26-02-2022, 01:20 PM
Good afternoon everyone
Popeye - that must have been disappointing to do all that work and not have much response. I hope it gets better tomorrow or next time. Coping with a painful knee just makes it all harder.
Kiwimade and others with rat stories. Rats tend to freak me out too. We did have a black and white pet for a while when I was a teenager but I couldn't really appreciate it properly even then. Now they are the ultimate disgust. We used to have three round black compost bins with lids and they would sometimes get rats in winter. They come for the warmth and don't seem to mind the damp and if we didn't keep a watch on the "maturing" bin it would end up a huge slimey mess of tunnels. After we changed to three wooden open bins we have had very little problem of either rats or mice, either in the compost or in the house. Usually the first we know of their presence is a dead one on the lawn (or on the doorstep - Hunting Cat likes to assert his ownership over us with presents at times). I have occasionally come across a mouse nest in the compost but it's much rarer than it used to be.
I loved popeye's fishing story. I thought it was going to be that the trout grabbed the rat. I've heard of a "mouse" fly being used.
Another recent surprise visitor we had a couple of weeks ago was a weasel. We are fully urban although there are parks and a gully not hugely far away, but we certainly don't expect to see them here. Sitting on the windowseat one morning we watched this weasel appear near the fence and poke around the garden before disappearing into the neighbour's.
Yesterday I got my tops altered but it took all afternoon in the end. Was fiddlier than I expected. My T-shirt "blanket" might have to stay half-done for a while as I need to get started on curtains. DH is getting on with a coat of paint in the bathroom and other paint touch ups so I need to keep up with my part of the job.
Popeye - that must have been disappointing to do all that work and not have much response. I hope it gets better tomorrow or next time. Coping with a painful knee just makes it all harder.
Kiwimade and others with rat stories. Rats tend to freak me out too. We did have a black and white pet for a while when I was a teenager but I couldn't really appreciate it properly even then. Now they are the ultimate disgust. We used to have three round black compost bins with lids and they would sometimes get rats in winter. They come for the warmth and don't seem to mind the damp and if we didn't keep a watch on the "maturing" bin it would end up a huge slimey mess of tunnels. After we changed to three wooden open bins we have had very little problem of either rats or mice, either in the compost or in the house. Usually the first we know of their presence is a dead one on the lawn (or on the doorstep - Hunting Cat likes to assert his ownership over us with presents at times). I have occasionally come across a mouse nest in the compost but it's much rarer than it used to be.
I loved popeye's fishing story. I thought it was going to be that the trout grabbed the rat. I've heard of a "mouse" fly being used.
Another recent surprise visitor we had a couple of weeks ago was a weasel. We are fully urban although there are parks and a gully not hugely far away, but we certainly don't expect to see them here. Sitting on the windowseat one morning we watched this weasel appear near the fence and poke around the garden before disappearing into the neighbour's.
Yesterday I got my tops altered but it took all afternoon in the end. Was fiddlier than I expected. My T-shirt "blanket" might have to stay half-done for a while as I need to get started on curtains. DH is getting on with a coat of paint in the bathroom and other paint touch ups so I need to keep up with my part of the job.