It’s that time of year again

for mice. To my sister, this is fair warning. Don’t read any further.

Apparently mice like to come indoors in autumn time. Apparently, it harkens in a new season as sure as turning leaves. I thought it wasn’t autumn yet, so I wasn’t prepared. Last year was not good. We heard there hadn’t been mice seen in the house for about 4 years. We saw a few. Caught a few in traps. Poisoned a lot. You see, we live next to grain bins. Rodents love those places, so the farm sets poison out. The next bet for the mice to move to is our barn. Knut just refreshed the poison out there, which probably is why they are now in my house again.

Last year, I found the first mouse as I was cleaning up the toys in the basement. As I was picking up, I realized that my children do not have a stuffed grey mouse. It had died in the middle of the playroom. How sad. I didn’t actually see a mouse after that, but one did eat through the wall, and through the cookbook leaning against that wall to get on top of my counter in the kitchen. Knut set out traps in the cupboards in the kitchen and bathroom, and put poison in the “old basement” which is unfinished and no people except him ever go in. That pretty much took care of it.

So tonight, as I am making cakes to bring to the fellowship hour after church tomorrow, I see a black one run across the kitchen floor. I immediately call Lena in the room. The dog would protect me, right? She just looked at me like “What do you expect me to do about it?” When I mentioned it to Knut, he said he had seen one the day before but had forgotten to mention it to me. Then, as I was frosting the cakes, I saw a little white one by the front entry way. Again, Lena didn’t even notice and she was 5 feet away. Some guard dog! Usually I like that she’s mellow. Other times I want her to chase mice out of my house in a fierce way.

So I very tightly secured the cakes to bring to church tomorrow. My best bet now is to keep my house as neat-freak-squeaky-clean as I can possibly make it with 3 children and a dog, and a husband with way too much on his plate already. Knut has refreshed the poison in the old basement, and will set peanut butter on the mousetraps in all the cupboards tomorrow.

In related news, Elias is now crawling and into everything.