I Have Uninvited House Guests...

MICE! Luckily I don't hate mice, nor am I afraid of them. But, they are not allowed to reside in my home unless they sign a lease and pay rent! I thought I had seen a little flurry of fur under my stove the other night but didn't think much of it. Last night I dropped a few kibbles of dog food on the closet floor and left them thinking I'd sweep today. Well guess what, those little kibbles were gone this morning! Somewhere, probably under my stove, is a stache of dog food waiting to feed some hundreds of mice babies. OMG...I have to get the poison out since I can't do the trap thing. I hate to have to "dispose" of the bodies. I know, pretty juvenile, but it seems that every time I use traps the dang mouse is never actually dead. He's always just caught by his toe or foot and then what do you do? Last time that happened I felt so sorry for him that I let him go...outside of course. I have even used "live" traps. Yes, they work, but not very good. The mouse tripped it about 6 times before I actually caught him. Then I walked him over to the field near my house and let him go. Am I too nice? Should I be hell-bent on wiping out these little suckers? Maybe I'll try the poison...again. We used to live in a house in the country where we got lots of mice, there were horse and corn fields around us. I used poison once and the house stunk for weeks! When I moved to this house I never saw any mice. Until lately. I caught one in the live trap in the spring and hadn't seen any since, until now. I suppose they are trying to find a warm place to hunker down for the winter. Well it ain't here! I'm bringing out the big guns, figuratively speaking of course, and dishing up the poison tonight! Adios furballs!

I got a new KnitPicks catalog yesterday and was really impressed with their new needle line called Harmony Wood. They are laminated, colored wood needles and a real thing of beauty. Since they are laminated sheets of colored wood, squeezed together under pressure and glued with a special epoxy (my father was a wood worker) they are probably very sturdy. I plan to order some of the tips since they are compatible with the Options set I already own. I'm not usually a fan of wooden needles, too much drag, and the tips are so fragile. But these may be different. We will see! They sure are pretty to look at, and once again, KnitPicks doesn't pick your pocket with high costs.

On the knitting front...not much to report. I am in a knitting slump. I need to get back my knitting mojo! Since I am off today I have 2 things I want to do...make choc chip cookies and cast on the purple cardigan! Again! For good this time! Since our monthly knitting group in tomorrow night (if you live in the Minneapolis area and would like to attend please e-mail me, we'd love to have you join us!) I feel that I should have that darn cardigan going at least a couple inches. I've been saying I was going to have it finished in time for cold weather, which in Minnesota will be a couple months from now. I best get going on it NOW. My right hand is sore, especially my fingers. I fell last night while walking Summer the greyhound. It had rained all day and the ground was soaked. I was walking on the side of the road and a car came around the bend quite fast so I stepped off the road unto the top of the curb. Bad move, the ground there was slippery mud and my feet just flew out from under me and down I went. I landed in the grass so I didn't get hurt, other than my dignity. But today my right hand and wrist are sore. Maybe knitting will loosen it up and help make it better. Oh...the people in the car watched me fall and just kept on going. Nice.

I am off to pull Big Blue (my Kitchenaid mixer) out of his garage (the pantry cupboard) and start those cookies. Walker will be thrilled to see some homemade treats when he gets home from work. What will I do once he moves out? He is such a joy to have around. He'll be twenty on Saturday, and as much as I hate to think about it, someday he will leave home and I'll be alone. That may be a couple years since he wants to go to school but hasn't a clue as to what for! He'll figure it out, they always do. He'll be the last to leave home, the baby, and it will be hard on this ole mom!