More Vermin Tales

 We no longer have a dog. I no longer have any toxic houseplants (maybe). I really have very few houseplants. I gave them all away before the big hike, only requesting that one of them come home. Two more have appeared since then, but one of those is now dead.

Well, I do have the succulents that came inside from the rock garden for the winter. Two of those are a variety of aloe, but I don't really consider those houseplants.

The mouse traps we had were getting tired, and the mice were continually stealing the bait without getting caught. So I bought new traps. Good traps. Caught seven mice in four days and the current population seems to be zero.

However, I've learned something this year. I've never had this problem before, but mice will burrow in houseplants. And they will bite them off.

See the hole beside the Christmas Cactus? At least this plant is still alive.

They plain old killed a plant Marie gave me this summer.

There are some plants that are supposed to be poisonous to them. Aloe is on that list. However, they don't seem to have noticed. The two aloe that I would like to grow large enough to put in the rock garden for the summer have been continually dug up and left lying on the top of the soil. Aloe are tough, but even they have limits. I have two small sprigs that are still alive. Barely.

I have not caught a mouse for over a week now, nor seen, nor heard one.

Do I dare fill in that hole? Last time I did, it was immediately cleared out the next night.

I have now read that I can put certain spices in the pots that will deter the mice. If they come back, I'll try that.

I love the cute little deer mice and hate killing them, but they have to agree to my rules that they stay outside-- out of my pantry, kitchen and plants.

In other news: I edited a LOT. I watched White Christmas because, well, I like Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen, and it's a sappy, feel-good Christmas story.

See Six Mice

Spirit of the Woods Hike - December

 Today was the monthly hike of the Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA. We had 15 people, a ferret, and two dogs who braved the snow. The sled has Toys for Tots that we collected.

Dan Dreisinga received the chapter Honor Award for the year. He's done a ton of work for the chapter since joining, and the plan is that he will be the next president.

Then we headed into the snowy woods. Snowshoes were appropriate.

We hiked outward for an hour before turning around. We only made 1.5 miles in that hour. Monica stayed back at Timber Creek and got a fire going and water heating.

People brought finger food to share. The temperature rose to the 40s, so it was plenty comfortable to stand/sit around and visit for a while.

I managed to edit a little and do the dishes, but this pretty much filled my working day. After I got cleaned up, I crashed with a book.

This snow is going away. The next few days will be above freezing. That's good. I have to put Sunny to bed for the winter yet.

Miles hiked in 2024: 538.3. NCT miles this year: 160.5

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI. Timber Creek north and back 3.0 miles

See SPW- November

I'm Out!

 My big accomplishment for the day is that I got the driveway clear enough to get out and in. I may be getting a little old for that much shoveling, but I got 'er done. Not much contrast, but I hope you can see the open lane.

There is a Scout song. "God had created a new day. Silver,

and green,

and gold. (this morning's sunrise)

Live that the sunset may find us worthy His gifts to hold."

Don't worry... this song isn't saying that we become acceptable to God because of what we can do. It's not in opposition to GRACE.

However, it's almost a direct quote from several places in the New Testament, like Colossians 1:10- "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God." We do have a responsibility, once we've accepted God's grace to "walk worthy."

In other news: I edited, I formatted, as mentioned... I shoveled. Then I was tired. Snowblower should be picked up tomorrow for repair.

See Driveway 2014

Adventurous Women 3 - Sue Carter, Frida Waara

 This is a book that is special to me. Actually, if I had known about this expedition ahead of time, I might have applied to participate. Yes, seriously. This quest was completed on my birthday in 2001!

I met Sue in maybe 2003 when she came to Ludington to speak about their adventure, and Frida in maybe 2005. Frida and I more or less stay in touch.



Sue was the leader of the expedition. Her book is Ordinary Women. Their adventure is that they were the first group of women to ski to the North Pole from the Russian side of the world. These were not professional explorers, but a group of adventurous women who planned and trained and made it happen.

Persistence and endurance were the qualities that led to their success. Of course, they had done a lot of advance work to know what they needed to do. Each member of the team had an important role.

More Christmas

 Got out my favorite Christmas decor for the table this year (on Sunday). It may not have been out since 2013. Is that possible? Hmmm, I think it was used the year that Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe came out (2018), but I can't verify that. Anyway... here it is (there are various parts that I switch out, but the candle holders and the bears are always central).

I made some bars (on Monday) for gifts. Do you remember the Morning Glory muffins that were popular a couple of decades ago? These are essentially the same flavors. However, these bars have no flour and no sugar. They are pretty yummy. I was thinking they might travel well for hiking, but they are probably too moist for anything longer than a weekend. However, you could probably dry them (bake at a low temp) more and crumble it up for granola. Actually, that sounds really good. Anyway, I'm keeping the recipe.

Did I mention that I really like my polar bears? When I was younger, I had delusions of changing out seasonal decor almost every month. Quickly learned I was not motivated enough to do that. But I still like to play with it once in a while.

I don't know where today went. I did quite a bit of editing and formatting. I worked some on my own books-- not writing of words, but other things that need to be done. I got the snowblower going, but one of the drive axles is not engaging, so there's another small engine hospital visit. I emptied three buckets of compost! I went to the store since we are getting a big storm tonight. I didn't feel like going but was low on coffee. Then I thought of a couple other things, and I knew I'd be unhappy with myself if I didn't go when the going was easy.

The kitchen is a raging mess. The pie is gone. Well, tomorrow will come and the dishes will still be there and the pie will still be gone. C'est la vie. I would be sad about the pie, but this was far and away the best pie I've had in quite a long time. The memory will sustain me!

Perhaps a good snow day will provide kitchen cleanup motivation. They've already called off most of the schools.

See It Just Keeps Coming