August 20, 2006
Today’s exciting adventure was to try to get out of the house the damn little ground squirrel that one of the cats dragged in before or on the day of our arrival home. This morning I saw it run from the cat food bowls back into the storage room erstwhile dining room, but I have no hope in finding it there. This afternoon I saw it in the poinsettia plant on the stand in the kitchenette. I closed the doors to the dining room and to the family room, stuffed towels under those doors, and then wondered what the heck to do. I called to Gary, and he came out and suggested I put a big box in the kitchen doorway to hopefully block the critter from going in there (I thought surely it would just leap over the box, but Gary thought it would be dissuaded). The only exit now seemed to be the side entrance to the house. Gary stayed by the kitchen door, and told me to go get the little beastie. Ri-i-i-ght. I poked at the poinsettia with a broom handle, and the thing came flying. I just about went flying too. It ran back toward the family room and storage room, right past Gary, me batting at it with the broom while trying to stay as far away from it as possible, hoping to get it to take the clear exit out the side door. But it kept circling back to the closed doors. Stupid thing. It dove under the towel blocking the storage room, and Gary told me he could just pick it up in the towel. Ri-i-i-ght. Here is a man who can’t keep his balance, and he is going to lean over, pick up the animal, and, keeping it in the towel, wheel over to the door with it? Needless to say, the thing didn’t stay still enough for him to put his hands on it (thank God). He told me *I* could pick it up in the towel. Ri-i-i-ght. I did a lot of hesitating (and as you know, she who hesitates is lost), wondering why I was taking the trapping advice of a man who some years back saw something fly into the chimney, reached out and grabbed it, and got bit by a bat.
At one point I thought I had enough toweling between my precious flesh and the varmint, so on my hands and knees I shuffled the towel along the floor to the side exit then shoved the towel out the door. Nothing. I went outside and picked up the edge of the towel and threw it away from me while at the same time executing a graceful leap backwards. No wild thing put in an appearance (well, other than me). So I guess it had managed to crawl under the towel under the door to the storage room before I ever got a start on moving the towel.
Sigh.
I managed to move the stand with the poinsettia to just outside the side exit doorway. I can always hope the little monstrosity will decide it needs a poinsettia treat bad enough to go out there, and then discover the freedom of the outdoors. . . . With our luck, it’s probably decided it would prefer to be our pet. . . .
Yup. Hours later, I saw the thing back at the cat food bowls. So I put the bowls outside next to the poinsettia. Hopefully we won’t be feeding everything in the neighborhood!
On a different topic, Gary watched the first DVD sent by Donne and Phyllis of the Alaska trip. He says the pics are really nice! I looked through the CD that Janet Rogers brought over of all the photos taken of the house and the volunteers by her and Jo. Very interesting, seeing the house go through its various stages, but my favorite part was looking at all the “action shots” of the volunteers. :-)
This evening Gary opened package number five from Norma: mementos of Sitka, Alaska -- postcards and a package of Alaskan Smoked Salmon. Norma and Bob went on a Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest there, and saw sea otters, humpback whales, bald eagles, and a brown bear. The others of the family went kayaking (Gary saw Donne’s and Phyllis’s pictures of that on the DVD!).
Today’s exciting adventure was to try to get out of the house the damn little ground squirrel that one of the cats dragged in before or on the day of our arrival home. This morning I saw it run from the cat food bowls back into the storage room erstwhile dining room, but I have no hope in finding it there. This afternoon I saw it in the poinsettia plant on the stand in the kitchenette. I closed the doors to the dining room and to the family room, stuffed towels under those doors, and then wondered what the heck to do. I called to Gary, and he came out and suggested I put a big box in the kitchen doorway to hopefully block the critter from going in there (I thought surely it would just leap over the box, but Gary thought it would be dissuaded). The only exit now seemed to be the side entrance to the house. Gary stayed by the kitchen door, and told me to go get the little beastie. Ri-i-i-ght. I poked at the poinsettia with a broom handle, and the thing came flying. I just about went flying too. It ran back toward the family room and storage room, right past Gary, me batting at it with the broom while trying to stay as far away from it as possible, hoping to get it to take the clear exit out the side door. But it kept circling back to the closed doors. Stupid thing. It dove under the towel blocking the storage room, and Gary told me he could just pick it up in the towel. Ri-i-i-ght. Here is a man who can’t keep his balance, and he is going to lean over, pick up the animal, and, keeping it in the towel, wheel over to the door with it? Needless to say, the thing didn’t stay still enough for him to put his hands on it (thank God). He told me *I* could pick it up in the towel. Ri-i-i-ght. I did a lot of hesitating (and as you know, she who hesitates is lost), wondering why I was taking the trapping advice of a man who some years back saw something fly into the chimney, reached out and grabbed it, and got bit by a bat.
At one point I thought I had enough toweling between my precious flesh and the varmint, so on my hands and knees I shuffled the towel along the floor to the side exit then shoved the towel out the door. Nothing. I went outside and picked up the edge of the towel and threw it away from me while at the same time executing a graceful leap backwards. No wild thing put in an appearance (well, other than me). So I guess it had managed to crawl under the towel under the door to the storage room before I ever got a start on moving the towel.
Sigh.
I managed to move the stand with the poinsettia to just outside the side exit doorway. I can always hope the little monstrosity will decide it needs a poinsettia treat bad enough to go out there, and then discover the freedom of the outdoors. . . . With our luck, it’s probably decided it would prefer to be our pet. . . .
Yup. Hours later, I saw the thing back at the cat food bowls. So I put the bowls outside next to the poinsettia. Hopefully we won’t be feeding everything in the neighborhood!
On a different topic, Gary watched the first DVD sent by Donne and Phyllis of the Alaska trip. He says the pics are really nice! I looked through the CD that Janet Rogers brought over of all the photos taken of the house and the volunteers by her and Jo. Very interesting, seeing the house go through its various stages, but my favorite part was looking at all the “action shots” of the volunteers. :-)
This evening Gary opened package number five from Norma: mementos of Sitka, Alaska -- postcards and a package of Alaskan Smoked Salmon. Norma and Bob went on a Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest there, and saw sea otters, humpback whales, bald eagles, and a brown bear. The others of the family went kayaking (Gary saw Donne’s and Phyllis’s pictures of that on the DVD!).
posted by Peg Daniels at 7:38 PM
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