Saturday 27 August 2005

Rubberised Rant

This post re-published December 2012

Like a little bouncy ball, I'm trapped in a room bouncing around out of my mind, so much going on in my head but furiously cleaning and scrubbing. It is karma for my jokey response to Mama Mouse (connection to her name is purely coincidental) about our cute little mouse that we got rid of with our humane mouse trap. Seems they are not gone and I'm horrified to find mouse poop where there ought not to be in our kitchen.

Overnight I have transformed the kitchen and thank goodness for the new unit I have been putting in as that can be a safe and secure home for some of our wares whilst the decks are completely cleared. Everything is being dishwashed or washed and sanitised. More to do though so I'm up early to continue my zealous activity.

I'd rather be blogging about my important day out on Thursday/Friday but that has to wait. I'd like to spend time looking through and commenting on Zandperl's photos of London that she has finally posted but that has to wait too.

I have clients who pay well and work that needs doing but I've been flaffing around with outings and mouses and then on top of it all I actually asked my parents to stay this Bank Holiday weekend from Sunday night for two whole nights. I have a tolerable relationship with them, it is my mum's birthday and she was obviously at a loose end going into "poor little me" mode. Also, she has moved to a Mac computer on my sister's advice and is now obviously struggling with using it and moans about it all the time. Mr Doris and I are very geeky but are not Mac users. Luckily my daughter does have more contact with them at college so she will do the bulk of helping my mother.

Nevertheless, I feel I have a kitchen that is not yet fit for human habitation; a guest room to bring up to scratch; clients who deserve a weekend miracle; other work that needs doing; a mad mother visiting and I should be the good hostess and need to shop and prepare (preparation is everything and means everything goes smoothly); and I'd rather blog more than this!

Like Fugazi I'll not blog or read blogs whilst they are here in case they realise I have one!

I'd better continue with my bouncing around trying not to go out of my mind.

Boing boing boing boing.......

13 Comments:

Cheryl said...
Which of your neighbours has had building work? Thats what flushes them out to look for new homes.
Find the holes and pack them with wire wool, or at a pinch fluffed up brillo pads.
Wire wool has no smell to it - they head towards their exit hole and scratch their noses. Its a slow death, not being able to smell for food (which is how they navigate) but they could always just get out the way they came in.
Hey, if you wash the kitchen down completely once you are clear, dont use caustic soda! I tried it too strong and it melts paint.
doris said...
Wow! I just stopped to eat my breakfast and had been wondering what I can stuff in the gaps in the wall behind the cooker. And we have a roll of wire wool. Many thanks! :-)
Mama Mouse said...
Gee Cheryl I've been wondering what to put in any holes I might find too! Thanks! So far though I haven't found where they are coming and going from. I think I only have one Doris ... but I have had to take all my eating utensils and other cooking implements out of their drawers and after washing them in the dishwasher THREE times put them all in sealable plastic bins. So far mr. mousey isn't getting into the cupboard that I keep my dishes in ... THANK GOODNESS. It does seem to like my stove top though and I am SICK of cleaning it.

My husband loaded the trap AGAIn ... but the cheese goes missing and the mouse does too! LOL Guess we'll need to consider a different method of trapping ... perhaps your humane traps.

You sound like you are going to be very busy! If you don't see this for awhile ... I hope you managed to stay sane whilst you were so OCCUPIED with all things OTHER than blogging!

As for your mother ... at least she can use a computer! A lot of older people are frightened of them and refuse to have anything to do with them!
Universal Soldier said...
Why not catch them and keep them as pets. In Kosovo in 1999 we made our own "mouse friendly" traps. A small amount of food placed in a Coca-Cola bottle, a condom with the end cut off tied to the top of the bottle. The mouse would smell the food - crawl through the condom into the bottle and then not be able to get out. Unfortunately it didn't work with rats and one night I awoke to find one keeping me company in my sleeping bag. If you do catch some you can always release them at an opportune moment to get rid of unwanted guests.
Janet said...
We usually get a couple of the critters when the weather gets cooler. I guess they're looking for a cozy place for the winter. Thanks to our cat "Lucky" and the mouse traps baited with peanut butter, the mouse population stays way down.
Anji said...
We had a visit from 6 voles a few years ago. They were so light they could take cheese from the traps no problem. We used humaine traps and let them go near the marshes. We always seemed to catch them at night, I wonder what the neighbours thought if they saw us heading for the marsh at the dead of night in our jimjams?
dog1net said...
Nothing worse than a mouse in the house. I had one that somehow decided building a nest on top of the heating element of furnace was a good idea, that is until I turned the heat on after a very chilly night. The smell was just absolutely baffling as we couldn't figure out its source. When I finally realized where the smell was coming from, I did a close inspection of the furnace, and after poking about with a flashlight, I found the little bugger sufficiently crisped. Enjoy your writing . . .
Scot
Pookie65 said...
Mice or parents. Which is the lesser of the two evils? I wish you great success in getting all of the above out of your home quickly, painlessly, and without reproach.

If all else fails sneak off and have a nice glass of a good wine.
jane said...
lol so you are boinging? i had a tangering imac for a few years & i loved it. sold it when i moved in with tarzan as he refused to separate with his pc.
sounds as though you are extremely busy & i selfishly want your blog brain back all to us bloggers!!! hurry & get all that tedious stuff done so you can have fun!
decrepitoldfool said...
"Nothing worse than a mouse in the house"

When we lived in Tennessee our neighbors were untidy and rats came to the apartment. I had an air rifle and dispatched one, but another I only wounded so we had a 3-legged rat for quite some time after that.

Today we have two residents, Oscar and Mahalia, whose predatory habits render persistent mouse infestation unlikely.
Radin said...
You choose the best cheese. Put it on a small plate. Put a cardboard box on top and leave enough space (by cutting a hole at the side) for the head to go through. Place a blade at the bottom of the hole. Now, the mouse puts its head inside and after eating the cheese will move its head side ways saying mmm yam what delicious cheese and at that the throat is cut. Easy.
Karen said...
Happy bouncing - I keep finding them in our shed, they go after the rabit food - at least it keeps them out of the house....
Rocco Viana said...
Rather disputable.

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