Making Progress...

Can you believe the end of September is here? I sure can't! I feel like the days are just whizzing by. I'm finally starting to feel like I am making some headway on the house. While I'm not done with all the projects, I'm whittling away at them day by day. Today I finished up laundry and cleaned out the girls' drawers while I was at it. I think I need to separate hot weather clothes from cool weather clothes so their drawers aren't quite so stuffed. This time of year though is so tough to do that. Last week we were in the 40s and rainy (some areas saw snow!) and today it's in the upper 80s. Hard to put all the warm weather clothes away just yet. *Ü*

On Sunday afternoon I cleaned up an area in the backyard that I've neglected for some time. There is a sort of walkway between the house and where the garage sits. It's about 4-5 feet wide and a dumping ground of sorts. The leaves accumulate in this "breezeway." I had some time before the Broncos game started, so I got that area all cleaned up. I felt such a good sense of satisfaction after it was done. I had to take a shower though, I got pretty dusty. LOL

I have so many areas I want to work on though, I sometimes get frozen on what to work on when. Either that or I bounce from one thing to the next and that can take longer than it needs to. Sigh. I'll just keep chipping away at it, bit by bit. I want to get to a point where I feel comfortable working on some cards or layouts. I have some organizing of my digital stash to do, too. Sigh...always something.

I have neglected my walking a bit, something I'm not real thrilled with. As I said, last week the weather was not conducive to walking outside (at least not for me). I was also pretty upset about Sarah's passing, so I gave myself a break. Yesterday, though, I walked on the treadmill for 2 miles. Today I didn't, though, I had other things going on and before I knew it, it was time to get the girls from school.

I am still working on Amy's socks...getting closer to the toes. I thought I'd show you the book I am using to learn the knitting 2 socks at a time technique and my progress on the socks. That way you have something to look at from me. I was trying to do a pair like the cover pair, but I broke the needle on that stitch. I may try again sometime as I really like how it looks. We'll see.

Here's a funny for you in the saga of mice in our house. I told you we got a second one the morning after we got the first one, right? Since then, nothing, so I thought maybe, just maybe that was it. Um, no. Every morning I check the "trap" to see if the tube is still in place. And each morning it hasn't been touched. Yesterday morning was no exception. I was reading blogs after I checked and Steve was in the other room (where the trap is set up) reading the paper. After a while he told me we got another mouse. Huh? It must have just happened since the tube was still in place. Steve said, the tube hadn't moved, but there was a mouse in the bin. Interesting! I guess the tube is optional. LOL No wait, they are just jumping into the bin now! Wow. Nah...I suspect he was trying to walk along the edge of the bin toward the tube and slipped. But I guess how it happened doesn't matter, right? Another one is gone! *Ü* Fingers crossed that HE was the last one!

Thanks for stopping by. One of these days I'll have something more interesting to share...I hope. In the meantime I appreciate your stopping by and seeing what I've been up to.

Laugh Out Loud Funny...

Hello there!

Well, this first photo isn't what is laugh out loud funny, but it sure is cute, isn't it? Amy grew that pumpkin this year and they just brought it in yesterday. There is a funny part to pumpkin growing (at least to us). They have planted the seeds for the past few years and get a huge vine that goes everywhere. They get several blossoms on the vine. And then only one pumpkin grows. Is it supposed to be that way? I dunno, but it's what happens in our garden. LOL This year's is a tall skinny pumpkin as you can see. Amy's thrilled and already talking about growing one next year. (Let's just hope the innards aren't moldy like last year's pumpkin).

Gotta mention the score on that jacket. Steve regularly takes the girls on bike rides, as you know. Well, this summer, as they pedaled to the park or wherever, they'd be on the look out for garage sales. (I haven't embraced the thrill of the hunt at garage sales, so prefer not to go) They found one not too long ago where Amy was over the moon because she found a rolling suitcase that was Thomas the Tank Engine themed (she's loved Thomas since she was a toddler). I guess the deal was, they could stuff this suitcase with whatever would fit and it all cost $8. The girls picked out some clothes (cute ones too), one of which is the jacket you see here. It's a Columbia jacket, which are pretty pricey, from what I understand. So...needless to say we were all thrilled with this garage sale find. Mommy about the jacket much more than the suitcase, but whatever. And you know if I had been with them, this great deal wouldn't have happened. And yes, Amy drags that suitcase thing to school each day, even though it's not a back pack. Sigh. Guess this is another funny, huh? LOL

While I haven't embraced the thrill of the hunt at garage sales, I have embraced thrift store shopping! I just picked up Jessica's Halloween costume for $4.99. It's a Barbie sort of cheerleader looking thing. I also picked up a shirt and stretch pants to wear under it, should it snow/rain (as it typically does around here) on Halloween. Amy got a Thomas the Tank engine costume last week for $4.99. I discovered the very same costume costs almost $20 at Target! I also picked up a Dr. Christiane Northrup book called Mother-Daughter Wisdom for $2.49! It was half off the regular price they were selling it for. New that book, which is hardcover, is $28.

I've just discovered this author and really like what she has to say, at least about menopause (which is coming up really soon for me as I am "officially" or "medically" perimenopausal). I'm on the hunt for The Wisdom of Menopause as I've already found Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom. I checked out The Secret Pleasures of Menopause from the library and really liked her style and perspective on this whole experience, which is what started the hunt for the other books.

Okay, so that still isn't the laugh out loud funny. I guess I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Look what arrived in the mail for me yesterday!
I actually DID laugh loud and long when I saw this card. And I thank Sharli of Sharli's Place for sending it to me. I can't say I "love" it, but I do appreciate the humor and your thinking of me. Hee, hee. Interesting that you sent me two mice images to color as the morning after we caught the first one, a second one was caught-Yay! Since then...nothing, so I am hoping that there were only two in the house this time. And the squirrel image isn't lost on me either. Thanks so very much Sharli! It felt good to laugh like that.

And on a very grateful note, I received a sympathy card from the vet (written in her own handwriting) expressing her condolences over Sarah's passing. That was really thoughtful and caring, don't you think? It's sure got to be hard on vets who have to perform difficult and heart wrenching tasks. This is why, even though the vet's office takes a bit of time to get to, we remain loyal to them. They truly care.

I've rambled on long enough, don't you think? I'll close for now with heartfelt thanks for stopping by!

Caught One!

Good morning! And it IS a good morning for me, because we caught a mouse overnight! Yay! One down and hopefully no more to go, although we are keeping traps up for the time being...just in case.

I don't remember if I showed you what has been successful for us in terms of catching the wily little buggers.

I have about 7 of these traps set up around the house. They have peanut butter and an M&M in them to entice the mouse into it. These have been completely ignored this time around.

I like the idea of these because you don't see the mouse, and therefore, I don't do the icky girly dance (hopping from foot to foot going ew, ew ew) like I did when we caught our first mouse, years ago, when the girls were very young and we used the old fashioned trap. Um, yeah, that's when I coined the phrase icky girly dance, because that's exactly what I did when I saw we caught on. And I had to pick it up and throw it away. (can I get a big EWWWW) because Steve was at work and it was in the morning and he wouldn't be home til dinner time and we had two little toddlers, a dog and a cat and it was in our living room. I couldn't leave it til he got home. It was after that incident that I found these traps and they worked...for awhile.

Then Steve researched how to trap mice and he came across this "humane" trap. One wouldn't think it would work, but it does. We've gotten at least 3 or 4 mice this way.
Notice the high falutin' techno gadgets used to create the trap. A paper towel roll, flattened on one side. A bit of wax paper, with a smidge of peanut butter and an M&M on it. It's perched so it balances over a shelf or counter and you need a tall canister. The idea is that mice like tunnels. They run through the tunnel to get the peanut butter and they simply fall into the container. Granted they don't die or get hurt, but they DO get trapped!
And I take a short drive over to our local dog park (by a field) and I empty the can, pick up the trap and head back home, feeling infinitely relieved that another mouse has left our house.

Up until just an hour or so ago, I used our kitchen trash can, so we've been using plastic bags on the counter for our trash. I got the bright idea to use my wrapping paper bin instead so we could have our trash can back. Okay, I'm a little slow as it just occurred to me this morning to use the wrapping paper bin, but at least I finally thought of it!

I thought I'd share this just in case any of you who read this find yourself with a mouse in the house and want a relatively simple way to trap and get rid of them. This wasn't our idea...Steve found it on the internet.

The girls are off school today, but I'm not sure just yet what we'll be doing. I suspect cookie baking may be on the agenda and maybe making zucchini bread...Hope your Friday is a good one!

They're Back...UGH!

The other night I was watching tv and working on Jessica's socks when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw "something" by the window. Nah....I thought to myself, I didn't see anything, but I kept looking over to where I thought I saw something and kept reassuring myself that nope, I didn't see anything at all. Denial is a good thing sometimes, right? It's still warm out! It's too early! Denial was dashed when I saw the something I thought I didn't see scamper across the floor. Crud. A mouse! UGH. Yes, a mouse came into the house and I'm pretty sure I saw the dang thing climb in through the window screen. Sigh...remember earlier this summer when I said we had a squirrel chew through our screens? Well, the not so bright, I don't want to deal with it, "solution" was to close the windows. Only, I really like fresh air, especially in the summer time. So, the window in the living room was kept open. I figured we are too active during the day to have anything crawl in. That theory is well and good...during the day. Not so much at night, when it's quiet and I neglected to close the windows. So, out came the traps once again.

Steve looked around the living room the first night and I think we saw it run along the baseboards toward our bookshelves. Didn't catch it. Then he asked where the duct tape was that he had out on the counter. Yes...he used duct tape to cover the hole! (good thinking, right...**tapping and nodding her head**) There might have even been me standing on one of the girls' chairs for a little bit. Steve said I looked ridiculous and to get down. Well, I didn't want it to run across my feet should we scare it out into the open. Sheesh, at least I didn't scream. Just cursed.

The second night, I saw it again...dang! Stupid little critter. THEN and you are not going to believe this...I didn't! I was working on those socks again (with my feet up on the couch, thank you very much) and looked up to see a mouse climbing UP THE SCREEN (on the outside, not on the inside-thank goodness)!!! That dang thing was looking for a way in. Grrrrr....I'll bet the first one announced to his little mouse buddies...I'm in! I'm in...c'mon! Looked at my traps the next morning...still nothing.

Then I looked at the duct taped hole in the screen and saw another bitty hole or two, with the piece of screen on the inside! The little sucker chewed through the screen next to the duct tape. Argghhhh! Up went another piece of duct tape (not such a bright solution after all, huh?). But we are smart now...we are closing the window at night, ha! Well, it must be a determined critter because just a bit ago I looked again and there is ANOTHER hole in the screen! Here...see for yourself. Guess what's on the honey do list for this weekend?

The big hole is courtesy of the squirrel who must have broadcast to the other critters that this house was easy pickins'. You can see to the left of that big hole the new ones from the other day (that are duct taped) and where there is no tape is the one from last night apparently. It's either change the screen or block out the light with the duct tape, I guess.

So, in light of this, I've had to do another clean up and clean out of the living room. I hadn't moved too much back onto the bookshelves thankfully, but I had a lot of yarn hanging around. So I had to box that up. Then I had to clean up all the little poopies they leave. I had to turn over the couch and the chair and vacuum out any stray crumbs and make sure they hadn't chewed holes into them. The whole time I was doing this I was yelling at it to get the &^%$ out of my house. I haven't seen evidence of it since the clean up, so I am hoping the bugger slipped back outside at some point unnoticed and thought he could just saunter back in as he pleased. Either that, or he's moved to another part of the house that I don't know about yet. Please, please, please let it be the former!

Sigh...and to add insult to this...both the dog and the cat were awake and in the living room when I saw the mouse the first time. Do you think they cared in the least? Noooooo...they just wondered why I was acting like a dork.

Goin' on a Mouse Hunt...

Oh wait, the song really goes...going on a bear hunt, doesn't it? All I know is I've got that line, plus the line I'm NOT scared running through my head. LOL

I will have to come back and share the card I actually made yesterday...need to take a picture and it's too dark right now.

So, for now, I'll entertain you with the latest adventure in mouse hunting. Read on, or skip, if you are tired of hearing about mice.

I was woken up by my useless at catching mice 18 year old cat, Sarah, meowing for food treats. Yep, nothing like having a cat meow in your face early in the morning, I tell you! Anyway, I plod to the kitchen, because she has me trained that she will NOT stop meowing until some treats land in her bowl. And I see that the tube is no longer on the counter! Yep, we scored another mouse. This one looks like the smaller one. Gosh, isn't it sad that I can now tell the difference in the mice that have been making themselves comfortable in our home? This is the second mouse we've caught using the tube idea and I feel safe in saying it works! LOL I got to make another trip to the dog park at odarkthirty in the morning. When I got home, Steve asked..."Did you remember to pick up my lucky tube?" I laughed at that one. I told him we really need to pull out the bookshelves behind the couch this weekend and see if there is a nest we've missed under them. Of course, he says okay, but you need to clear off the bookshelves to move them. Sigh...I just love all the fun stuff I get to do and look forward to.

He leaves for work and we get Amy off to school. I decide that I'm not waiting for him to help me move these shelves AND I'm not taking all the stuff off of them! ha! But first, I needed to check the couch and chair again to be sure they have not decided to make the insides of the furniture their future "love" nest. I got the vacuum out and sucked up what little stuff had already fallen below the cushions.  No mice in either. Then I gingerly "walked" the bookshelves away from the wall after telling Jessica to hop onto the couch "just in case." The only things I had to take off were the scrapbooks I've got stored on a couple of shelves, they can be kinda heavy. No mice! But lots of poop! Yuck! Out came the broom and mop. And I even got onto the floor with a flashlight to peek at the couple of inches of openings at the bottom of these shelves. (remember...I'm not scared-in my best sing-song voice). Thankfully, no mice! Got that all cleaned up and then decided I was pulling out all the furniture in this room to keep the mice from having places to hide. I hadn't done this before, preferring to think that setting out all those mousetraps was going to scare them into leaving. Then I got to thinking...(I know...scary isn't it?) what could I use to seal up the gap between the bottom shelf and the floor, so they cannot hide under the bookshelves in the future? I thought of  towels, but decided that might encourage them to stay rather than discourage them. The answer comes later.

So now my room is feeling smaller and smaller as I pull out things towards the center and clean up poop (e-gads, I should have done this job a lot sooner). I pulled out the girls' computer desk and cleaned up. Then I noticed a gap in the wall by the fireplace. The guy who lived here before us did a lot of woodworking and he must have put the wood frame up around our fireplace to support the wooden mantle. Anyway, there was a one inch or so gap between the end of the piece of wood and the floor. I have NO idea what this opens up to, if anything, but... just in case... I wanted to close it up. What to use? What to use? I know! Packing tape (the clear stuff you use to seal up boxes for mailing)! So I rip off several strips of packing tape and cover the gap. Great, I'm thinking...if this is where they are hiding I may get to see them trying to get out. Can you imagine it...a little mouse tooling along thinking he's gonna sneak into this house where he's found lots of cool hiding places and food stuff, going to the opening and bonk, he can't get out and even gets stuck on the tape? Makes me laugh anyway. Then I see a 1/2 inch gap on the other side of the fireplace by my computer. I cleaned up what I could, taking extraneous items to the garage.

Then I noticed a message popping up on the computer screens...little or no connectivity. GREAT...I messed up the internet on this little (big?) mouse hunt. Another reason to just love the little critters, no? Called Steve and get the girls' computer back online, but mine is a no-go. To make it even more fun...the printer was offline as well. grrrrr I had planned on printing off some images to color while Jessica was at school. Sigh...oh well. It's not like I don't have a TON of other supplies to use, right?

Steve gets home from work and fixes the computer problem rather quickly...in my cleaning frenzy, I knocked the ethernet  box off the desk and somehow it caused a cable to go ka-put. It just needed a new cable, which Steve had in the garage. Then he decides to use insulating foam for the gaps in the wall. Only his can is so old it won't work.

A quick trip to the Home Depot netted a new can of foam and also some hardboard to cut down and fit over the openings in the bookshelves.

I didn't see any mice in my hunt today, thank goodness. But, get this...now Steve wants me to pull out stuff from under the kitchen sink to see if there are any gaps that need filling there. Sigh...it's never ending...

goin' on a mouse hunt, goin' on a mouse hunt. I'm not scared. I'm not scared....

Jeanne

Amy's Hooded Poncho~Take 3 & Other News...

I've finished my 3rd attempt at the hooded poncho. Actually I finished the other day, but didn't get to take a photo until this morning. Remember I made one for Amy, then Jess and now this because I absolutely did not like the previous ones. I figured out the mistakes I made before and this final version looks better. Still not terrific, but better. For one, it's longer! Even Amy commented on that. I still think she looks sort of like she's in a cocoon but I like the colors and the stripes. (btw, she chose to sit in the chair by my computer - don't mind the mess behind her). I'm relieved to have completed a decent looking hooded poncho, but I think I am done with this pattern! LOL

And onto other news....I have to say, it was too good to be true. As much as I'd hoped we were done with mice, alas, we are not. We had a couple of quiet days, but the other night as I was sitting on the couch, knitting, I heard an unmistakable scratching noise. Remember, we have our couch in front of two very tall book cases (that are side by side). I looked behind the couch in the open shelves, no mouse. Under the couch, no mouse. BEHIND the bookshelves....MOUSE! Erggggghhhhh. The space is maybe 3/4 of an inch between the back of the shelf and the wall! Of course he was closer to the end of the second one, which is more difficult to pull out. Drat. Re-baited traps both conventional and tube ones and so far he's not falling for them. Double drat. I didn't hear him last night, but maybe he was regrouping. I was pretty tired though, so I might have dozed off...

Why was I so tired? The girls went back to school yesterday and I was busy all day (but don't have much to show for the busy-ness). Up to and including a last minute run to the doctor's office for Jessica, who at 4:15 started wailing that her ear hurt. Got in at 4:45 and sure enough, she has an ear infection. Sigh. Go from the doctor's office to the pharmacy, but they had only just gotten the fax of the prescription. It's now 5:55pm. Amy has a Brownie meeting at 6pm. Run home quick (Pharmacy is just up the street from home and Steve got home from work before us and started a quick dinner) and eat quickly. Luckily the Brownie meeting is also only a few minutes from our house. Get there in good time. It's an informational meeting, so it only lasted an hour. Took Amy home and went back to the pharmacy to get Jessica's amoxicillin. Got home gave her a dose and then hung out on the couch the rest of the night. Thankfully, she slept all night (in the past she's been awake all night when she has an infection) and no fever today, so she went to school. No swim lessons for her though until next week, even though she tells me her ear no longer hurts.

There are so many projects I want to work on, but haven't had an opportunity to get started! Hopefully, things will start to settle down and I can get creative. LOL

Thanks for stopping by...hope you are having a great week!
Jeanne

I Can't Believe It Worked!

Good Saturday morning to you! I don't have any photos to share, but I have another installment of our Adventures With Mice. Read on, if you'd like. But, be forewarned, this could get long.

One morning last week, before the girls got up, I was catching up on reading my emails and blog entries. Steve was getting ready for work. It was quiet. I kept hearing a rustling noise, which is the tell-tale sound that a mouse is out and about. I almost always hear this noise in or near the corner where the girls' computer is located (the opposite corner where my computer is located). Which is odd, since it's fairly open (no hiding places). So, after a few minutes of hearing the noise I got up to investigate. Steve at this point was sitting at the kitchen table getting ready to eat breakfast. I looked in the corner and sure enough, didn't see any mouse there, but I sure could hear the rustling. As I turned to tell Steve it was around there somewhere, my eyes scanned our fireplace, which is between the two computer corners. Steve often throws papers in there to burn. Sure enough, one of those papers was moving inside the fireplace! I quickly slammed the glass doors shut and told Steve the mouse was in there. He didn't believe it, and came to look. We could see the critter running around in there, trying to find a way to escape. Now what? I wasn't about to open the doors again, even though Steve said I should put a trap in there.

The fireplace has a door (vent?) on the floor that can be opened up and on the outside of the chimney (in our backyard) there is another door to open. I think it is so you don't have to scoop out the ashes, you could send them all down this hole when the door is opened. The thought was I should go outside (when it was light out) to open the trap doors and let the guy scurry out that way and be gone. I tried it, and got it open (using a couple of sticks). I went back into the house to see if the mouse was still moving around in there. But then I worried the open doors might invite other mice IN, so I went back out and closed it all up. I didn't see any evidence that he had jumped down (there were ashes in the opening). I figured just keep the fireplace closed and let Steve deal with it later. LOL We (the girls and I) saw no movement in the fireplace the rest of the day. Steve got home from work and decided to light a fire. Great, bbq'd mouse, if he was still in there.  Thankfully, he didn't seem to be in there anymore. Not that I know for sure, because I haven't investigated too closely, but we didn't see him run to the glass doors to get out either. We think he might have climbed up the chimney and got away.

I was relieved to think that we might be done with mice finally. But experience this year has taught me not to celebrate too soon and I decided not to gloat on the blog. Good thing. THAT NIGHT I saw another fricking mouse scampering around the living room. This one looked smaller than other ones I've seen. GREAT...they had babies! I cannot for the life of me figure out WHERE they are hanging out! Steve got up and helped me look around. Then we discovered the HOLE in the chair. UGH. Yes, there was a hole in a chair we have sitting by the girls' computer. Steve and I quickly dragged it outside and he proceeded to take off the bottom mesh. No sign of a mouse OR a nest or anything. He did find some scraps of fabric so I could patch up the hole (which I did the next morning).

Are you laughing yet? Because it is comical!

So now Steve is more involved in trying to get rid of the latest mouse. He decides we should put dog food in the traps (remember I have like 7 or 8 of them IN THE LIVING ROOM alone)! No takers on that. Then he thinks raw nuts would be good...nope no go there either. Amy saw it the other night and it freaked her out.

We were out and about most of yesterday for Steve's birthday. We went out to dinner to celebrate. As I walked into the kitchen after that, I could swear I saw something run across my counter behind the sink. Steve said he'd SEEN the mouse on the counters (but never said anything to me....ewwwwww). But of course, we couldn't find him.

So, Steve gets on the internet and is searching out ways to get rid of mice, because now I'm thinking we just might need an exterminator. He doesn't think so (they cost money, you know). So he comes across this article? Post? Something where a guy explains that he had a mouse and he caught it without a mousetrap, in an hour, no less. It involved using a toilet paper tube or paper towel tube and a bit of bait. You balance the tube on the edge of the counter with the bait on the side of the tube hanging over the edge. Underneath the tube, you put a tall,empty trash can. The idea is, mice like tunnels (guess for the furtive aspect of getting around). He runs through the tunnel to get the bait, and falls into the trash can. I was TOTALLY skeptical, but our other methods weren't working and it didn't cost a thing. Steve set it up last night and we went to bed.

At about 4am this morning I thought I heard a thunk coming from the kitchen. Wishful thinking, I thought. Then I heard the sounds of something moving around, bumping into the sides of something. I finally get up and investigate. The tube is no longer on the counter! I creep up to the trash can and in the dim light of the stove light, I saw a mouse in the trash can! I gasped and jumped a foot first. I cannot believe it worked! I gingerly took the trash can and set it outside because if that puppy gets out, I want it to get out...OUTSIDE! Then I thought, I don't want him to get out by the house, so I found a box large enough to cover the top of the trash can.

I am leery of saying we are done with mice, but I sure hope so. I think this makes #3 or #4 that we've gotten this year. If Erin's theory of when you see 1 there are really 10 holds true...then we've got a ways to go!

If nothing else, I could have more mousecapade stories to "entertain" you with this winter! I still can't believe the tube thing worked! I'm going to take the trash can with the mouse over to a dog park to dump it. It's about a mile away from the house.

Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Jeanne