A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE (#2 September 2017)

I have a mouse in my house. I also have a full blown phobia of small furry animals - cats, mice, rats, rabbits. (Not dogs - they are hairy.) So a mouse in my house is a cause for grave concern as it can completely disrupt my life.

On Sunday night a small, dark mouse ran across my lounge room floor. Such is my horror of mice and rats that I often imagine I see them out of the corner of my eye, but then when I have a proper look it turns out to be a shadow. But this was no shadow.

From here the evening took a downward turn. Peter spent a long time chasing the mouse with a broom and I spent most of that time in safety - sitting outside in the car. I don't know where the mouse ended up but I ended up sleeping in the car...which turned out to be quite delightful.

Peter had just cleaned my car windows so I had a beautiful view of the stars. With the seat reclined in my trusty 2002 Silver Camry I could stretch out completely under my quilt which kept me toasty warn. The morning brought beautiful bird songs and I spotted several birds I hadn't seen for a while including a Catbird.

I slept in the car for a few hours the next night because I woke up at 4 am and thought I could hear the mouse in the kitchen but when I checked it out the next morning I could see no evidence.

I am pretty sure the mouse has gone from my kitchen, lounge room and dining room. I have put out baits, which I really don't like to do, because I know it is not a nice way for a mouse to die, and these have not been touched so I am pretty sure the mouse has disappeared. But where? From whence it came? And will it return or has it been too terrified by Peter crashing after it with a broom. I guess time will tell.


DECORATING


I came across this picture below and think it may be a good way to go with my kitchen.

Photo source

I plan to paint my kitchen black before I get my house valued. I do plan to replace the kitchen at some stage after that.

At the moment my poor old kitchen is rather sad. The cupboards are almost 40 years old. They were painted 13 years ago, but that paint is wearing off. Because I plan to replace it within the next year, I feel that I can go mad and really change things with some paint, and if it doesn't work, it doesn't matter.

Sad old kitchen

 

I plan to paint my lounge room white and cover the lounge.
I bought these 2 quilt covers for a total of $8 at the Salvos.

Wilbur on two quilts

I will bleach them and then use them to make patchwork
slip covers for my lounge.  

I have a lovely shiny new soap dish above my bath. I managed to smash the old one. Luckily the styles of soap dishes haven't changed much over the years and Peter was able to find a matching one in Bunnings.

New soap dish

  

The gutters on the front of my house have disintegrated. In order to replace them Peter has been removing old Alsynite sheeting. This has left a whole area open to the weather and the sunlight.

Roof off pergola

The old sheeting was covered in lichen which I think looked quite beautiful but certainly darkened the area and the adjacent rooms in the house. 

Alsynite sheets on the ground

 

Lichen on Alsynite sheeting

RECIPE 

It's cauliflower season. I bought a beautiful creamy white cauliflower nestled in green leaves from the fruit market on Monday.

I grew up in the days of meat and 3 veg for dinner every night, although I must give kudos to my mother for being an innovative cook for the times. We did have the occasional spaghetti Bolognaise or curry or even battered Tasmanian scallops deep fried. But cauliflower remained a boiled, soggy ghostly vegetable on the side of my plate.  

These days I love it but I bake it.

Baked cauliflower with herbs (optional) and mustard seed.

1. Take one cauliflower and break it into florets. 
2. Lay it in a baking dish lined with baking paper. 
3. Spray it with olive oil. 
4. Sprinkle over some stock powder. I use vegeta. 
5. Toss in a couple of tablespoons of mustard seeds. 
6. Spray gently with water 
7. Cover with sprigs of thyme(optional) and oregano (optional)   
8. Bake for one hour at 180 degrees, or longer if you like. 
9. Remove the herbs and serve.

 
Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the final product, but you can take my word for it that it looked delicious.

Many thanks to those of you who take time to comment. I really appreciate it.


 Interesting sites

 1.

Pods for houseless

Photo source

Click here to read about architect designed pods for the houseless in Portland, Oregon, USA.

2.

 Incredible 'sea organ'

Photo source

Incredible 'sea organ' uses waves to make music in Croatia.
Click here to read more.