Eeek! Mouse in the House!

Tia and her sense of humor

 Each time they cut the grass in the field behind my house field mice move their residences over into my yard. It is part of the price we pay for having a nice large open field behind our house. Tia, pictured above, has tasked herself with hunting and monitoring this mouse population to the point of obsession. Out in the yard she is constantly showing me where they are and flushing them out from their hiding spots. Often she is hampered by the fact that she is fenced inside our dog yard and they are right outside her reach. She signals me by wagging her tail furiously while she keeps nose pointed at the exact spot. From experience I know that walking in that area or moving anything lying there will produce a number of mice running in all directions. She will be delighted and I will be shivering and stepping away quite quickly. Yes, I can not stand the little buggers.

Mouse hunt in the yard

Ready for a track

 On rare occasions they get into the house. The other day was one such time. Tia indicated that a mouse had somehow gotten into the heater in the living room. That happens to be about five feet or less from where I am sitting right now. She was determined and focused and so was I. She has tracked and hunted for a day and a half. This morning I observed her hunting success! Out ran the mouse from another heater across the room. Tia dispatched him quickly. That quick it was over. No muss and no fuss. I rather like her method. Much as I already love her I do believe she has endeared herself to me even more. Thank you, Tia.

Doing tricks with the kids

Phobia!

I feel it only fair to warn you that I have developed a phobia over the past several months. I have not only developed the phobia but am embracing it and even encouraging it in myself and my family. I have developed a fear of meat. I would not go so far as to say that I have gone vegetarian. Let us not get crazy!

Even though I stumbled upon the information concerning factory farming and the health implications some fifteen years ago, I consider that I lived in denial over all those years. It has only been in facing the consequences of my own health decisions and in teaching my children about health that I have begun to realize that we do not have the luxury of sticking our heads in the sand and pretending that all will be well. I do not need hundreds of pages of scientific study laid out before me to be able to determine that injecting animals intended for food full of antibiotics, hormones, and vaccines is not good for the product that ends up on our tables. Nor do I need someone to tell me that animals kept in confinement areas so small that they begin to kill and eat one another cannot possibly be at optimum health. Frankly, I do not care what acceptable agriculture practice is in place. If that practice does not meet the sniff test when it comes to good animal husbandry then it is, in my humble opinion, not a sound agricultural practice. For the record, in addition to not having become a vegetarian I have also not become a member of PETA or any crazy animal rights activist group.

I digress. Lost weight. That is what we have gained from the phobia. My husband has lost twenty five pounds. I have lost twelve.......without trying. At forty-seven any weight I can lose without trying is sheer perfection!

Appomattox Manor

This is Appomattox Manor located at City Point in Hopewell. The history is quite interesting to me but more than the official story on any of the locations we visit is an interest in the people. Perhaps I have seen too many Hollywood movies but each time I walk on the grounds of such a place I step back in time as if I had entered a time machine.

I can imagine approaching the house at night. Of course, back then, the trees would not have been so big so that you could have seen the gleaming lights from the house. Lantern beaming bright and welcoming and gate open wide. Somehow that seems like home to me.

On the right side of the house is a wide porch. Perhaps this is the entrance family used. From this porch there is a beautiful view of the river.

The front of the house is beautiful with an air of dignity and welcome.

Lately I've added digital photography to my ever growing list of hobbies. It keeps me off the streets and, at my age, that is a very good thing. Seriously, it all began because I absolutely detested the awful pictures I took of my kids and dogs. Social media has made it necessary to take at least a decent picture every now and again without causing oneself undue embarrassment.

I've set out to various locations around the area that I live in to take pictures but this is one that is particularly special to me. The homes are the High Street row houses set in the historic district of Petersburg. Although it has been many years ago, four generations of my family lived in number 217.

I am consistently inconsistent. As Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman: "I am a fly by the seat of my pants kinda gal." Sorta.

Gardening has been on the brain. I obsess until I get the plants and seeds into the ground and then cannot wait until I began to see the fruits (or veggies in this case) of my efforts. I have been taking pictures on piling on the straw mulch. The pictures remind me of how far we have already come and the straw mulch makes sure that I don't kill myself weeding this year. I like to garden. I do not like to weed. There is no rule that says you have to like every part about any hobby that you have so don't judge me.

My neglected self expression

Well, I have certainly neglected my blog. My self expression. My one place to have the last word. My place to get up on my soap box and just let her rip! Sheesh!

Update from October: Winning is not all that it is cracked up to be. The girls did get their bikes but have not succeeded in learning how to ride them. To be perfectly fair, I will have to say that it was winter time and that we have not actually tried for part of that time. It is a challenge we will be addressing again in the near future and hope to conquer quickly.

I, however, have succeeded in making it to training with my German Shepherd, Drenagh. Last weekend we had a full weekend of training.  I have wanted to train in this sport for about fifteen years so this is a dream that is a long time in the making. Somehow there is something to be said for the forty something woman just reaching and grabbing something she has wanted to do and doing it!

Parenting Partnership?

My husband has an ongoing feud with our daughters about keeping their room clean. It is a battle that I decided to withdraw from some months ago realizing that it was not going to be a situation that would be resolved in a day, week, or even a month. As it turns out I was not being pessimistic. In fact, the battle has raged on to the point that some days I would love to close myself into a sound proof room and refuse to come out. But, alas, that is not an option.
In all his wisdom, dear husband, decided to take away privileges for their lack of attention to the cleanliness of their space. His specifically removed the television from their room and informed them that they would not be able to watch or have computer time until they established order. The television sat in front of my closet door for more than a week. Not only was I reminded constantly of the situation by having to maneuver around their television as it blocked access to my closet, but my husband is also working an extended period of annual overtime. So while he may have issued the restriction of privileges he is at work during the peak enforcement hours. This leaves me with two very unhappy children who are doing their best to win the power struggle that has ever increasing stakes. Well meaning friends have suggested a variety of alternatives. I can only smile and nod as I check off the list. We have tried it, done it, punished, threatened, rewarded, restricted, and done it ourselves. This is a battle that the children are obviously winning. I am becoming more and more frustrated but managing, so far, to keep the frustration to myself. The battle wages on.....
This past Thursday arrived. I had big plans. The children would be out of school for both Thursday and Friday. We would have four days to clean clutter, get that bedroom under control, and do some work on a couple of quick household projects. The end was near and I was excited! My plans came to a screeching halt when I remembered that I had promised to drive my sister to the hospital for an outpatient procedure that was scheduled for Thursday. No big deal, I thought, we will get the procedure done and have plenty of time to get to that room. Boy, was I ever wrong. My sister and I didn't return to her house until 4 pm. By that time my family was starving and time was ticking. My husband had to leave for work at 6pm to work until 7am. We decided to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant and relax together. I wasn't at all concerned. I had left instructions for the day. The kids knew what they had to get done. Besides, I had also sweetened the pot by promising the girls that if they would get the room clean I would make sure we went to get those long promised bikes this weekend. Mom was taking no prisoners.
We arrived home in time for my husband to get ready for work. I walked into the house happy and relaxed from a nice dinner with my family. I was in for a surprise. The kitchen was a disaster. All of the snacks that had been purchased the evening before had been consumed and the empty boxes were on the counter. The dogs had not been fed or let out. The living room was a mess. Worst of all, since my husband had to sleep in preparation for work that night, he had simply told the children they could watch tv and play on the computer and they had.....for the entire day.
The red heat that went over me was no hot flash. Towanda (ref movie  Fried Green Tomatoes) was ready to put that man into a headlock. The nerve! Not only that but he insisted upon stirring up strife with them before leaving by stressing the importance of cleaning the room and the consequences. (Are you kidding me?) He also emphatically stated that they should do the cleaning and not me.

He left for the night and I sat fuming. That man has a lot of nerve. Finally I stopped fuming and started thinking. A smile formed in my mind that was reminiscent of the one on that crazy Grinch in the Christmas story. I would take matters into my own hands for my own sanity and the sanity of my family. It was time.
I activated my children. First I made sure that I just started cleaning and zipped my lip. I knew I certainly had enough residual anger and frustration that I could quickly just end up yelling at them and I truly wanted to avoid that. I was working to end the battle not start a new one. They were grateful for an intervention and caught on quickly. They started helping and realized I was in no mood for chit chat. We got that room significantly cleaner in record time. Early the next morning my husband came home to find them finishing the sweeping and mopping. The job was complete.
The stubborn man and I had a discussion. I agreed not to put him in a headlock i.e. not to release all the wrath of my menopausal alter ego on him and he agreed to handle things better next time. In his words "I am waving the white flag like Robert E. Lee at the Appomattox Courthouse. I surrender." Smart man. The girls got their bikes today and I will be going to my Schutzhund training with my dogs. He and I have honed our partnership to a little sharper performance. After all, not everybody can be the star player.