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Monday, December 20, 2021

OF MICE AND HOUSE CLEANING

Saturday was a washout.  Rained all day.  I think the final total was about 2 inches at the farm.

Not sure if a photo can convey cold, but this is damp and cold.  With the good rain we had Saturday there was no watering needed and no outside work needed either so the plan was to work inside.

It had gotten a bit cluttered as we take out boxes for future packing and some things we brought from storage as we downsize a few more things.  You know how it goes, you use any available horizontal surface to put stuff that you'll put up later...and "later" takes a little time to come around, ha!

Plus we haD spider webs in corners, dead bugs in windowsills, etc.


Here's the dining room after we got everything off the table and put up where it belongs and cleaned the corners and ceiling and window ledges.  Looking much more like it should. For those new to the blog, this room was an addition, it used to be a porch and the previous owner turned it into a dining room.  


Turning back around to where I was standing to take the first picture, here is part of the other direction.  The doorway on the left side (the other side of the canning cabinet) used to be the back door but now goes into this dining room.  You can see part of the kitchen in the doorway.  The doorway you can see just on the right edge of the photo is to the mudroom which is where the refrigerator is and that light you can kind of see is the door to the front porch.


Coming around the corner of the canning cabinet doorway into the kitchen and looking to the left, this is the stove and 2nd Man's marble top baking table.  We have another one of those at the apartment.  He loves rolling out dough on them.  Plus it's got a couple of drawers and a shelf below.  I put the shelves up above it to give us some more space.  Once again, this table had some cooking magazines stacked on it and a couple of boxes. They have been put in their proper places. 


Here's the other side, the sink and counter.  Again, the stainless counter was covered up with boxes and stuff and the window ledge full of dead bugs and spider webs.  Now it's all clean and a bit neater.

Next something yucky.  I got my socks wet stepping in some standing water so I went into the dresser to get some fresh ones to put on.

I opened the dresser drawer...


...and found this.  The t-shirts shredded up and ruined by mice...and on the other side of the drawer...


...the socks, also all eaten up and ruined.  Ugh.  Mice.  They might look cute (I used to have one as a pet when I was younger!) but they are the bane of our existence.  If they want to do their thing outside, fine, live and let live, but STAY OUT OF THE HOUSE.  Sigh.  We're not even sure what the other material is.  Good thing, no mice were inside and we do keep bait down so that did its thing but not before they did their thing.

I put my mask on and dumped the entire contents into a trash bag.  Wasn't even going to try to salvage anything from the drawer.  We don't keep a lot of fabric items in the drawers like that.  Also checked the couches, they were fine too.


Let's end this post on something pretty, ha.  When you come in the other front door from the porch (not the mudroom) you see this right straight ahead.  It's the desk where we keep the things you've seen in some posts that hold memories.  It's a great desk we found at one of our favorite furniture stores, NADEAU

There wasn't much to do in the living room, but I forgot to get some pictures.  Will do that next time.  This took care of 1/2 the house...next time will be the two bedrooms and bathroom and closets in those rooms.

Hope you all had a great weekend before Christmas!

21 comments:

  1. You might try Peppermint essential oil as a mouse deterrent. Maybe put a few drops on a cotton ball and place them in drawers. Doterra and Young Living both make high quality oils. (No, I don't sell them, ha!)

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    1. We've heard that. I might just order some of that. That's a good idea. Thank you.

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  2. wow...thanks for the tour. i love the canning cabinet. and the marble top baking table with the drawer...perfect! your sink and counter top made me swoon! nicest sink i've seen in a long time. they sure don't make them like that anymore. put stuff in ziplock bags to keep the mice out of it. the first winter after i redid my main house, i found the mice eating the italian hand knotted tassels on my library curtains. it took me over a year to get them from italy and those little bastards feasted on them.

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    1. Aww thanks for that. We got the cabinet and the marble tables at Nadeau. Actually that dining table too and the cabinet behind it too. You should check it out. I think you would love their furniture, might be some cool things for your new basement kitchen.

      We think the sink and counter are original to the house, probably 1950's we guess. It's all once piece including the backsplash. We're going to have the kitchen gutted and we're thinking of other uses for that piece. I was thinking it might be nice in the laundry room. Or maybe in an outdoor cooking area. We won't let it get away for sure.

      Sorry about the mice, ugh. And why do they always target the important stuff? Ha. I think the ziplock is a good idea for drawers. We have the blankets and things up high on shelves in heavy plastic containers and/or bags.

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  3. Looked like insulation that the mouse brought to the drawer. Never fun finding evidence they've been there ahead of you.

    Merry Christmas to both of you!

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    1. Oh wow! You know, you're right!!! At our last house, the insulation in the attic was pink and some was white and so I didn't think about that. The insulation at the farm is that yellow color. Thanks, I need to pop my head up into the attic and see what's going on. Ugh. not looking forward to that "mission", ha. Thanks again and Merry Christmas!!!

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    2. I was thinking insulation also. And ziplock bags, given what I've seen mice chew through, will only slow them down a very short time. A determined mouse will go through plastic totes and buckets once they find a spot to get their teeth into. Metal or glass is about the only thing that keeps them out. I think you may have just found out why that snake from earlier this year was in the house. Stock up on steel wool to stuff in any openings where pipes or wires come into the house. Also check around under the siding for holes where they may be going inside walls and up to the attic or gaps between wall plate and the subfloor. Though the little bas... critters *can* climb right up the siding or pipes and wires on the outside, they'd rather move around under cover and at night.

      Nice work getting all those boxes unpacked and put away, it looks nice!

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  4. Mice can eat through five-gallon buckets, so heavy plastic is not the answer. I hate mice!

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    1. So far we've been lucky with that but we'll keep an eye on it for sure.

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  5. I enjoyed the farmhouse tour. I drooled over your canning cabinet and that spacious stainless counter top. And 2nd Man's marble top baking table – total envy!
    Spider webs and dead bugs aren’t too bad, but then - the horror of horrors!! Yikes, mice! I have the same reaction you have. I don’t blame you for donning protective gear and throwing away everything in that drawer. I hope you don’t find anymore mousey surprises when you finish your clean up next time.

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    1. That canning cabinet as been a fun project. I've got some ideas for some additions to it once it gets in its final spot in whatever house/remodel we end up with. And yes, he loves his marble top table. We originally bought it for the farm and then we moved to the apartment, he said "I need one at the apartment" and so we were lucky to find a second one. We figure someday we'll have the kitchen of our dreams and can use both, ha. Yeah, we'll see what we find this weekend.

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  6. A shame that your Christmas mouse made such a mess. Not a thing a person wants to see.
    My thoughts like Marchia; looks like insulation.
    What we do here; hubby went under the kitchen and both bathrooms sinks and Anywhere and Everywhere where the water lines come into the house; took some really course steel wool and tore off pieces and stuffed it around the pipes; packing around the pipes as tightly as possible. Mice won't chew steel wool.

    Wishing you, 2nd Man and Everyone a Very Merry Christmas. Everyone stay safe.
    (time for me to dig out my stretchy pants. :-} )

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    1. thank you for the warm wishes!!! Christmas mouse. Yep, I guess it is/was, ha. I have put some steel wool around some openings but I've missed one or two somewhere. Insulation means they could be in the attic. We'll see.

      Stretchy pants on standby here!

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  7. Thank you so much for a bit of a tour! Very charming and a delight to the eyes.

    I think we finally won our war against mice this year(!) It only took 12 years!

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    1. Aww, thanks for that. I just read of your battle victory. Love some of the ideas I read about too. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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  8. No offense guys, but that Kitchen, Help Wanted decoration makes me want to barf.
    It seems so smirky and fake. It is crap. How could we cook with that thing?
    Sorry about the mice. They are a real problem.

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    1. Well tell us how you really feel, LOL. I understand it's not for everyone. That was a gift from the lady that we bought the house from. We used to always say when we were there for Thanksgiving (before we owned it) that we should never trust a skinny chef. Everyone would laugh. Then she made the best baked goods (she used to have a bakery) and we always used to joke that her secret ingredients was making them with love. When we bought the house from Ma (everyone calls her "Ma", though neither of us are related to her, ha) she found that and we couldn't believe some of the things we used to joke about were on there. So we keep it there. She's happy when she sees it either on the blog or the few times she makes it back to Texas (moved to Florida). Since she's in her 80's, we're ok with her being happy. It might not always be around but for now it will be.

      In the immortal words of Paul Harvey...and now you know, the rest of the story....HA!

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  9. Wow, Richard was kind of rude but thank you for sharing the touching backstory of that sign. I had wondered about it. If it has meaning to you that's all that matters. We can't all like the same things. That kitchen sink and counter is amazing. I could picture that in a laundry room/mudroom and just imagine one of those front loading under counter units, a washer on one side and a dryer on the other side. You'd also have room for a cabinet or two. It might be big but in a good sized mudroom with that lining a wall and shelves above, you'd have room for other stuff too. Just a random thought. Much love this Christmas! Janie V

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    1. Hello Janie! No worries, I don't think he was intentionally being rude, I think he was just being honest (maybe bluntly honest). I hope my reply explained why it's there even if not everyone's "cup of tea" as the saying goes.

      You know that's kind of one of the ideas I had for saving that counter/sink. Mudroom and using it as a utility sink and then we have the counter space. The idea of washer/dryer below is a good one. Thanks! We'll just have to see how much space we end up with.

      Much love and Christmas wishes to you too!

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  10. I hate mice! Our cat begs to be allowed into our 2-car garage in the winter so she can hunt for mice. We have to be VERY careful about letting her back in the house because more than once she's had a live mouse in her mouth! She doesn't really get the killing part...
    Speaking of cats and mice; uh, I think Hobart has some serious explaining to do!

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  11. Are you guys in Washington state? I'm in Washington and I saw the cloudy skies in the pic so just wondering. I love that canning jar cabinet. Don't you just adore original details of older homes?

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