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!!!