MOUSE(s) IN THE HOUSE…

Ahhhhh, the minute cooler temperatures set in in the fall we start dealing with the rotating mouse door. Every morning I empty the live trap (although these days the little mousies do not go willingly into the cold and dark) and reset them only to hear within about 5 minutes the drrrrrrrrr… of mouse paws banging away inside the trap. Out they go again and within minutes they are back. Which leads me to think that there is a HONKIN BIG HOLE SOMEWHERE in my house that these little “darlings” are squeezing through. And I say “squeezing” because they are FAT. We load the trap with expensive peanut butter with the hope that they will become so chubby they will no longer be able to wangle their way through whatever opening they (and noone else – not contractor, husband etc.) have found. It has been so cold we don’t even bother taking them to the garage – a longer trip back to the house for the mouse but a really cold trip through 3 foot drifts of snow for us – but just open the trap on the front porch. Mr. Mouse scampers through the snow drifts on the porch and down the steps and then performs a nosedive into the 2 foot snow bank. He/She/They have scooped out a tunnel that drills through the snow bank presumably right to the mouse door! Taking them on a trip to Australia for a little walkabout this winter has been impossible – the snow is tooooo deep for them to dig through!!!! although having seen the tunnel they have built (a la Stalag LUFT for those of you who are old enough to remember The Great Escape!) maybeeeeee it would not be inhumane but SMART to take them on that half mile drive to the end of the driveway!

In between emptying traps I have been playing with dyeing up some dirty brights. My brights are never reallllly bright because I rarely use only natural off-white wool – instead I dye over a mix of light and medium tans, greys, plaids and textures so that I end up with a wonderful mix of related colour but with variance in tones and textures.

My friend F(who is so shy she shall remain nameless!) just finished hooking her big beautiful leaf rug for her living room. A few years ago she came to see me with her husband and friends and asked if I would hook 6 chair pads for her dining room. Hmmmmmmm, I thought and replied – how would YOU like to hook them. Come to my beginner class and learn to hook and then you can do them yourself!!! Well she did (and her friend joined her) and 6 months later all 6 chair pads were done and adorning her dining room chairs and her husband had designed the next challenge – the rug for the living room floor. Well it has been 2 years in the making (in between many other smaller pieces) and is now ready to be edged – with a braided finish. So the other day we played and pulled out some wool for the braiding and soon this lovely rug will be resting on her living room floor for all to enjoy!

And just in time for Valentines Day Wendy (ever creative and inspiring) filled this antique wooden bowl with wonderful hearts made of wool, vintage lace and buttons and lots of fun embellishing!