“…I have to go home and get a few things done. If I don’t get out the Pledge soon, the dust bunnies are going to be leaving tracks on my furniture…”
When I went to get the papers, I notice green shoots, probably dafs as they are usually the first. I wanted to yell and tell them to stay down as winter still has the stage. I suspect they have been fooled by all these days in the 40’s, like today. Even the nights have been warm.
No sun again. It is a damp, grey day, the sort where there must have been fog over the river early this morning, but I slept in even though I had set my alarm. I had a couple of mice get trapped last night. They each made so much noise I got up and went outside to let them go. No car this time. I just walked a bit down the street and freed each from the trap. It was a good thing I did as I found a package on my front steps. It was raining then so by morning the package would have been soaked. I was home all day so I have no idea why the package was left outside.
I have been busy of late cleaning weird places in the house, like the fridge, and last night I cleaned my bookcase, the travel route for the bedroom mice. I was tired so I went upstairs around ten and that’s when I noticed the bookcase near my bed was dusty, a Miss Haversham type dust. It’s only a two-shelf bookcase so I figured why not. I’m a near-sighted fool sometimes. Besides books, there are old Barkley lead figures on the shelves, and they were so dust-covered it was difficult to see their colors. I got on the floor, took them all off, cleaned the shelves then cleaned each of the figures. When that bookcase was done, I went to the big one, the one which is the length of the side wall and has four shelves all the way across. On the top shelf, I found the mouse route. I cleaned that shelf first then cleaned everything: the other shelves, all the old toys on them, the banks, the framed pictures and the other stuff I somehow collected over time. When I finished, it was close to 11:30, so much for an early night. I got cozy, grabbed my iPad and started reading when to my surprise a mouse strayed into the trap. I got up, Fern got up and Gracie got up. The three of us went downstairs. I went outside and freed the mouse. The three of us went back upstairs, got cozy in our usual spots, and I read for a while then turned out the light and fell asleep. At 1:15 I heard a racket. It was an unhappy mouse caught in the trap. I got up, grabbed the trap and went downstairs. This time I was alone. Fern and Gracie stayed in bed. It was still raining when I went outside to free the mouse in about the same spot as the first. I’m hoping he finds his friend and the both of them take up residence at someone else’s house. I’d even throw a housewarming party.
Two house finches were at my feeders this morning, and the flicker was back. He is such a huge bird especially in comparison to the finches and the chickadees who were also dining at the feeders. It was a busy bird morning.
Gracie and I have a few errands. She’ll be happy. I’m not.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
January 15, 2013 at 12:55 pm
You do live a busy life 🙂 Thankfully still no mice here but if they turn up I was thinking of getting one of those small travelling cages and place them there until I feel to release them out in the forest. Well first I must find the trap, I know I have it somewhere 🙂
A 22 year old woman that works as a cleaner on commutes thought it would be a good idea to steal one of them and drive it at maximum speed as well. She derailed it and went straight in to an appartement building. The ones living there were unharmed but she wasn’t. I wonder what gave her thatb idea 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
January 15, 2013 at 1:37 pm
Hi Christer,
I agree. I moan and groan when i have stuff to do. I bought two more of those traps. They are cheap and work really well.
No getting around it: some people have no brains whatsoever!
Have a great evening!!
January 15, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Hi Kat,
You have a kinder heart than I. No way I’d be outside at that time of a rainy January night even once to let a mouse go. Forget twice.
Nope. Snap traps or no traps at all and let the wee sleekit beasties alone.
I cleaned something the other day. Fortunately, there has been no lasting trauma. 😀
No errands for me today. Tomorrow is hair. Thursday is knitting with friends. Friday is baking cookies. Maybe. Saturday is knitting with different friends. It’s a tough life. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
January 15, 2013 at 2:59 pm
Hi Caryn,
I just couldn’t deal with me killing them. I don’t care if the cats do-I just throw those outside, but I was at a friend’s house years ago, and for the longest time we heard the thwap, thwap of a mouse dying in a mouse trap.
I have a meeting at 4 in Falmouth so I have to leave in a bit. One more on the list!
Tomorrow is dump, CVS and a movie. Life is quite good!
January 15, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Once upon a time, many many years ago, Sir Edward Elgar opened, what was to be the very first HMV Shop on Oxford Street in London. The Gramaphone Company had taken over an old menswear store (after im6 stopped going) and Elgar was on hand in 1921 to launch this new venture.
Vinyl was to dominate and through the era of the record, HMV was to see off challenges from the likes of Our Price Records and the Virgin Record Stores (Tubular Bells driven)
And now it is all over. The gift certificates given for HMV as a Christmas gift are valueless, HMV is in Administration, 238 stores and 4,000 jobs will disappear and sadly Nipper will go the way of the Beach Boys.
HMV wanted to be the last man standing in the High Street, a dodgy strategy but they were the last ones. Like Jessops and Comet the doors will close and the happy hours of pouing over racks of vinyl are long gone.
January 15, 2013 at 3:04 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I have nothing to say which will make this better. I hold on to my vinyl as if they are treasures. I remember going through the albums trying to find a favorite or a surprise. My allowance often went to buy a 45, and I’d put the disk in the hole and play it on the hi-fi.
Record stores are a sweet memory. I’m sorry for your loss!
January 15, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Amazon 🙂
January 15, 2013 at 4:30 pm
I recall seeing racks of vinyl at a Newbury Comics recently. I think it is a by-product of the current interest in mid-century style. Children were pouring over the stacks not people who were from the mid-century. 🙂
January 15, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Caryn,
I had read an article about the resurgence of vinyl. Some albums are being cut in a limited special edition number. I have one from a Cat Stevens soundtrack film which never was released on CD.
January 15, 2013 at 3:09 pm
Kat
I have all the vinyl, 12″ Singles, 45s. Boxed and gathering dust. As a young clerk all my salary went to vinyl, beer and football. Today I dont have a turntable for my music system although I do have a USB turntable which would allow me to convert vinyl to MP3 – its cumbersome and I dont use it much.
January 15, 2013 at 6:26 pm
MDH,
I also have that same cumbersome conversion turntable. but I also have one which is solely for playing vinyl. They started being manufactured and sold again a few years back.
January 15, 2013 at 6:47 pm
My music system is amplified through the speakers so I would need an independent amplified turntable. too much effort.
A lot of the Super Deluxe Edition reissues include some element of plastic which is totally useless to me.
January 15, 2013 at 6:50 pm
MDH,
The Cat album had songs not released before though they were part of the soundtrack. (I forget the name of the damn movie!)
January 15, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Harold and Maude ?
Catch bull at Four Seasons….
coffee for the Tillercat
January 15, 2013 at 7:33 pm
MDH,
Harold and Maude-how could I forget? That’s a favorite movie of mine.
January 15, 2013 at 5:50 pm
I also can’t kill mice. I can kill mosquitos, but not flies or spiders. Today I carefully caught a big moth and threw it outside, but we have snow (23°F) and the moth will probably die. I have to accept that I’m a barbaric peacenik 😉
January 15, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Birgit,
I hare flies and will kill them in a heartbeat. They are filthy insects. Spiders are on my no kill list. I save them from the sink and anywhere else where they might be in trouble. Spiders are welcome in my house.
I try to shoo flies and moths out the door and have no remorse!
January 15, 2013 at 9:38 pm
Kat, I’m so enjoying the “Mouse Chronicles.” Marie
January 15, 2013 at 9:50 pm
Marie,
I am so glad someone is!
Tonight was the worst. I opened the fridge and one was in there. I was crazed!! I chased it all over the fridge and kept pushing drawers in and out to get it to me so I could capture it in the box I had. Finally it went down to the bottom of the fridge behind one of the drawers and raced into the hole where the water pipe for the ice maker comes into the fridge. I then got tape and taped over the hole. The tape is quite perfect: it is see through package tape with snowflakes. That should keep the beast out and the fridge looking festive as well!
January 16, 2013 at 3:22 am
“Ex ter mi nate! Ex ter mi nate!”
I’ve had mice inside the stove which is scary because it’s one of those old gas stoves with constantly burning pilot lights. Flammable mice with flammable nesting material near open flames.
I’ve never had mice inside the fridge. o-O
January 16, 2013 at 11:05 am
Caryn,
It’s new to me as well. This is the 2nd one. I caught the first in a trap. That was what prompted me to scour the fridge. I was shocked to see another as it had left no evidence so I was thinking a scouting party. That creature chewed a hole in the full quart of light cream I had just bought not a short time before. This morning I had to go to Dunkin’ Donuts to get my coffee!