Tuesday, September 18, 2012

A Day in The Country

It's a beautiful day today, cool and sunny. I had lots of plans for getting things done, but things don't always work out as we plan.

Annie came in the house last evening with one of her dew claws (that's a dog's "thumb" that grows out the side of its foot) sticking out at a 45ยบ angle. Obviously she had suffered an accident, but would not allow us to examine her foot. We resolved to take her to the vet first thing this morning, but when morning came, the dew claw had completely disappeared. No doubt it will turn up in the vacuum cleaner sometime soon. (Sorry, no photo of the missing dew claw; she refuses to be photographed.)

We were relieved to have that problem resolved but then discovered mouse droppings in almost every room of the house. Whoa! They were on the kitchen counters, on the coffee table, on the bedroom window sill, on the bathroom floor, on my desk, and who knows where else. A mouse even chewed the edge off a doily that my grandmother crocheted! Yep, that little black thing is a mouse turd.


Unless a mouse poops about 40 times a night, it appeared that an extended mouse family has moved in. We couldn't find our mouse traps (they're here somewhere) so Dennis went to town right after breakfast for eight new ones. Yep, those are mouse turds on the window sill, too.


After the traps were set there was nothing to do in that department but wait, so I moved on to the day's tasks. I started laundry. I started bread dough. I did more laundry.

Tasks were waiting outdoors, too. First I went to the garden to see how the new plantings are progressing. The garden gate is decorated with plastic twine removed from straw bales we use for mulch and chicken litter. That's just for fun. The board on the left side of the gate is a rabbit barrier that must be removed and replaced every time we visit the garden


The little radicchio plants are coming along pretty well after a rocky start. I know, radicchio is red and this plant is green, but it will turn red in time.


Oh, my! the turnips are growing like weeds and need thinning. I'll put that on my list of things to do. It's an arduous task. Times like this I wish I were three feet tall. I used to thin seedlings on my knees, but since my wrists were fused it's too difficult to get up, so I bend instead.


Next stop, the chicken house. Although Dennis had gathered the morning eggs, a lot of cackling this afternoon told me there were more waiting. The five young auracana pullets are cranking out eggs every day now. I enjoy the varieties of colors. It's a nice change from brown, brown, brown and more brown.


Supper time is near now. The laundry is done. Three loaves of bread are ready for the oven. I didn't have to go to town today. I'm a happy woman.

2 comments:

Jayhawk Fan said...

No mouse yet?

Shirley said...

Yes! One mouse took the bait that night. There were no new mouse droppings and we haven't seen any since then. I guess one little mouse can poop 40 times in one night.