Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The mouse in the house...

Princess Sophie brought a mouse into the house, in the dark of night when Mr E could not see.

She'd scratched at the front door to be let in and he stumbled half asleep from the bedroom and down the hall, opened the door a crack till she slipped past as he normally does when she wants to come inside at 2 am, and returned to bed.


Fast forward to 6 am.

I wake up and walk through the house, switching on all the ceiling fans as I go because it's been another hot and humid night and we need more fresh air flow through the rooms before returning to the relief of air conditioning a few hours later.

Sophie is in my sewing room, gazing at the small white bookcase beside my sewing machine, entranced like a child watching Cinderella for the first time. 

I open a small can of salmon and empty it into her bowl. She doesn't move from her position. This is weird because our feline child loves her salmon and nothing distracts her from it.

So I stand beside her and stare at the shelving. I have white baskets in the shelves with things like solid background fabrics and an on-the-go churn dash quilt...




She stares, I stare...nothing.
And then she scratches at one of the baskets, really scratches, with intense purpose.

So I pull the basket out and whoa, a mouse is sitting there plain as day staring back at the two of us.
At first I screamed because it was a shock, and then I screamed for Mr E to "come here right now!"...and he did. 

I quickly scooped up Sophie before she pounced on her prey because ain't no-one creating a blood bath in my sewing room. Five minutes later Mr E had caught the mouse and 'disposed' of it, Sophie was eating her salmon and I was planning a day of DEEP cleaning in the sewing room.
Just the idea that a mouse had been roaming the room for a few hours trying to escape Sophie had me imagining all sorts of yukky stuff and I wanted everything clean...really clean. 

So that was my Saturday.

All day long I emptied the sewing room, scrubbed, polished, purged, re-organised and finally felt at peace again. I found no evidence of mouse droppings anywhere but behind the white basket so I guess that's where the little critter ran as soon as it got loose from Sophie when she brought it inside at 2 am. 






All my fabrics are were neatly re-stacked on the brown bookcase and in hindsight this was good for them because everything has been re-folded to avoid fade lines.









Sunday and Monday I carried on deep cleaning through the lounge room, dining room and kitchen and I'm sure I've dropped a million calories which for some reason haven't chosen to show themselves missing on the scales just yet. 

Today I chilled out and spent some time in the kitchen making fresh juice for Mr E and some sugar free Raspberry Chia Jam from Sarah Wilson's book "Simplicious".






This is lick-the-bowl YUM. 

In fact it was so good I thought I'd make her buckwheat slice base and bake a sugar free version of Raspberry Coconut Almond Slice.





Big tick for Sarah's Chia Jam, big tick for my own Coconut Almond topping....




....huge yuk for Sarah's buckwheat slice base. 

Mr E and I will scrape the jam and topping off the slice, toss the awful base in the bin, and serve the lovely topping duo with a nice dollop of Greek yoghurt for dessert tonight.
Always have a plan B.

That's pretty much normal for my domestic life really. 
Be prepared with plan B or C...




...because plan A working out is rare.

Don't you love the buttons and lace in the photo above? 
A present from dear friend Margaret.


Tomorrow I shall simply indulge myself in the sewing room and play with fabric.
I've already finished the Stitchery Club designs for April so I'm going to see if I can finish a quilt project that I've not had time for, or at least get further along with it.

What will you be doing?

hugs


21 comments:

selina said...

your DEEP clean had me laughing, it seemed so funny
good girl Sophie! love it when my cat brings mice or rats home, i know they are doing their job, very annoying though if they escape, which is rare as she eats them.
wow your sewing room & fabric stash looks awesome!
that raspberry jam looks delicious too, it would be nice in an apple crumble too
thanx for sharing

Kaye said...

I know you are glad you didn't find anything droppings anywhere else. They can make a mess and destroy fabric in no time. Your sewing room looks beautiful, so nice and neat!
Kaye Walker

Brenda said...

We no longer have a cat which has led us to a winter mouse problem in our walk out basement. Many traps have had to been set and I am looking forward to when we can put them away until next fall comes around again. Your sewing room looks very well put together after your cleaning. It is always fun to find things you have forgotten about when that happens. Love the look of that jam! Can the recipe be shared?

Debra said...

I had a cat that did the same thing, but in my case, I encountered the little varmint in the bathroom. I was alone in the house, so I threw a towel on top of the critter and tossed the whole thing out of the window. I believe that the mouse got away uninjured. Love your sewing room!

Tricia T said...

Don't you just love cats?? :). It sounds like you have been pushing your limits with all that cleaning. Be sure to take some time to rest and recharge!! Your sewing room is beautiful, though, and I bet it was soooo rewarding to get it all in order again. Have a wonderful day!!

Elizabeth Bailey-Mitchell said...

Maybe I need a mouse in the house, to get me to clean/organize my sewing room! We do have critters in the attic and the walls, as I can hear them at night. But it's only in the winter, when the snows are deep. It is an old house with many a mouse portal, I'm sure. I take pity on them and let them live the winter with us, as long as they keep to the crawlspaces, and don't disturb the human spaces. I remember at my grandparent's camp, as a child, sitting very still in front of the fieldstone fireplace, eagerly waiting for our little visitors. The mice would come out at night and scamper across the mantel. But mice at camp and mice at home are two different things. One must protect the fabric stash!

A Joyful Cottage said...

Eeyew! Not a mouse. The only thing worse is a rat! Princess Sophie needs to leave her treasures outdoors. You can tell her I said so! Your sewing room looks wonderful, though. Very tidy, and that alone is inspiration for creativity. Today I'll finish putting fringe on my latest rug, and do some fabric/mixed media collages. Enjoy your freshly cleaned sewing room, Jenny! xo

Anonymous said...

Okay, I laughed out loud a couple of times. That Sophie. At least she didn't just abandon the mouse to its havoc-wreaking potential. Everything looks lovely, and I'd bet it wasn't bad before. That jam looks great, and too bad the cake base didn't pan out. There's got to be some kind of sugar-free shortbread that would work instead, or low-sugar maybe. Thanks for another enjoyable look at your days. Hope your head is not miserable - fun to have some time for your own project!

Brenda said...

Now, now...my Dear Wonderful Christian Friend Jenny! You know the good Lord made every creature for a purpose and whilst I am still laughing so loudly Miss Dodger had to come and sit and look at me to see what in the world is wrong with me! Your precious cat was made to find that little mouse and save it from something terrible outside and keep watch over it until you politely SCREAMED for help and poor Mr. E had to come running and put that visitor back outside? I am laughing even harder and louder! I am thrilled you did get some more of your delightful cleaning done throughout the house...really I am, but I must ask my Dear Friend what do you do when you see a Spider? You see that is when my daughter Screams and refuses to enter that room again until you have proven to her that the dreaded BEAST of a Thing is Dead. Thank you for sharing and I love you Jenny! Enjoy your dessert some more, you truly have earned it!

Anonymous said...

My three cats, now all sadly not with us brought me many gifts over the years, mice, birds, frogs and a worm! Luckily they never got into my craft room though I did have a few unpleasant early morning surprises which meant some hasty cleaning. Enjoy your nice relaxing day .
Alison x

Michelle said...

Wish my two would earn their keep a little... they are both curled up on the lazyboys! I have recently spied a very fat mouse running around in the garage and seems to have made it's home in the motor of the freezer... I have tried locking them(the cats) in there but to no avail... I'm sure hoping the mouse doesn't chew anything it shouldn't!

Anonymous said...

Good morning Jenny,so glad Mr E caught the mouse and boy you have got a beautiful and very pretty sewing room.
Must find this jam recipe and what a shame the base wasnt very nice,i hope your day is a good one my friend.

Kathleen said...

Oh, been there done that! Only it was in my kitchen!! I'm getting chills just thinking about where it walked. You can bet I thoroughly sanitized my kitchen and everything in it! And I'm sorry, we had no mercy on the critter. He was trapped and dumped. I just wish I knew how he got in!

Wendyb said...

You can always trust the furbabies! lol x

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Yuk on a mouse in the house. Good job catching it right away! Lovely stash and organized closet. Nancy

Martha Roberts said...

Love this post. I am with you--protect the fabric at all costs. Our cat brings us treasures from time to time. It sends me scurrying the other direction until the hubby takes care of it. Sewing room is picture perfect!

Ondrea said...

I have visions of that poor little mouse shivering in fright from you and your cat lol. Mice tend to leave little reminders that they have been there so it was probably a good idea having a good clean. When my girls were young they used to keep Easter eggs in their rooms but a mouse used to get into their drawers and leave droppings through everything. Not pleasant. Had to wash all their clothes and clean the drawers out. Your sewing room is so tidy! No matter how I try my sewing room still looks messy. Need to tgrow more things out I think. Hope your migraines are staying away. Angel hugs.

Águeda said...

I understand your dilemma with the mouse. I had a moth near my cloths once and all the stash was washed.
Your effort has been worth it: Your room is beautiful and extremely clean. :) Thank you for the recipe. Hugs.

Winifred said...

Oh my what a start to the day. We had a cat that brought mice into the house and I managed to catch one before she finished it off. The ungrateful little monkey bit me as I scooped it up to release back into he garden.

You have done a brilliant job cleaning up. Think I need something like that to get me to clear out our tip of a spare bedroom! Maybe not a mouse though.

I've not used buckwheat before tend to stick to simpler bases ones I know we'll like. At least you had your reserve in hand to enjoy.

Suze said...

Ah I am so very glad that our cats are indoor animals. That bylaw has saved me from some horrible things it seems.

Your room looks so lovely.

Frances Campbell said...

Love the post! My favorite kind of exercise is deep cleaning, because then I'll spend a million calories while also getting the house in order, hahaha. Your sewing room looks awesome, btw. Thank you for sharing your days!