Mouse 2; BunnyQueen 0

We have a mouse, and he's quite the smart little snot, too. Mind you, I like mice, when they are invited in and contained as pets. I even like rats; well, actually, I like pet rats much more than I like pet mice. However, when the little fuzzy critters come into my house uninvited I am not happy. So, out came the live traps and the peanut butter.

The mouse was first spotted skittering under the door that goes down to the basement. Since there is a fairly large gap (3/4" or so) between the edge of the stair tread and the wall I wasn't sure if the mouse was coming up the stairs or up the studs of the unfinished walls and through that gap. For starters, I set the traps on the top step, at right angles to each other. I figured that way I had a chance of catching him either way.

The next morning, I check the traps and see that they are both closed. Now we've had mice before (5-6 years or so) and I know that a closed trap does not always equal a caught mouse. I carefully picked up both traps and took them out to the garage. I was pretty darn sure both were empty just by the feel. Because of this, I opened the traps into a plastic box that I could slap a lid on if I was wrong and then could use to transport Mr. Mouse to the nice island nearby. Sadly, no mouse. And a quick look in the traps (just to make sure he wasn't hanging on for dear life) confirmed that some of the peanut butter is gone. One point to Mr. Mouse.

After chatting with the partner, we recalled that the multi mouse traps were more successful last time around, so I trundled off to the hardware store and picked up a couple. I baited them and put one on the top step and one, perpendicular, one step down. Last night, DP heard a strange noise from the kitchen/garage end of the house. Now it could be the foster bunnies since they live in what the builder calls the breakfast nook. DP cautiously crept down the kitchen and listened intently. The noise repeated and no bunny had moved. In fact, she claims they were all looking at here as if to ask "What is your problem, lady?".

I finished up the pair of rows I was working in the MS3 and went to check the traps. The two multi-mouse traps were empty and the other two traps were several steps down from where they had been set. I feel like the darned mouse is thumbing his little nose at me. You guessed it. The two small traps are both empty and it appears that more peanut butter has been eaten. Second point for Mr. Mouse.

I did see the little guy last night when I opened the basement door to go down and get something out of the freezer, and noticed that he took a right turn at the bottom of the stairs. Now that the question has been answered (up the stairs or up the studs) I moved one of the traps to the bottom of the stairs, along the wall.

Wish us luck. I would really, really like it if I could outsmart the mouse.

It's Raining, It's Storming

This morning when I got up it was somewhere between 88F and 92F. DP and I had to drive down to Hastings on an errand, and opted to go to Walmart and pick up a few things. When we went into Walmart, it was clear, hot, and sticky. By the time we came out, it was 72F and raining and blowing so hard I could not see the edge of the parking lot. We waited a bit, since it was too nasty to drive, and then started home once it started to clear. A few miles later, we had to pull into a parking lot and wait again as I literally could not see a single car length ahead of us. I knew there was a gas station at the top of the hill, right before the stop light, but I did not see it until we were about 2 car lengths away. Nasty.

Now that we are home, I'm staying inside and knitting lace. In addition to the Snowdrop Shawl, I decided to jump on the Mystery Stole bandwagon after seeing the first 50 or so rows at a knitting group last week. The yarn is a lovely slate/storm cloud blue and I'm using simple clear beads. I think they add a nice hint of flash without being really noticeable.

The bunnies are all doing well, although DP and I did annoy them all yesterday by cleaning litterboxes. Humans just do not put litterboxes back together correctly. *sigh*

A new shawl started

I really love the look of lace, but every time I have tried something more complicated than a simple lace pattern in a sock I have ended up saying bad words and throwing the wool and needles.

I had downloaded the Yarn Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl pattern a few months ago, but in my crankiness with lace I had not even looked at it seriously. For whatever reason, the pattern literally fell off my desk at my feet a few days ago. I decided that maybe I should try the pattern and see what happened.

I love this pattern! It's pretty easy to knit (assuming yarn overs don't scare you silly) and very fun. Yes, there are charts, but the pattern itself is so straightforward that the charts are easy. I think that this might be a good introduction to charts for someone who wants to try them.

The knitting is slow going right now, but that is because I keep stopping to pet the pretty turquoise wool (Cherry Tree Hill merino lace) and admire the lovely pattern of yarn overs. Part of me hopes that I will soon stop that and just be able to knit but another part of me, and right now it's the bigger part, wants to always knit things that I love this much. It just seems right to love what you knit so much that you have to stop every few rows to appreciate it.

So, for the eye candy. First, the wide angle shot. This is only lightly "blocked" by tugging gently on it before snapping the picture.


The second shot is the detail of the snowdrops themselves. For some reason, the closeups all look like dark ink has been spilled on the yarn. There are variations in the shade of turquoise, but there is no dark blue. Weird.



So, that's the lace for now. As soon as I finish this repeat I am stringing a lifeline. Actually, now that I've blogged this, I should probably go string one right now before the knitting goddess decides I've got to much hubris and smacks me back down a few levels.

Happy weekend all. Hopefully it will be slightly cooler wherever you are.

Tagged!

I've been tagged for a meme by Amy. The idea is to type my birthmonth into wikipedia, write down two historical events and one holiday that happened therein, and tag five friends. According to Wikipedia, on Sept. 12:

* 490 BC - Athens defeats Persia at the Battle of Marathon
* 1609 - Henry Hudson discovers the Hudson River.
* 1575 - Henry Hudson, English explorer

Okay so there were things that were way more socially important, but I thought it was interesting that Hudson found the Hudson River on his birthday.

I'll tag anyone who reads this (which is likely way less than five) .

Knitting away

I've been mostly working on the Ruana Wrap lately, as well as forcing myself to knit on the shawl that I was commissioned to make.

I've also been rereading Diana Gabaldon's series, out of order, as I find the books. I love her work. It makes me laugh and cry and, most importantly, think. I've long been fascinated with Scotland and her history. While I know that these are a work of fiction, she makes history seem so alive and vibrant. So many of the history books I've read make Culloden seem flat; just the facts on paper. I find myself wanting to read more (non-fiction), but loath to plod through more dry history books. Does anyone have any suggestions for a more interesting read I would love to hear about it. (Come on invisible readers - hit me with your best shot .)

The bunnies are all doing well. Harvey is recovering well from surgery to get rid of the last of his cellulitis. Jameson has moved on to a sanctuary home as we just learned that he has kidney failure and likely only has 6-12 months to live. He'll get spoiled rotten there and enjoy whatever is left of his life. We just got a sweet (but very skittish) new pair who we renamed Tristan and Isolde. We are working on teaching them that people can do good things, like pet and bring food and treats, and not just "bad" things, like pick you up and trim your toenails. The hard part about that is that Tristan is a Jersey Wooley and needs to be groomed every day. Oh well, he's learning.

Must go make dinner and get some laundry done. More later.

A new quiz...

I found this on Amy's blog and thought it was too cool not to share. This is another "test" that is pretty much right on for me. Apparently Amy and I are somewhat alike. :)

Your Power Element is Water

Your power colors: blue and aqua Your energy: deep Your season: winter Like the ocean, you evoke deep feelings and passion. You have an emotional, sensitive, and spiritual soul. A bit mysterious, you tend to be quiet when you are working out a problem. You need your alone time, so that you can think and dream.

What's Your Power Element?

What I've been knitting

There was a small explosion of (human) babies in the local rabbit community, so I finally had my excuse to knit some of the adorable patterns in Mason Dixon Knitting.

The baby kimono knit in Lion Cotton, color sea foam:










I wanted cool buttons for the kimono, but they needed to be unisex since the baby's gender was unknown and I wanted it to be usable for any future babies. I found these darling, but not too cutesy, Peter Rabbit buttons:











To go along with the kimono, I also knit a burp rag and three bibs. The colors aren't nearly as pastel as they look in this picture, and I was done knitting before I realized that I had picked purple and yellow - MN Vikings colors. :)




















I found cool star buttons for the bibs:













I found a cool pattern from Red Heart Yarns (when I actually unearth the pattern I'll post the name) and knit it up in a soft baby yarn from the stash. I did two of these for two sisters who were due within weeks of each other. I chose a light green and a medium purple.














These were fairly easy to knit, but not so mindless as to be boring. There is a lovely 8-stich cable as well as a "plume" pattern in each quarter of the sweater. You can see the details in these pictures, as well as the cool bunny shaped button.




























The kimono is a very fun knit and I think I might have to start knitting them for charities or something since my friends tend to have children like mine - four-footed and furry. :) The bunnies don't really appreciate my knitting efforts being directed their way.

I'm off to clean some bunny litterboxes. More later.