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.

OFF WITH THE OLD AND ON WITH THE NEW

"Sometimes it's just good to

get out your memories

and laugh." -Jesse

Quoted in My Wild Eden 

Nothing momentous happened to me during 2014. Nothing catastrophic happened either and I am thankful for that. A highlight for me was that my daughter and her husband found a house only five minutes away, so it is easy to pop in for coffee.

Here is a pictorial summary of my year - 2014 - month by month. I enjoyed putting the images together and revisiting my year. How quickly it went.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

My favourite month was December.  I always enjoy the run up to Christmas.

In August I turned 60. It doesn't seem very long ago that I thought 60 was ancient and yet upon reaching that age I feel no different to the way I felt at 16. (Except I can't jump as high!)The only compensation to turning 60 is the knowledge that all my friends are in the same boat. We are all aging together.

I have a few plans for the year. I really want to get my house in order and brighten it up. My beautiful daughter R has been organising me along these lines which is exactly what I needed.

I want to get rid of a lot of stuff - I have far too much clutter. I feel as though it saps my energy.

My garden has run away pretty well unchecked for years, except when my wonderful brother and P:-) have had a go at it now and then. I really want to get on top of it this year.

I want to increase my sewing and spruce up my wardrobe.

And I want to increase my craft output.

I have the time to do a lot. Finances are limited so I shall have to be artful.

But I am looking forward to this year. I wonder what it will bring.

Interesting sites

1.

 Ordos Museum in Gobi Desert

Photo source

Shaped like a large undulating blob in the Gobis Desert, the Ordos Museum is clad in polished metal tiles that are resistant to frequently occurring sandstorms. Galleries inside the museum are housed in smaller blobs, connected by bridges.Click here to read more

2.

Seal wanders 20 miles away from home.

Photo source

We’ve all heard the saying “Not all who wonder are lost,” but for this grey seal, there are no excuses. He’s definitely just plain lost. Click here to read more.

3.

Half electric bike - half electric car

Photo source

The Lit Motor's Lit C-1 combines elements of the electric bike and the electric car. It features electronic gyroscopes that allow the vehicle to stay upright in the event of a collision! Click here to read more.

MOVING ON TO CHRISTMAS

Primarily, loving is an action rather than a feeling. It is practical and enterprising in its efforts to do good. It has eyes that look for opportunities to serve others.

Harry Goodhew

I am going on another decluttering splurge. I got rid of a lot of stuff last year when I was unsure as to whether I would have to sell my house or not and where I would be living. But I still have quite a way to go. My daughter is helping me. She is being my accountability person. She has had to do a lot of decluttering herself recently.

I am working on a little bit at a time. Baby steps. One of the things I have to stop doing is dumping stuff inside my front hall when I come in the door. The hall floor often becomes my letter filing system - which actually works quite well for me but does cause me some embarrassment when people come to the door.

According to Louis Barbauta "the clutter accumulates, because I’m not constantly purging the old." I need to start purging - especially my craft supplies. 

The problem is that I have bought a lot of craft supplies over the years and haven't had time to use most of them. I have been setting up a craft room but it is only small and currently quite chaotic. I don't want to get rid of too much because now I have more time to actually do some craft and I won't be able to afford to replace stuff any more now that I am on a pension.

My latest creation was a felt name for P:-)'s grand- daughter Sophie.

I made a card for P:-)'s daughter's boyfriend.

 

My mango tree is  flowering. I hope some mangoes appear. Last year they were too high to pick and the Catbirds ate them anyway.

I love toadstools and my daughter R bought me this cute little solar toadstool.

It glows very brightly.

I finally put an ad up in the local fruit market for tutoring people with spelling and reading problems. My printer wasn't working so I had to do it by hand.

It's been a week and I haven't heard anything yet. Early days. I may advertise in the local news paper after Christmas. I achieve pretty good results with my tutoring so I envisage that once I had one or two clients word will get out. That is what happened when I was tutoring a number of years ago.

Ever a bird watcher I spotted this bird in Davistown when we were there a couple of weeks ago. It took me a while to get around to identifying it.

It is a Long-Billed Corella. There was a small flock of them near Cockle Channel at Davistown.

This is my favourite time of the year - the run up to Christmas. Although it is a little early I will share a vintage picture with you that combines my love of Christmas and toadstools.

Interesting sites
1.

 Jay Shafer practically invented the Tiny House

Photo source

 This is a really interesting article about Jay Shafer, the man who practically invented what is now known as the Tiny House. Tiny houses have become a minimalist design and lifestyle ideal. Their tiny size permits no extraneous stuff. They occupy a fraction of the spatial and carbon footprint of a normal home. They are usually owned outright, sidestepping expensive mortgages and financial institutions. And by virtue of their trailer mounting, they can often avoid traditional building regulations. Click here  to read more.

2.

 Artists travel abandoned railways.

 

Photo source

Mexican artists and brothers Ivan Puig (previously) and Andrés Padilla Domene decided to traverse the nearly 9,000 km of railway in Mexico and Ecuador that, in 1995, was abandoned and left to decay. But they didn’t travel in any old fashion. In a project that ran from 2010 to 2012 the artists rode in a striking silver road-rail vehicle called SEFT-1, which they designed and built themselves so as to travel both on rail and road. Click here to read more.


3.

15 Habits of People Who Have Effectively Lost Over 20 – 30lbs and Kept it Off

Photo source

All 15 of these habits are real everyday habits that anyone can implement into their lifestyle. All without sacrificing yourself or any of the food you love. These habits don’t require a monthly fee, for you to buy special diet foods, or the need to follow a list of complicated rules.Click here to read more.