morning Donald Trump will begin his trial in Manhattan now that the jury has been selected. His crime was a misdemeanor for allegedly making hush money payments but they tied it to a felony so they could go after him. Here’s a list of things that apparently weren’t considered a crime: – Hillary Clinton’s team using “bleachbit” to destroy 33,000 emails while the FBI was investigating confidential emails on her server. – Obama’s IRS specifically targeting political organizations with “Tea party” or “patriot” in their name. – Biden commenting on having his classified documents, even though he claimed to not remember them. – Hunter Biden working on the board of a Ukrainian gas company and then his father bragging about withholding aid until the prosecutor investigating the company was fired. This is what we mean by two standards of rules. We’re sick and tired the elites not being held accountable while they go after Trump for ridiculous crimes

    Liked by 2 people

  12. T. Turtle
    April 22, 2024 2:05 am

    “Joe And Jill Biden Dodge Medicare And Social Security Taxes — Again”

    The president and his wife have little interest in practicing what they preach when it comes to ‘tax fairness.’

    While Joe Biden did not benefit last year from the “S-corporation loophole” his administration now wants to close, another item on his tax returns — one the press also tends to ignore — stands out. In 2023, the Bidens claimed $64,254 in Social Security benefits — $42,842 for Joe Biden and $21,412 for Jill Biden.

    

    President Trump donated his entire Presidential salary the entire time he was in office.

    https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/18/joe-and-jill-biden-dodge-medicare-and-social-security-taxes-again/

    Liked by 1 person

  20. THIS…

    johnny maga

    @_johnnymaga

    Michael Cohen, the star witness in Trump’s hush money trial is telling jurors there are threats to themselves & their families, facial recognition will reveal their identities & turn their lives upside down He just screwed the prosecution & did Trump a massive favor

    is in response to this (video in tweet)

    @_johnnymaga

    🚨 Michael Cohen is jury tampering on TikTok live Says jurors will excuse themselves due to threats to their safety

    Liked by 1 person

  21. gateway pundit? good source or no?

    insights into what might have the Speaker over a barrel…an adopted black son got arrested AGAIN…and his other son keeps tabs on whether or not the speaker (or the son in a reciprocal agreement) view porn on their phones. this is ripe for screwing with–aka the 3 letter agencies.

    FTA

    Daily Mail reported in 2023:

    Michael Tirrell James said he would ‘probably be in prison’ were it not for Johnson – after he appeared in a Los Angeles court Wednesday on charges of running an illegal cannabis business and possessing brass knuckles.

    Residency records show James lived with the Johnsons at the first home they owned, a three-bed cottage on Chasefield Avenue in Baton Rouge which the politician inherited from his mother in 2000. But after the family moved back to Shreveport, James’s legal troubles began.

    From 2003 through 2010, James was convicted in Volusia County, Florida, of a series of petty crimes including possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, trespassing, retail theft, possession of a concealed weapon, driving without a license, and violating a restraining order preventing him seeing a 16-year-old girl he was ‘dating’ when he was 23.

    In recent years James moved to Los Angeles, where he is raising his own four children. His criminal record continued there too.

    Papers from Los Angeles Superior Court reveal James was charged in June last year with two counts of ‘unlicensed commercial cannabis activity’, and possession of ‘metal knuckles or brass knuckles’.

    He was due to appear before a judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday but in the end his case was dealt with by his court-appointed attorney, who previously pleaded not guilty on his behalf.

    The judge decided to ‘divert’ the charges, allowing them to be dropped after 12 months if James served 20 hours of community service and avoided employment at any cannabis farms.

    Read more here.

    Another controversy emerged involving Johnson’s legal son. Rolling Stone reported on a resurfaced clip from 2022 where Speaker Johnson admitted to monitoring his and his son’s porn usage.

    Rolling Stones reported:

    SPEAKER OF THE House Mike Johnson admitted that he and his son monitored each other’s porn intake in a resurfaced clip from 2022.

    During a conversation on the “War on Technology” at Benton, Louisiana’s Cypress Baptist Church — unearthed by X user Receipt Maven last week — the Louisiana representative talked about how he installed “accountability software” called Covenant Eyes on his devices in order to abstain from internet porn and other unsavory websites.

    “It scans all the activity on your phone, or your devices, your laptop, what have you; we do all of it,” Johnson told the panel about the app.

    “It sends a report to your accountability partner. My accountability partner right now is Jack, my son. He’s 17. So he and I get a report about all the things that are on our phones, all of our devices, once a week. If anything objectionable comes up, your accountability partner gets an immediate notice. I’m proud to tell ya, my son has got a clean slate.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/04/controversies-involving-speaker-mike-johnson-his-sons-resurface/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You certainly can’t trust GP on anything involving Ukraine/Russia, that’s certain from my first-hand experience when I was permanently banned there. Or the use of the death penalty. Which is why I refuse to even like any of their stories that are posted. They lack integrity, IMO. Don’t forget one (or both?) of the brothers worked for a US intel agency. They’re on a level with Posobiec, as far as I’m concerned – listen but don’t take it to heart or necessarily believe it: parse the details carefully by vetting it elsewhere.

      And the Rolling Stones link is defunct but is not trustworthy anyway, IMO. DM is usually pretty well on-target.

      Liked by 1 person

  25. OMG!!! I can’t stop laughing!!! Ok, ok…dark….REALLY dark….humor but…🤷‍♀️

    “I mowed the lawn today, and after doing so I sat down and had a cold beer. The day was really quite beautiful, and the drink facilitated some deep thinking.

    My wife walked by and asked me what I was doing and I said ‘nothing.’ The reason I said that instead of saying ‘just thinking’ is because she would have said ‘about what.’ At that point I would have to explain that men are deep thinkers about various topics which would lead to other questions.

    Finally I thought about an age old question: Is giving birth more painful than getting kicked in the nuts? Women always maintain that giving birth is the most painful experience a human can have; way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the nuts.

    Well, after another beer, and some heavy deductive thinking, I have come up with the answer to that question. Getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than having a baby; and here is the reason for my conclusion. A year or so after giving birth, a woman will often say, “It might be nice to have another child.” On the other hand, you never hear a guy say, “You know, I think I would like another kick in the nuts.” I rest my case.”

    Liked by 1 person

  28. another dei academic who plagiarized their work

    FTA

    Why has the school charted this course? One reason is its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology. UCLA has a DEI program called “Cultural North Star,” and at the medical school, it is led by Natalie J. Perry. Her official biography says her job is to “embed our aspirational Cultural North Stars [sic] value [sic] in our organizational DNA.” UCLA honored Perry last month for teaching students to “do what’s right,” saying her “empathy and radical listening” are to thank for her “success as an educator and a leader.”

    According to a Daily Wire and City Journal investigation, however, Perry’s academic career is based on fraud. Perry has published a single paper, a 2014 Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Virginia about how colleges should create larger DEI programs. An analysis of the paper found it ridden with the worst sort of plagiarism, reproducing large swaths of text directly from several other authors, without citations. The scale of the plagiarism suggests that Perry lacks both ethics and competence and raises questions about academic programs that push DEI.

    Perry’s dissertation lifted passages from ten other papers. In key portions of her text, she copied almost every paragraph from other sources without attribution. She fails even to mention at least four of the ten plagiarized papers anywhere in her dissertation.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/dei-official-at-ucla-school-of-medicine-massively-plagiarized-her-dissertation-on-dei

    Liked by 1 person

    1. FTA

      The court decided the $175 million needs to be in cash — not in mutual funds or securities where the value can fluctuate. The court said Knight Insurance cannot trade or move the money, but said they will retain control of the account. 

      The court also ruled that Knight Insurance must provide a monthly financial statement to James showing the $175 million in cash, and decided that the agreement cannot change without approval from the court. 

      https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-rules-against-nyag-letitia-james-says-trumps-175m-judgment-bond-will-stand

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Big whoop! Yet another so-called “investigation” that will go nowhere, as per usual!!!

    Just The News: “The House Judiciary Committee on Monday launched a formal inquiry into federal agents’ fatal shooting of an Arkansas airport executive during the execution of a gun case search warrant at his home, demanding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) explain why it carried out the search without knocking and without using required body cams.

    The ATF’s fatal shooting last month of Bryan Malinowski, an administrator at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, has reignited concerns about the agency’s enforcement of gun laws and regulations under President Joe Biden as well as prompted a criminal investigation by Arkansas authorities.

    The death and the circumstances of ATF’s pursuit of Malinowski was the focus of a recent Just the News investigation. “The circumstances of Mr. Malinowski’s death raise questions about whether the ATF followed proper protocol during the execution of this search warrant,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wrote ATF Director Steven Dettelbach in a letter demanding answers.

    “Department of Justice policy and President Biden’s Executive Order 14074 requires ATF agents—including those who conducted the search warrant on March 19, 2024—to wear active body-worn cameras during the execution of a search warrant,” the letter noted. “The Department has since confirmed to the Malinowski family that ATF agents were not wearing body cameras during the raid, a violation of the Department policy.

    Jordan also questioned whether ATF agencies “complied with” a Justice Department policy that sharply limited agents’ use of “no knock” entries. “ATF has not explained why it resorted to a no knock entry of Mr. Malinowski’s home when it could have peacefully executed the warrant while he was away from his residence,” Jordan’s letter stated.

    The chairman said he was concerned ATF’s raid was driven by an ideological crackdown by the Biden administration on gun owners who sell weapons occasionally without acquiring a federal firearms license.

    “ATF’s pre-dawn, no-knock raid of the Malinowski home coincided with the agency’s implementation of a regulation to restrict the right to private lawful sales of firearms,” the letter noted. “In particular, ATF seeks to drastically expand the universe of Americans who would be classified as a ‘dealer’ under federal law requiring them to obtain a license to become a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), subjecting them to a term of imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

    “Mr. Malinowski exercised his Second Amendment rights and was a firearms enthusiast. Even if, as ATF has alleged, Mr. Malinowski violated federal law, it does not justify ATF’s actions that ultimately lead to the use of deadly force,’” the letter added.

    Former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins, the lawyer representing Malinowski’s estate, has raised concerns about whether the ATF followed proper procedures executing the search. While there is reportedly no bodycam footage, Cummins released security camera footage showing the conduct of the ATF raid.

    The newly released videos show several ATF agents arriving in the early morning of March 19 in ten separate vehicles. The second video shows agents approaching the front door of the home where one officer applies what appears to be tape to obscure the doorbell camera on Malinowski’s home.

    “The Malinowski family believes the already known facts amply demonstrate ATF’s tactics on March 19 were reckless and incompetent, and completely unnecessary,” Cummins said of the incident.

    The ATF has declined to comment and noted the investigation is still active and ongoing. The Arkansas State Police confirmed to Just the News earlier this month that it is conducting an investigation into whether or not the use of force was proper under state law.”

    Liked by 2 people

      2. I mean the police investigation….all Congress will do is spout off about needing to change the law. Body cams should be REQUIRED, tho, instead of just advised or “recommended!”

        Liked by 1 person

            1. this is from your article above-bold is mine

              “Department of Justice policy and President Biden’s Executive Order 14074 requires ATF agents—including those who conducted the search warrant on March 19, 2024—to wear active body-worn cameras during the execution of a search warrant,” the letter noted. “The Department has since confirmed to the Malinowski family that ATF agents were not wearing body cameras during the raid, a violation of the Department policy.

              Liked by 1 person

  31. engorgio doesn’t understand money market funds…and he’s ruling on businesses?? A JOKE

    Alina Habba in the last hour. This is hilarious. Judge Engoron doesn’t even understand Money Market funds. Agreement reached on Trump $175 million bond.

    video in tweet

    Liked by 1 person

  32. National Pulse: “Prince Harry ‘Knew He Would Get Away’ with Drug Confession with Biden in Office.”

    “Prince Harry “knew he would get away” with confessing to illegal drug use in his memoir, Spare, and suffer no consequences to his visa status while Biden is in office.

    Harry has found himself ensnared in a political and legal clash in the U.S. following recent public disclosures about his past drug use. In his memoir and in supporting interviews, Harry confessed to past use of marijuana, cocaine, magic mushrooms, and ayahuasca, suggesting he lied on his visa application. For the time being, the Royal is unlikely to face any consequences for doing so, with Ambassador Jane Hartley insisting recently that deportation action against him was “not going to happen in the Biden administration.”

    “What this intervention by the American ambassador shows us is that the Biden administration were [sic] prepared to allow the king’s son into the country regardless of what rules he may or may not have broken. So, maybe he knew he would get away with it,” said royal expert Lady Colin Campbell.

    “The issue that perhaps Harry hadn’t thought about so clearly is what would happen if there were to be a change of government. If Trump wins, Harry may well come to regret these very foolish remarks, made no doubt at the urging of his publisher to sell a few more books,” Campbell continued. “The reality is that no foreigner has an inviolable right to enter another country and you can be made a ‘persona non grata’ at the drop of a hat.”

    The Heritage Foundation, a right-leaning public policy think tank, is lobbying for disclosure from the Biden government regarding any drug-use admissions on the Prince’s visa application. Such admissions can typically bar a person’s entry into the U.S., as drug use pertains to applicants’ moral character under visa rules.”

    Like

  33. so the judge is shutting down the trial early today so an alternate juror can go to a dental appointment, but the President cannot attend his son’s graduation? what a bastard

    FTA
    According to sources, corrupt New York Judge Juan Merchan will reportedly shut down the latest lawfare trial against President Trump early today so that an alternate juror can visit the dentist.

    The Boston Herald reported:

    Donald Trump’s hush money trial will adjourn earlier than expected on Monday to accommodate an alternate juror’s emergency dental appointment in the afternoon.

    Judge Juan M. Merchan had previously planned to adjourn the trial at 2 p.m. because of Passover, but will now adjourn the case at 12:30 p.m. He plans to end at 2 p.m. on Tuesday for the holiday.

    This is the same conflicted judge who will NOT allow President Donald Trump to attend his son’s graduation ceremony.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/04/corrupt-judge-merchan-will-shut-down-trial-early/

    Like

          1. I just barely qualified but, in my favor, it rained (of course!) the entire week I was at the rifle range and my sights kept filling with water, complicated by the rain spots on my glasses. I’d have done better w/o all the rain!!! I still have my marksmanship badge.

            Liked by 1 person

              1. And those danged drill sergeants! Given that we spent the week wallowing in the mud, needless to say, our barracks weren’t in pristine conditions. But DS Johnson assured us there wouldn’t be a barracks inspection on Saturday morning – liars! They popped one on us, of course! Needless to say, that did not work out well! LOL

                Liked by 1 person

          2. I bought my hubby a gold-plated 25 pistol with an interchangeable magnum cylinder from the pawn shop and an over-under new shotgun for Xmas in 1988. We took the pistol out shooting and I beat him every time! So I beat him on fishing AND shooting! That did not do a lot for his ego! LOL

            Liked by 1 person

    1. hard to see side by side the way it is in the picture in the tweet–but in one place they’re talking about how long it can take for presidents to get all their records back to NARA and the NARA head says…I am out of patience. (June 2021)

      so hat’s about 5 months give or take. it still does not have obummer’s records in hand or on line as promised–and it’s been YEARS

      Liked by 1 person

  40. “What’s on these islands that’s not in the lab? A report from researchers from the Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics and from the Russian Academy of Sciences reportedly shows that unusually large plants are growing in the Sakhalin and Kunashir islands. However, when seeds were taken and grown in the lab, the plants grow to normal size…

    It’s probably because they are volcanic islands with active volcanos. Volcanic soils are extremely fertile. Or there a druid in dem woods… LOL!”

    Liked by 2 people

  45. more from Julie Kelly

    @julie_kelly2

    2h• 4 tweets • 3 min read •

    Read on X

    NEW: Thanks to order by Judge Cannon, key evidence related to classified docs case is now unredacted.On the left: What DOJ/Jack Smith wanted to conceal.On the right: Now we know why. More proof of collaboration btw Biden White House and NARA to concoct a case.

    Outrageous lies by Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and DOJ/Jack Smith about “independence” from investigations into Trump.

    The Biden White House and DOJ wew intimately involved in developing a criminal case against Trump for records mismanagement–it appears the first go-around related to alleged “destruction” of government papers.

    Contrary to public and legal assertions, NARA was working with DOJ/White House to craft a criminal referral by Sept. 2021–FIVE MONTHS before the “official” referral by NARA to DOJ in Feb 2022.

    (Govt redactions on left, newly unredacted filing on right.)

    Now you know why the insiders like Andrew Weissmann and Barb McQuade are desperate to get rid of Judge Cannon. Without her courage on this matter, incriminating evidence of Biden’s WH and DOJ running the investigative show behind the scenes would be buried maybe forever.

    DOJ told NARA what to do to cover their tracks.

    Biden Dept of Energy also involved in the cover up.

    DOE discovered after Smith handed down his indictment that Trump had an active security clearance–so they retroactively terminated it.

    Liked by 1 person

  46. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

  49. Skies cleared and it turned into a beautiful day – sunshine, slight breeze and 75! I covered the doggie door so Jake could spend some time on the patio. He’s doing his usual, following Wheezer’s scent all over the patio. SMH – cats!!!

    Liked by 1 person

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