We Had Renters!

See that picture up there on top of the page? That's about what happened to Ole when he tried to get the RV off of our property before the flood came. It wasn't quite that bad but almost. I posted pictures on a previous blog showing Farmer Neighbor Dave and his Big John Deere rescuing Ole and the motorhome. Once we got the rig going out of the muck we brought it up to the church parking lot (hard surface) where we thought it would be safe and sound. You know - with the Lord looking after it and all?? Only thing is, the Lord forgot to talk to one of his church members about being kind and considerate to those in need of assistance. But that's another story for another day.

First of all, I'm coming to you from a different blog this time and will be while we're traveling. I'm not comfortable posting the fact that we're not at home to a blog that I don't have control over - anybody/everybody in the whole world can read the one that's posted to the Areavoices site - I have control over who reads this one - so if you've received this notice, consider yourself quite special!! okay? But anyway, on with the story.

So - Ole and I decided we needed to "get out of Dodge" for a bit following the long bitter winter that we had and all the water stress that followed. Even though we suffered no damage this spring I think it was still one of the more stressful floods we've been through. All the hype for such an extended period of time really got to both of us. Being the RV was located (at that time) in the church parking lot I decided to load up a bunch of clothes baskets and haul everything up to the RV that way. At this point we still couldn't get the RV back in our yard because our driveway was mush. Getting stuck once was enough - Ole didn't want to do that again so this was the only alternative. Inconvenient? yes, but doable.

So in the process of checking things over and doing some cleaning in the RV, I opened up the drawer that held my kitchen towels and dish clothes. There in the very front was the biggest mouse nest I've ever seen. It consisted of a half a roll of paper towels that had been hauled all the way from a cabinet in the bathroom AND pieces of all my kitchen towels. I tell you, these little critters had made a haul and constructed it into one of the coziest nests that could be. In checking all the other drawers and cabinets in my kitchen I was presented with mouse turds and lots of them in every opening available. I tell you, these mice had a hay day all winter long.

So I loaded up everything from the kitchen and hauled it home to run through the dishwasher, bleached all the drawers and cabinets. Extra work I didn't count on.

This is about the time that the RV was relocated - and parked at Farmer Neighbor Dave's house. It looked a little out of place parked among all those big John Deere tractors, but at least THEY were welcoming. So that explains why one evening Farmer Neighbor Dave and his wife were visiting with us in the RV when Cindy saw a mouse run across the floor, under the davenport and up to the front of the rig where it climbed in an opening and went under the dash. Dave went to get a live trap that he had, set it in front of where we saw the mouse go in and then we proceeded to visit some more. Within 20 minutes the mouse's curiosity got the best of it and he climbed in the trap where it immediately went CLICK and the mouse was caught.

Well, you know you can't have just ONE mouse. So the next day when I opened up the drawer where I keep my "undies" they were covered with mouse turds and another huge mouse nest. I gingerly picked them up, one by one, and put them into a clothes basket to bring home and run through a very hot washing machine. As I was getting to the bottom of the drawer Ole, who was in the front of the rig, heard this very loud GASP. It came from me! As I picked through my undies up popped the head of a little gray creature with beady eyes and pointy ears giving me this look saying, "And just what do you think YOU'RE doing here in MY mouse domain?" Then he quickly scampered through the back of the drawer and down between the floor and the bottom of the drawer.

Okay. Now we've declared mouse war. We went home, gathered up our arsenal of traps and a jar of peanut butter. Ole went back to the rig and set his trap line. Three more mice bit the dust. The next afternoon we brought the last load over to the RV Daisy was the first one in. She went charging over to a corner, caught another mouse and crunch. That mouse was a goner too.

We've continued to run the trap line until this morning and have had no more takers. So I HOPE our renters have decided to move out. I can't imagine that we've had multiple mice in here throughout the winter that didn't have babies. Maybe they decided that abstinence was the best option?

Now we do travel with two cats - Lucy and Simon. Simon is 20 years old so he's pretty much in retirement mode and doesn't hunt anymore. He spends his days eating, sleeping and pooping. Lucy on the other hand is only three. But she's turned into such a "pork chop" since she came to live the easy life that she doesn't hunt anymore either. What a worthless bunch, huh?

I'm writing this from St. Joseph, MO. As we left Farmer Neighbor Dave's yard yesterday at 8:45 a.m., we of course honked the air horn just to make sure he was awake. We ran into a bit of rain in South Dakota, otherwise we had sunshine all the way. Unfortunately we had some strong cross winds, which didn't make Ole's job very easy. He has 40' of broadside plus a motorcycle trailer going down the road with the wind trying to blow him off. Normally Ole drives until dark, but agreed to quit at 6 o'clock last night because he was tired. I really didn't want to drive through Kansas City after dark either - so St. Joseph was a good place to stop.

This morning we're having a new tire put on the motorcycle trailer. That is if Ole ever quits visiting with the neighbors who are from Bemidji, and gets over to the tire store to make the arrangements. You know Ole - he's got his coffee cup in his hand, Daisy on her leash and his gift of gab.

More later -

Love, Lena