Between the Tapeworm and the Hanta Virus

I love life in the country! The night skies void of light pollution and a clear view (except on cloudy nights) of the stars. The quiet calmness. The space for kids to run, yell and laugh with no one to complain of the "noise." The extra space to "stretch out" without the feeling of cramping the neighbors. The benefits are NUMEROUS!
But there are also the drawbacks.
Rodents. Rodents! Rodents!!
I've posted about these little bothers before, but I thought our days of the invaders were done.
We now have a fabulous mousing cat. He adopted us about a year ago and he is a master at his craft. He's such a great mouser we should buy stock in worm pills. Each time he catches (and eats) a mouse he's probably exposed and injesting a tapeworm. I must say, being the germ-phobe-cleanie that I am, I'm completely disgusted when I find a remnant of the tapeworm on a chair. Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me feel like cleaning!
Back to Master Luke, the Jedi Mouser. He's so awesome, I think he can catch even the most cunning from the darkside. But I guess I was wrong. Or maybe he takes care of the out-of-doors and is "off duty" inside. Whatever the case, we have a mysterious prowler who makes his way up into some built-in cabinetry under our stairs. It's in these cabinets I store candles, childhood paperwork and linens.
I got a candle out about 2 days ago and there was no sign. Today I opened the drawer and, Oh My Word! It was littered with mouse evidence! Yuck!
Years ago I read a book called The Coming Plague and it was at that time that I learned about Hantavirus. Now everytime I see rodent droppings, I'm reminded of this potentially fatal virus. My first response is a desire to suit our kids up in Hazmat clothing and disinfect the surroundings. I may be going overboard a bit, but my distaste for the pests is apparent.
So, needless to say, I've cleaned out, vacuumed out and set traps for that/those little buggers. Let's hope we catch it (them) soon, before sweet husband has to go back to work.
Wish us success!

Invasion of the Fruit Fly

I should learn my lesson! In an earlier post about mice, I SHOULD have learned my lesson. But, NO! Once again, my "I'm sure glad I don't have THAT problem..." thoughts are bringing to FRUIT-ion a big problem in our home. Fruit Flies!

Off and on, we have a fruit fly here and there, but nothing major. Over the last couple of days we've become the fruit fly's best and greatest hang out. I think the word got out that we were having a birthday party last weekend with lots of great, fresh food and that we have an yummy compost bucket filled with fruit and vegetable waste. The annoying little buggers have pulled up in their station wagons filled with family and are making a home to spend their 10 day lifetime in pure bliss.

While they're having a frenzy of a good time, I'm going NUTS! Being the germ-phobe, anti-bug (in the home) person that I am, I'm having a hard time with this. I think they're mulitplying faster than I can vacuum them up. Last night I saw them perched on my kitchen window, so I pulled out the vacuum and sucked them up. No sooner did I do this, their relatives saw the vacancy and moved right in.

Then I decided to do some research on how to get rid of them and they decided to check out the computer too. I was batting them away between clicking on various links. I did find a great link with many helpful tips. Looks like I'll be cleaning the house from top to bottom today! If you're having the same problem check out http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Fruit-Flies.

Hopefully the problem will be in check in the next couple of days. Wish me luck!

Deer Report: Garden Discovery

The garden has been great this summer! We've had lots of peas, lettuce, beets, radishes, raspberries and more. I can't seem to harvest the food quick enough. I'm sad to say some things go to seed before we can eat or give them away.

The word among the animal kingdom spread that we had a bumper crop and couldn't keep up with it. The vegetables were going to waste and the animals weren't going to have it. I think the mice told the birds, who told the rabbits, who then blabbed to the deer that there was an abundance and the getting was good.

The cherry trees were the first to go. One morning I woke up and went out to the garden and there were no longer leaves on the cherry trees. It seemed that the birds, and possibly the coyotes, ate the cherries and then called in the deer to finish the job. It was serious!

We then had company over who wanted to see the garden and much to our surprise we were greeted with beet and strawberry stems. I guess the leafy greens were a big hit! A vegetarian feast!

I've always said I'd plant enough to keep everyone happy, but I wasn't expecting this. I guess netting is our next project...

On the project side: Yesterday we had limestone delivered to finish the pathways throughout the garden and then we'll spread the excess bark. The weeding is never finished, but it's keeps me quiet so I can learn some life lessons.

I've hired a young man to do some weeding for me. While we're out in the garden he tells me that when he gets to heaven he's going to ask God why He made weeds. I tell him that God talks to me while I'm in the garden and if he's really quiet God might just answer his question.

To be quiet... could that could possibly be one of the the reasons for weeds. Our weeds of life need to be dealt with and pulled out so the good can grow. And during the time of pulling the weeds, if we're quiet, we can learn so many other secrets of life.

Scary Moment!

Well, I was just relaxing reading my email and enjoying a moment and through the hole in our sliding screen door bounds our declawed, overweight (close to 20 pounds), indoor cat. I thought he was just enjoying a few minutes on the back deck. Or maybe he was under the back deck.

He proudly pranced in with something dangling from his mouth. That something was a MOUSE!! The mouse was just stunned enough that I was able to run into the garage grab a shovel and shoo our cat away so I could scoop the mouse up and THROW him back outside where he belongs. OOOOOooooooooo YUCK!!! I'm not crazy about the things, especially when they are in our house. Definitely not where they belong.

How our cat managed to catch something that should be much quicker and agile is a mystery to me. No more hunting for the evening. I should have a talk with him, I don't mind him taking care of business, just don't don't bring your trophies indoors.