A Mouse House And I Don't Mean Mickey

 Don't be fooled by these serene vacation pictures. These pictures were taken in Maine when all was well in the RV.  We now have an uninvited visitor in our RV and I am hell bent to get rid of it.

 About two weeks ago, I went into the RV to retrieve a jacket from the closet. When I went into the bedroom, I noticed that something was not quite right. As in the children's book, Madeline, Miss Clavel turned on the light and said, "Something is not right!!" You know one of those moments when you just notice something and your little brain goes, "Beep, beep, beep". Well, that's what mine did and I ran lickety-split into the house channeling Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory. "Janet, Janet, Janet".....  And so begins the saga of the mouse in the house (RV).

I asked advice from many RVing friends; I searched the internet; I called our armadillo trapper who also handles other pesky wildlife, etc. He scoured the inside of the coach and he scoured the outside of the coach. He found very little evidence but set about a dozen traps nonetheless. I, on the other hand, crawled under the RV on my back and shimmied all around under there looking for openings and access points. I found two large ones that had obviously opened up on some of the hellaciously bumpy roads during our trip. We sealed them up. I asked Terry and Stevie if they had ever had this problem because they live in their RV most of the year. Stevie said to seal up all the little openings around pipes and wires with expandable foam. We did this.

After several days and at least 12 traps, nothing. So we decided, OK, maybe the little sucker left. So we cleaned everything, vacuumed everything, and just in case, left the following tempting material out: paper towels in the kitchen, toilet paper in the bath, and a box of tissue in the bedroom (this is what had been disturbed earlier). I figured if there was any activity in the paper department, our visitor was still around. And so we waited. And for the last two days, I went out and checked each morning and, yay, no signs.

And then there was yesterday. I went into the coach, looked in the bedroom, and shoot!! There were little tiny bits of tissue in the bookshelf above the bed. So I called our wildlife guy back and he will come today. But in the meantime, I have taken matter into my own hands. He used peanut butter in his traps and generated no interest. I use bacon in mine. Just a tiny little piece and then I rub bacon grease on the wood as a special attractor. I put a trap in the bottom compartment and I put one in the bedroom. Actually, Janet put one in the bedroom because I'm too scared to go in there.

I have not been in the coach yet this morning because I'm waiting for my trapper. And even though I did not catch anything in the bottom compartment, the bacon is gone. Tonight, I'm trying a new technique I read about. I'm tying the bacon on with a little piece of floss. But maybe, just maybe, I will have a surprise in the inside trap which I could tell you about if I had the nerve to go in there. So stay tuned. I'm hoping to have some good news in the next few days. And for you non-RVers, this is a pretty common occurrence, unfortunately. Those little suckers can get in a hole that's only 1/4" wide. And yes, I now know way more than I wanted to know about this topic although I did learn a lot of it at my mother's knee. After all, I did grow up on a farm.

It Begins Again In Autumn

 A friend asked me today if I still had my blog. I really didn't know what to say. I do have the blog but I haven't written in it for almost an entire year. The last time I wrote we had a very sick dog. That lovely creature has since crossed the Rainbow Bridge but I didn't think I could come back to this because I thought it would be too painful.

 But then, I decided to post just a few autumn pictures and then, suddenly, I thought that it would be a very good idea to begin where I used to go when I needed a jump-start. I need to do my gratitude list. And so, as I begin this blog anew, I am grateful for these many things on this day:

Beautiful, cool temperatures that have finally arrived; a funny, precious little Norwich Terrier named Sibyl; the continued life of my Aunt Rosie who is 99 years old; the stained glass class and dog obedience classes that challenge my brain, my dexterity, and my ability to convince a little dog that, yes, she does know these moves and I'd appreciate it if she proved it; the garden beds that are not growing weeds while I sleep; the dropping tree leaves that remind me of the changing seasons both in the yard and in me; my new glasses that finally work right; friends that are willing to come over and help me work on yard projects that are too much for just one or two persons; the anticipation of an exciting trip to New York in January; my Kindle, that allows me to read voraciously because I can use a larger font; Candy Crush that keeps me occupied while I watch the World Series.

I am "back on the blog", not everyday, but more often.  And to my blog friend, Loretta, from New York--you have inspired me to get back on the blog. If you can continue to write after losing your dear mother so suddenly and so painfully, I can begin to write again after the loss of my beautiful Cocoa Bean. Thank you.