Last spring we had a mouse problem. The years before there was never a problem. It had rained a lot so I figured that was the difference. The house was actually cleaner than ever before so I know that wasn't the problem. Over the summer we didn't see a single mouse. Now I knew we might get a few come fall and sure enough they have been showing up. Not just mice either. We actually have two voles come in the house. The traps have been nice and helpful. There are fewer than last spring but still more than years past. Their new hidey hole is in my closet. Which thankfully I had just cleaned out so they haven't gotten into anything. They chewed a hole right through the wall inside the closet. The other side leads to the back of the chimney. I wish we could actually use it and have wood stove to save on oil and when the power goes out but no such luck. Anyway, I stuffed the hole with a steel wool pad. Mice don't chew through metal. I also bought a bottle of peppermint oil and some cotton balls yesterday. So I have been told if you soak the cotton in the oil it keeps the mice away until the scent dissipates. Then of course they take the cotton for their nests. To combat THAT you need to add cayenne pepper to the oil when you soak the cotton. I am going to try it and see how it works. I know the human hair to repel deer thing didn't work out. I think though it's because the deer are so used to people here.
After I posted last time Sean called again around 4pm in the afternoon. We were all in the basement doing some cleaning of my second freezer so it would be ready for my shopping day and Sofie was napping. I know he called from the caller ID but he didn't leave a message that time. I told Cade his dad called again and he shrugged and said, "The last person I want to talk to today is him." So, that was that.
The next day we went to town. I was going to bring Sofie too but she was invited to Aiden's third birthday party so I let her stay home with Connor. He offered and she was treating him nicely so I said ok. She napped 4 hours again. Maybe she is starting to hibernate? She had dinner and cake with Aiden and his mom came in her truck to pick Cade and I from the boat at 7pm. Thank God. We had so much stuff. At the grocery store alone I had 12 banana boxes and a cooler. Then I had three huge bags (like the big L.L.Bean boat bag sized) of stuff from Wal-Mart. The food alone was $600. We were really down to nothing. Now I have one full freezer and I have started on the second. I am getting some free deer meat soon so I am saving room for that. It was funny taking all those boxes out to the car from the store. I asked them if they had the boxes. Thank goodness they did. I had checked the bay lines first and they were out. Then the stuff had to go on a trolley. Then they were shipped on the wrong boat. I labeled them properly but they went on an earlier boat so they were sitting on the dock from 4pm until I got home at 7pm. Good thing it was cold. I was able to get some good deals at Wal-Mart though. I hate going there but I was really in need of stuff I couldn't get at the dollar store. I also didn't want to risk a hit or miss at Goodwill for a pair of pants for Cade. He had two pair left and one was getting a hole. Down to the wire. Sean still hasn't sent back the bottoms for one pair that unzip at the knee so I told Cade he really needed to look for them himself. Dad has had 6 months to find them and that was long enough. I found a pair for $7 so I was happy. They also had the dress pants out and dress socks he will need for the island christmas party. Sofie needs new party shoes but they didn't have them. I have been looking for a while now. I do have one pair that "might" fit by then. I am going to hold out. I used most of my paycheck there but I needed things like pull-ups and wipes the dollar store doesn't carry. After that Cade and I saw a movie. I had a gift certificate for two so we used it. I love saving these things and using them unexpectedly. Kids think I am some kind of genie when I do that. I am just a packrat. We saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was better than I expected. It was a little rough though because it had a huge theme about how much fathers love their children and want to see them happy yada yada. Cade snorted during one speech made my the cop voiced by Mr. T. Cade whispered, "I know one dad who doesn't care." Other than that we had a nice time. I teared up and the end and Cade laughed at me. I read to him on the boat ride home. We didn't eat out or anything. I got some stuff at the grocery store and we ate that over the course of the day. Much cheaper. When we got home it was chaos. All those boxes and putting stuff away. Sofie was wired on cake and Cade was talking non-stop. Connor was helpful without attitude which was nice. While we were working the tv was on to the history channel on a show about death masks and it was really interesting. After we were done we sat down to see it. I really wish I could have stayed awake to see the whole thing but I couldn't. At 9pm we were all down for the count. I have to bake some cookies today for Will's crew for school. I also got a bunch of books for the school to sell to raise money for a class trip. I hope today is quiet.
Last spring we had a mouse problem. The years before there was never a problem. It had rained a lot so I figured that was the difference. The house was actually cleaner than ever before so I know that wasn't the problem. Over the summer we didn't see a single mouse. Now I knew we might get a few come fall and sure enough they have been showing up. Not just mice either. We actually have two voles come in the house. The traps have been nice and helpful. There are fewer than last spring but still more than years past. Their new hidey hole is in my closet. Which thankfully I had just cleaned out so they haven't gotten into anything. They chewed a hole right through the wall inside the closet. The other side leads to the back of the chimney. I wish we could actually use it and have wood stove to save on oil and when the power goes out but no such luck. Anyway, I stuffed the hole with a steel wool pad. Mice don't chew through metal. I also bought a bottle of peppermint oil and some cotton balls yesterday. So I have been told if you soak the cotton in the oil it keeps the mice away until the scent dissipates. Then of course they take the cotton for their nests. To combat THAT you need to add cayenne pepper to the oil when you soak the cotton. I am going to try it and see how it works. I know the human hair to repel deer thing didn't work out. I think though it's because the deer are so used to people here.
2 comments:
You know, I just wanted to casually point out that those of us who share the house with 14 cats never have a problem with mice. Of course we have a problem with cats, LOL.....
I woke up this morning and one was sleeping on my pillow, one was under my chin, and two were cuddled together keeping my feet warm....I do long to be a "normal" non-cat-lady person, but days like that really make me appreciate kitties en masse :-)
Sounds like you had an uplifting day--a little "retail therapy" always helps me, too.....I'm so glad you had the money to be able to do that!
I can't have pets here or we would have a cat or dog or maybe both. We have fish.
Even though the stuff I bought was all stuff we needed and no frills it was nice to be able to do it.
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