The Weekend Got Away From Me...

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That, and the fact that I've learned how much work it takes to write a tutorial, has kept me from keepin' on the past two days. Then I'm doing challenges probably from Monday-Wednesday at least for the coming week. Then there will be more tutorials, I promise!

FWIW, while cleaning things up and collecting things to donate to the Salvation Army yesterday, I found a book I had *just* been wishing I had! (Or one like it.) This is about my mouse problem. I have had a mousetrap spring on my right thumb twice. I have, like a black spot at the base of the thumbnail, and it's bruising (just a bit) under the nail. I hope it's as big as it's going to get. I thought for sure I was going to lose the nail. *knock wood*

So, I've been gotten more than the mice have. The first night, I've learned, I was lucky when I caught one right out of the gate. Then the wrestling with traps and setting with cheese happened. The trap sprung on me about oh, 7 times over two days. (Only a really bad injury the first time.) So, in all that springing whilst trying to put the bait (cheese) onto it, well... it resulted in the cheese pieces flying all around. So the two nights that I set the trap successfully, there was other cheese in the area.

I've ended up realizing that there's some kind of really smart mouse (mice?) out there, and they're getting all the cheese, and not getting caught! So, in actuality, all I'm doing is feeding them, and giving them more reason to come back!

So I was reminded of these books that the shopping channels hawk once in a while that include home-made solutions to pest problems. I was really wishing I had one of those. Ta-daa! I found one on my bookshelf! Silly me. So I open it to "mice" -- a category shared with moles and gophers, btw. I found one I had most of the ingredients for. Take a pint of cold tap water, 1 tsp. peppermint oil, 1 tsp. chili powder, ½ ounce tabasco sauce, and cotton balls. Mix ingredients together (except the cotton balls, it points out, lol), then put 10 drops of the mixture on a cotton ball and place it anywhere a rodent problem exists. Rodents are allergic to peppermint and spicy peppers.

On a mission, I go into the kitchen and start to gather the needed ingredients. I was shocked to see I had no chili powder! It's a necessity for one recipe I recall from a great diet I was on once! I knew going in I had no tabasco, but I thought I'd do it with just the peppermint and the chili powder. What I was left with, was cold water and peppermint oil. Figured I'd go to the store for tabasco tomorrow and mix it properly then. So I dipped cotton balls into the water (don't have an available dropper for this purpose) and I put one of them directly into the mouse hole. Then put two next to the trap. THEN put four more in the little doorway that is formed from the cut-out portion of the doors under my sink.

I don't think it worked. I think I heard them (it?) skittering around last evening. I hate that. I mean, I know they're there, but I don't want to HEAR them. It's creepy.

OH! I heard a noise earlier that sounded like it came from the kitchen. "Mouse trap," I thought. I immediately discounted the idea, because it hadn't even been loaded. Just while typing this, I thought I'd go check and see. I GOT ANOTHER ONE! They (it?) got around the peppermint just fine, but the trap got it. That's some sort of success, anyway.

The manager of this building told me he has them now, too. His strategy of choice is something called a glue trap. I wonder if he's gotten any yet?

On another subject, it's now 81° outside! This is crazy weather, and I know the majority of the nation (U.S.A.) is hating on us right now. Probably around the world, if they're even aware of the weather in southern California. It's supposed to be a teensy bit warmer tomorrow, then 81° again Tuesday, and then we drop down by 10°. I don't want to be sounding like a whiner or anything, but I wish Mother Nature would look upon us and PICK A SEASON, PLEASE! I don't know what to wear from week to week!

Anyway, that's me, now. The battle continues. I hope your weekend has been significantly less creepy and not too frozen!
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