Wednesday, September 05, 2007

The Scent of Success

On Sunday, we cleaned out the office. Wibs starts at grammar school today, and as Chez Pesk is miniscule, we needed to create a warm, quiet place for her to study in. I converted the coal hole (don't laugh) when I was at uni a few years ago, and it was perfect. It has a radiator and plug sockets, a desk, a filing cabinet and two bookshelves. Perhaps 'coal hole' is a bit of an exaggeration, it's more of an internal shed, but anyway. In the gap between me being at uni and Wibs starting Big School it had semi reverted to shed status, but we got cracking and soon it was once more fit for purpose. We left a pile of things that came out of the office in the kitchen for More Sorting Later (yes I know). Then Monday we were exhausted and it was sunny. Tuesday was my dad's birthday so we were out, and yesterday - bad smell. Really bad smell. Every time we came into the living room, there it was. Passing through into the kitchen - there it was too. Strange. And not nice - like a exceptionally strong and severely vintage frankfurter.
So, rubber gloves on, bleach out. We moved the cooker away from the wall, swept out crumbs and mopped the tiles - nothing there. All the surfaces washed down, floor swept and mopped. We needed to clear the pile of papers from the office. Chatting away with Wibs and Bonnyholding out the recycling bag, I sorted and riffled. Then I saw it. With a comedy whooooOOOoooooarghh and a jete that Darcy Bussell would be proud of, I leapt two kilometers away from the table.
There are times that owning a cat is not a good idea. This happened last year too when I discovered a writhing brain of maggots underneath the bookshelf in the living room, all feasting on a vole.
I got the trowel from the garden, put seven carrier bags one inside the other, and troweled it up off the table. It left its skin behind.

Perhaps those motivated moms should enter mouse hunt onto their daily chores list. I might join up.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not nice is it!
My cat used to do the same when I had a garden, little brown mice, then she started bringing them indoors alive so had to buy traps, recently noticed an increase in bluebottles in the kitchen so may have to also resort to a search, just in case...

Marmite Breath said...

I've had mice. I feel your pain.

The secret code for me to post a comment to your blog today is seexm. Is that a secret message to tell me to (a) go and see X-Men? Or that (b) I am very seexy?

If so, (a) I haven't the slightest inclination and (b) Thanks, I do my best.

Pesk said...

chippy - she brought us a rat on thursday. More to follow.

Marmy - i dont get secret codes to comment. I feel cheated. Though if i did get them, mine would probably say BUtTUglY.