Maius Intra Qua Extra

So, It's June 1..

.. and I haven't been around for a while. Dealing with mice (yes, again, and I'm only going to share one anecdote about it, in a bit) and waiting for the kids and their kids to start their caravan journey from Seattle, and reminding myself to keep up daily walks, or at least fairly regular walks, and comforting my son when he had to say goodbye to his 17-year-old cat, and trying to restart the habit I used to have in the 1970s and 1980s - writing letters to friends, and hoping they will write back. 

So, a lot going on in my head. 

So, mice. Yes, we had evidence of them again. I told BB that it was time to call in the pros. Unfortunately, the first pro we called pulled what appeared to be a bait and switch on us, regarding what we'd been told we'd be getting vs what their confirmation email said. The second place kept on stating they'd schedule a visit when BB told them - four times - that we didn't want that, because it appeared that they would charge us an unknown amount for simply turning up. Maybe I'm old fashioned and foolish, and I'm aware that companies' time is money, but not saying what an initial appointment will cost isn't my idea of doing business transparently. 

So we tried one last self-administered tactic; an actual repellent rather than passive preventive barriers. It's fairly strong essential oils; our old friend clove and also peppermint, and other relatively straightforward ingredients. We hauled out things from the larders, from under the kitchen sink, from a bunch of kitchen cupboards ... all the usual places, taking care not to get on areas where Carter might get too much on his paws. 

I'm not as hopeful as I was two days ago, but I'm still willing to give it a month. If we see little or no evidence of the fuzzy little vermin by that time, I'll be happy to go with the once-a-month spraying schedule that's suggested. And since Carter has,all of a sudden decided to actually hunt and kill mice, we may have a new source of help. 

Seriously. In short order, he went from crouching next to an obviously terrified mouse, with the two of them looking like two people sharing a bench while waiting for the bus (the mouse broke for the horizon and - at first - escaped the cat), to Carter discovering that the fastest way to end playtime with Stuart Little was to bite the mouse's head off. 

We found the final two-thirds of poor Stuart the next morning. And 36 hours or so later, we found a second headless mus musculus in almost the exact place the first one had been deposited. We found a third mouse, intact but dead, not that long afterward. I told BB that the third one had obviously died of a heart attack after seeing his or her companion decapitated. 

We have seen no more mice. Pray for us. 

Wow. I'd planned to talk about the other things I mentioned. But this has turned into far too long a post. So we'll end it here. Maybe I'll even post about those other things tomorrow. Maybe.