Last night we were in the pantry,
planning out meals for the rest of the week, when Kiley let out a
squeal. Turns out she was looking eye to eye with a mouse! Little
brown eyes and a wiggly nose, sitting right on a pantry shelf!
Ewww!!!!
Honestly, I have to interject here.
When you live in a house that is 130 or so years old, on rural
property, mice are a fact of life. There is a reason we have a
couple cats in the house, and we usually only see one or so a year.
The cats take good care of that. But fall is arriving and they are
looking to come into warmer quarters. Ugh. We are always looking
for how they got into the house and sealing it up. But, it is a fact
of life. One that I really could live without.
Well, we have five pantry shelves, in a
house with eight kids and a lot of activity. So the shelves tend to
evolve from the organized unit I want it to be, to a cluttered,
things just put on a shelf, no matter what it is, kind of thing. We
were in the disorganized phase. And now there is a mouse staring at
us!
The mouse ran to the back of the shelf,
hiding behind things, while Kiley jumped out of the pantry and the
rest of us ran to see what was the cause of the excitement. Eww.
Just eww. We rapidly moved glass items off said shelf and tried
putting a cat on the shelf. We even just about put the cat on top of
the mouse. Obviously Bravo was a little disconcerted by our
reactions and suddenly being thrust onto a shelf in the pantry we
generally shoo'd him out of! He didn't even notice it! And the
mouse did the smart thing and beat a retreat to go behind canned
goods! Then ran down to the shelf below.
We tried putting another cat in there,
who also was so distracted by all the excitement that she never
realized that she had a job to do! At that point, we decided that we
would have to take over.
Imagine this. Our small pantry – was
probably origionally a small coat closet, with nine of us crowded
around it. All in search of one little mouse.
We made a chain, passing items from the
shelves out to be put on the table and warily watching for the mouse.
I kept a close eye on the spot where I had last seen it. Turns out
mice can really flatten themselves against stuff. We eventually
found it, it jumped all over, and there was lots of noise from all of
us – not our most courageous moment, and the mouse made it to the
floor. With three kids on guard to make sure it didn't get out of
the pantry (imagine nightmares of waking up to it in another area of
the house – I don't think I would have slept for dreams of it
sitting on my nightstand looking at me) we continued to empty the
pantry. Eventually the last hiding spot was removed and the mouse
shot across the floor and lo and behold, right down a tiny hole in
the corner by the baseboards. So now we knew how it got in! That
was progress, and it was out of the house – at least, that is what
I am going on, so please don't break my illusion!
Whew. What a mess we now had. Little
mouse had been all over our shelves and left its calling card. Ugh.
Out came disinfectant. We washed EVERYTHING in there. All the
shelves, walls, cans, everything that had been in the pantry was
washed down. We sealed the hole with spray foam so hopefully the
mouse won't be back!
So, now my pantry is well organized,
very clean and I know where every little thing is.
Not how I was planning on spending my
evening, but I am sure the kids will never forget it. Ugh. Funny
now, but not so much then. Welcome to fall in the country.
So, if you come and visit us, you will
notice that there are a couple inside cats and at least ten barn
cats. This is why. No mice allowed. Our kitties are generally good
mousers and that is there job. I have to admit that this morning, we
were heading out to get a load of hay and Zeri was cleaning out his
old pigeon cages – one of the barn cats came streaking by with a
big mouse in her mouth. And me, the animal lover, praised that kitty
all over. Yay for good mousers!
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
3 comments:
Ack! We live in an 80-year old house in the city, and I know we could easily get mice as well - just the other day, the girls said they saw one scurrying past our patio doors on the deck outside. I like to think that our three house cats are what keep them away - not that any has ever caught one, but maybe word has gotten out among the east side mouse population to avoid our place! :^)
You don't know me, but I have been home just over two weeks with my Ethiopian darling and since my of my friends are still in the process I can rejoice with them that the Ethiopian courts are reopened! Hope this means good news for you as well! Rachel (mom to Everly)
Tina - let's hope you are right. Not my favorite thing at all!!!
Rachel - congratulations on your adoption! What agency are you with? We are with IAG with this adoption but used CWA last time - we have adopted children on waiting lists, so that is why the switch in agencies. I wasn't aware that the courts were open already, I thought it was October 3rd! We shall see how it all goes. Some days it just feels like forever, but being busy with our life here helps the time pass! Would love to hear more about you all. You can always reach me at mommyturtle@gmail.com.
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