Friday, December 17, 2021

Mice Clean Up, Bee Meeting, Dinner and Christmas Lights......and Home Again! What a Week!!

We have worked hard every day this week!
That mice mess took days to clean up and we just finished right before we left today - Friday! 


Tuesday was a really busy day and Samantha and Tabitha did their part by alerting us to where mice were hiding. They are just watching the mops aka Great Pyrenees while we were having coffee.
Usually they were slinking around and watching for mice. Louis Dean would watch them watch for mice and then he would follow behind with his foam sealing tuve and steel wool and fill us even the tinest opening.....and some not so small!

I went down to have lunch with Sherry about 1:15....


She makes the prettiest spread of fresh veggies.....


and meats and cheeses!
She always serves this with crackers and it was really good.


After lunch I helped her make pepper poppers for our Waco Bee Club meeting.
I split then and cleaned out the seeds ....


while Sherry filled them!
Then she went back to work and so did I - cleaning up after those dreadful mice!!

Did you know they ate the Werthers CANDY I had on the bakers rack in a bowl?
Every last piece!
I found the empty chewed wrappers all over the place.
What made it even worse was the mice droppings that would normally shake off of things......STUCK!
Because they were STICKY from that candy!

I worked until time to shower and get ready for our bee meeting.


It's always a social event but this was the Christmas Pot Luck and that was even more fun!
 Our favorite people were there - Rosey and the Smiley's!
The club supplies the meat and our vice president cooks the very best brisket EVER!!


I brought a tin of homemade caramels.


Sherry's pepper poppers were a big hit but we managed to bring a few home with us and we split them.
I just love those!!

We had a good time and I went to bed just as soon as we got home.
I slept well that night because Samantha was guarding the pantry - sitting in there all night long watching.....something! Wednesday Louis Dean used that foam Flex Seal and some steel wool to close up the hole where wires are coming in.


Such sweet kitties!!!
Tabitha was having fun in a Cracker Barrel bag and Samantha came over to groom her......hence that sweet pink tongue hanging out!


We worked hard all day long and ended the day with a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers on the front deck. Loving the Christmas lights that we have strung up all the way around the garden on the fences.


When I went in that night, Samantha had her first trophy!
She'd caught her first mouse!

Sherry took half a vacation day on Thursday and she and Dean came down to visit when she got off work.


My Son in law Mike sent me a video of a bucket mouse trap and Louis Dean put together his version of one with what he had available to work with.
We cleaned up and left around 2:00 for a Christmas outing with Dean and Sherry!
First we did some errands and one of those was Home Depot to get more mice bait and other deterrants.


We had an early dinner at the Coffee Shop Cafe in McGregor, Texas!
Louis Dean siad, "Take a picture of them!!!" They were holding hands but by the time I had my phone up - they had just dropped them as they prepared to go in.
The food was delicious! It's one of the best Cafes in Texas and had a whole wall of newspaper and magazine articles and awards!

From there we went to look at Christmas lights!


There's one huge estate in McGregor that has an amazing display.
You can drive through it and there's even areas to walk around.


In a neighborhood on our way to the Big Attraction......


I love the decorated tractor!


Manger scenes are so special......


and I was happy to see so many beautiful ones.


THIS was at the McGregor place.....


I don't take good pics so these will have to do.


SO much and SO many displays!!


Someone is a wood worker....


and a creative one, at that!


Chandy, Bella would LOVE this display!!
This was in the outdoor living area of the estate.


After this, I told Sherry we might as well go home because nothing could top what we saw there!
It was a great way to end our December visit to the ranch.


I set the calendar for our return as is my custom.
It will be next year!!
I managed to get the entire camper clean.....more or less. Still a few drawers in the kitchen to clean out and I have so many huge black bags filled with covers, sheets, blankets and all manner of cloths, towels and such. I will be washing for days!

I don't think we will return to another mess like we faced on Monday.
Mice do not like scent and I filled every available plug with a Glade or Airwick plug in....using the strongest fragrance I could find. Apple cinnamon mostly. We have mice bait in traps placed all around the camper. Cats can't get to the bait so it will be safe for our kitties. Then there's that Hillbilly thing he made! Dean and Sherry will be checking it for us while we are gone. Just in case some mice really do go for the peanut butter and fall in the water.


The gate swings the other way as we left the ranch this afternoon.

I'll be honest....this was a rough time for me.
My claustrophobia kicked in and I had a few panic attacks. I haven't had one of those in years!
Louis Dean worked non stop and so did I. There was next to no down time.
I did manage to finish the Christmas truck painting and brought it home to dry and will glaze it Monday. Hope it's dry enough to wrap for Christmas Day in Fort Worth.

We stopped in Hillsboro at the Lone Star Cafe - our favorite place to eat on our way back home.


My handsome husband who was so patient with me and worked so hard to help me get the camper clean. I used to be completely neurotic about cleaning but have mellowed out over the last 20 years or so. But still......this whole mice invasion hit me pretty hard! I do thank God that it wasn't rats!!
Not at all sure how I would have handled that - but you do what you have to do - I do know that.
We had rats when I was a little girl and we lived on Stewart Drive in Fort Worth. It was an industrial neighborhood and next door to a lumber company and rats were a real problem.
I had to face a rat once and grabbed a potato before HE got it!
So.....I guess the BIG invasion by small mice could have been so much worse.


I am feeling better already!
Wearing my very favorite Christmas shirt helps.
I bought it at a craft fair in Madill, Oklahoma about 25 years ago.
I loved that yearly craft fair and went every November for years.
The shirt WAS flannel......but is now as light as air.
I never pack this shirt away but keep it in my closet year round - and wear it whenever I feel the need for a comfy cozy feeling.


I had the senior size taco salad......and Louis Dean had the chicken fried steak, of course!
WITH extra gravy!! 


He did a good job driving us home!
Back in the big city!

Louis Dean unloaded and I started the laundry and put the stuff up as he brought it in.
He took a nice hot soaking bath and then I took a long hot shower.


This is where I started tonight's catch up journal entry!
I was typing away when Louis Dean came in to tell me there was a Christmas movie on and he paused it and would wait for me to finish so we could watch it together.
"You're not supposed to watch Christmas movies by yourself!" he said.
So we are just finishing ......


I'd never seen this one before!

So we are back home safe and sound.
All was well here when we arrived. No surprises!
And now it is only a week until Christmas!
I have cookies to make and things to do!
Christmas music is playing now non stop and I'm going to love every minute of these remaining  December days - both the week before Christmas and the week after will be just as special.

Christmas is coming!!!





14 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

Your Christmas blog background is so pretty! What do you think has your claustrophobia acting up? I did not remember you have it. Maybe mouse stress. My favorite lights pic is th tractor! Your caramels look heavenly!

Bluebird49 said...

I'm glad you got home feeling a bit better. Yes, it could have been worse, but it was bad!
Hope you are sleeping well!💕💕

Brenda said...

Thank you for the gorgeous card…you are so talented…perhaps after Christmas, paint for fun more…read…work puzzles…metime…

Hootin Anni said...

My goodness. What a "tail" to tell us. I don't like rodents in my house. I'd be frantic and wearing a mask even without the pandemic.

Those pepper poppers look scrumptious.

Enjoy your time home for the holidays, and soon it will be the 3rd of Jan.

MimiG said...

Oh Linda, I hate you had so much work to do at the camper!
Enjoy this week - I'll be baking and making candy too. Start tonight after I get home from errands - ordering new glasses, funeral home visitation (friend's dad passed away), grocery store.
Mailing my cards this morning - got yours yesterday. Will put it with all of the others - love each and every one..
Merry Christmas to you and LD - may God continue to bless you each and every day.
Love,
Mary

MadSnapper said...

I can relate to your claustrophobic panic attacks. stress does that to me also, I feel trapped because things are so bad and I know i have to DEAL yet don't want to and think I can't. what happened to you with the mice is what happened to me during the 6 weeks of hell of Bob getting the knee surgery. this time though i knew what to expect and there have been no panics. yet. I do hope all that work has mouse proofed the house. after all this time of you going there, i wonder what triggered the mouse house attack since this hasn't happened before. there are electroinc mouse repellors at home depot. don't know if they work. so happy your trip home was good, no one got lost, your house was move in ready and lots of hot water for both of you.. i have not heard of this movie you watched.

Vee said...

A lesser woman would have a complete breakdown over a mouse invasion like that one. Yikes! I also use teabags and peppermint oil to keep them at bay. I loathe mice and can't imagine why God created them.

Glad that you are back to Christmas Central and may the siege of the mice be well over. Have a fabulous and productive weekend,

Changes in the wind said...

So sorry for all the mess the mice made and glad you had the cats to help patrol. Hopefully it won't happen again and you won't come back to such a mess. Thank you for my card, I love it.

Deb J. in Utah said...

I missed a couple of your posts and didn't hear about the mice invasion. Good thing you have cats around. Glad you got that taken care of. So sorry it happened but it sounds like another one of life's little surprises. Glad you are home safely. I love the Christmas display you went to. Have a great weekend. P.S. Got your lovely Christmas card yesterday! See you again soon!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Oh my...what a time you had! Glad you both worked as a team and got it done but it's a crumby job to say the least! Glad you are back home and I hope you'll enjoy this coming week and not work yourself to death. Holiday hugs to you both, Diane

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I imagine it felt really good to be back home again. We are doing our family Christmas today, so for me Christmas comes early this year. I'm still not done decorating, but at least I have a lighted Christmas wreath outside. Hope your Christmas week is Merry and Bright !

photowannabe said...

Wow...Wow...Wow...
What a week you had.
Louis Dean was your Knight in Shining Armor.
the most touching thing in your entire Journal was LD coming in and saying you can't watch a Christmas movie alone... That's pure LOVE.!!!
Sue

BeachGypsy said...

Hey there Linda! Love that picture of the kitties looking out the door, so cute! wow, SO NOT FUN.....HAVING TO CLEAN UP from the dang mice! What a mess!! and during the holidays too. Will you please post or email me the recipe for the pepper poppers, I would like to try those as Mr. Front Porch just harvested a bunch of nice peppers from the kitchen garden. Thanks!

Carole said...

Those rotten meeces! Glad you recovered your mood - I would have taken longer! And those decorations - just wow - Texas sure goes to town! Cheers