The Crew Takes Charge

Around the beginning of July, when the internet is all about the new Halloween decor, I always think this is the year I'm going to be ready for spooky season. Oddly, there's nothing that gets me more in the mood for autumn than walking across a sweltering parking lot to the At Home store in the middle of summer. I don't even want to go near there unless it's at least 95°F. and sunny. They always have the essentals but who's thinking about lights and garland while deciding if we can store an eight foot skeleton upstairs in the garage. Plus, His Madness has to check out all the hats.

Then it's suddenly the middle of October and none of our lights from last year are working and the garland is missing. The stores are full of Christmas decorations and they're completely out of orange lights. So much for being prepared. 

It's obvious that HM and I can't be trusted to bring home the basics needed for Halloween decorating so The Crew decided to take over. They have a list.

 

The selection at their first stop was a little sparce and they were out of lights, too. 

On the other side of the lake they hit the motherlode, although this pumpkin patch didn't carry lights, they decided one of these had to come home with them.

Then they got a look at the pumpkin selection.

It was time for a cart.

The Crew's shopping trip was a  huge success. Unloading the car took awhile.

All together, The Crew found four big pumpkins to carve and lots to stack around outside. The squirrels and racoons will trash every single one of them and leave the pieces on our nicest neighbor's lawn, who will laugh as we apologize. This year should be a very colorful mess. 

Somewhere beneath the candy are the lights, I hope.

It's a little crowded but Ivy's happy with the mums and pumpkins around the back door. The front porch will get decorated at the last possible moment with the carved ones. The steps are ruled by a chipmunk clan that will fiercely defend their territory from the squirrels but are no match for the raccoons. We try to modify the critter conflict by using scented candles and filling in the gaps with plastic jack-'o-lanterns. Sometimes it even works.

Burt and Kib strung some lights on the baker's rack (the former mouse residence, back to it's original purpose) and fired up a new misting cauldron. Are things finally coming together?

Sort of. The cauldron stopped producing mist after just a few minutes but the lights are still working. Close enough. Kudos to Mother Nature on the coordinating sunset.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.

Have a great weekend!

Taking Care of Business

Dealing with the mice has become a little more complicated since we discovered there were at least two of them. It is very important to locate where they are getting into the patio. They don't need to be inviting their friends over or getting comfortable enough to start a family.

  

Finding their entry didn't take very long, it would've been hard to miss a hole that big. After a quick search on the internet it seemed like the easiest way to deal with the situation was to scare them off.  Alternatively, trapping and releasing them far away, in a wooded location.

So, we picked up some humane traps as backup in case they were deaf or heavy sleepers. These mice were definitely benefiting from our fondness for The Bramley Hedge books.

Burt generously offered a few tiny morsels of his favorite snacks but peanut butter is the number one recommendation. It was nice of him to offer anyway.

The local Earth Science Club's annual Gem and Mineral Show was being held at the fair grounds, next door to the county park. It was the perfect opportunity to check out possible mouse relocation sites and pick up some pretty rocks for the sparrows to perch on while they shower in our pond. 

According to the info on the humane traps site, the mice should be released somewhere far enough away so they won't find their way back. Seriously, how far could they get on those little feet? This area looked promising, but it's too close to the maintenance buildings where something tells me they might not bother with gentle entrapment methods.

This place seemed better and looked to be very popular with the locals.

They wouldn't be lonely.

So we cranked up the death metal, lit some scented candles and hoped they would just leave. After the concert, just to be safe, the traps were loaded with peanut butter and placed along the escape route. There has no sign of the mice for several days. The birdhouses appear to be abandoned too, or at least uninhabited. There's a spot for them in the backyard, as far away from the patio as possible, except for the one that had been occupied. That one is definitely going in the trash. 

Who knows when or where they went but I'm glad they're gone. Has peace been restored? Can we finally relax? At least until the next time a mouse sticks it's head out of one of the haunted houses or plastic jack-'o-lanterns. The sparrows are happy with their new rocks and we can only hope the mice will follow the good example set by the birds and stay on the other side of the screens.

Halloween is getting very close, it's about time we get back to the busines of being spooky.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

The Harvest Moon

Shortly after His Madness and I moved to Oshkosh, we discovered that the moon would rise in a pretty spectacular fashion over the lake - if we were somewhere with an unobstructed view. Obviously, this is a common phenomenon all over the world, but since it was something we hadn't noticed before, we thought it was pretty cool.

  

Every so often we end up in the right place at the right time to catch it. Saturday was the Harvest Moon. Apart from being the title of a Neil Young album back in the '90's, I didn't realize it was associated with anything practical. According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, because it rises while the sun is setting, it provides extra light late into the evenings, giving farmers more daylight to harvest their crops.

Earlier that day The Crew had headed to our garden in the hope of doing a little harvesting too. 

As usual, it's a mixed bag of things we actually plant, volunteers that come up from who knows where (probably the compost bin), and stuff that falls off the trees. 

The Crew won't be needing any extra time at the end of the day to harvest this lot. If we get enough to make a few salads we're happy. The tomatoes actually do taste better than they look.

Naturally, we have an overabundance of hot peppers. Time to get out the Pepto.

Ivy grew a bumper crop of Carolina Reapers this year and after tasting one has wisely decided not to share them with our neighbors. Why is it always the super hot, barely edible varieties that do so well? Even the raccoons leave them alone. Maybe we should surround our lot with them next year?

Several feet away from the raised beds, Kib discovered something large and squash-like, secretly growing underneath the Black-Eyed Susans. Those vines do like to wander.

Burt thinks it might be a pumpkin but can't be sure until it turns another color other than green. It's hard to believe the squirrels haven't nibbled on it yet. 

It was fun to get out in the garden and see what survived our neglect. The salads will keep until tomorrow. We enjoyed another view of the moon from our favorite drive-in and thanked our lucky stars that we don't ever have to rely on what we grow to keep us alive.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

It's Always Something

 

In our area, after a long hot summer, there was approximately one week of what could be described as "nice" before the temperature dropped like a rock and the skies turned to lead. Outside a restaurant, where we were having lunch, there was this grumpy heron, just staring at the choppy water. He was probably cold and thinking it might be time to fly south. That was easy to understand, but who would want to miss out on fall?

The Crew always get excited when the gloomy weather shows up, then spooky season can really begin. Right now Burt and Kib are keeping an eye out for what's happening in our front yard, supervising the very last project that will make this Halloween a lot more fun and keep the trick-or-treaters safe from twisting their ankles.

Over the year and a half it took to replace the water pipes, storm sewer, the entire street and all the sidewalks in our neighborhood; His Madness had a wonderful time documenting the process. Like we were ever going to forget it happened? Still, a big ugly problem remained. We're not counting the "X" defacing our magnolia, since it's finally starting to fade. After cutting down over a dozen mature trees that lined our street, the contractors had a hard time accepting the fact that there was one left standing. They were so disappointed.

All summer long we pestered the city to fix the temporary asphalt walkway they put in last November. Actually, we wondered if they were intentionally putting it off because they didn't get to cut down our tree. Eventually, they came by with more spray paint, a beaten up traffic cone and a broken barricade to make it into an even bigger eyesore. Then they disappeared for a few more weeks. During this time we had to replace two of our kitchen appliances that could only fit through the front door. At least no delivery people were harmed in the process.

 Just as we were about to complain again, a crew finally showed up, dressed to match the hydrangeas. So, how many construction workers does it take to pave ten feet of sidewalk? Sorry, for the weird pattern, I took this photo through the window, not trusting in my ability to interact civilly with these guys.

That took care of the problem at our front door but we still have to deal with the one at the back.  I'm sure this isn't going to work but it's a start. We would like to decorate our patio for Halloween!

Following a careful application of the repellent we noticed the weather had improved.  It seemed like a good day to take a drive around the lake while waiting for the rhodent squatters to leave and we ended up at an apple orchard almost directly across the water from our town. Nothing beats running away from your problems. 

In their gift shop, the already spooky atmosphere was enhanced with a huge, intact (but abandoned, of course) wasp nest. It was the size of a microwave. This is why I don't go apple picking. Guess we aren't the only ones with pest problems.

After a nice day and pleasant drive, the mice were still there and we are looking into other options for dealing with the varmints. We did bring home plenty of comfort food to stuff ourselves with while we wait for inspiration or the exterminator, whatever comes first. Hopefully, before the donuts are gone.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!

A Summer Sunset Situation

It's finally cooled off up here in our neck of the woods and the breezy evenings of late summer have moved in to coordinate perfectly with the early sunsets. Normally, we enjoy this time of day from the bug-free comfort of our screened in patio, but tonight we decided to come to a restaurant by the water to take advantage of these rare moments and avoid a situation we aren't sure how to deal with.

It all started because the garden was not looking it's best lately, so The Crew decided some dahlias from the Farmers Market would give a little lift to the surroundings. 

While adding the last blooms to the basket, The Crew heard some scratching sounds coming from the baker's rack. Kibitz was dispatched to check it out.

It seems there's a new resident in one of the birdhouses.

 

There's nothing like overreacting. Really? Is it that bad?

Then, after a more thorough investigation he discovered something else.

There's two, at least. One is cute, two is a problem and there could be even more. About a month ago, when I was outside, watering our kitchen window box, something very small and soft jumped onto my shoulder and then onto the ground. After I stopped screaming and ruled out it's being a bat, the only critter it could have been was a mouse. Field mice have stonger hind legs than house mice and are supposedly excellent jumpers. (Isn't that just great?) Several of our neighbors are avid campers, and they may have been stowaways. We've never had mice around before but our sweet kitties, who have sadly crossed over the rainbow bridge, probably took care of the problem. 

(They only leave their nests at dusk, so the photos of the mice were taken in the evening.)  

In the end, The Crew had a good laugh over how scared they were of a tiny creature that weighs about as much as a AA battery. We will pick up some humane traps somewhere and relocate them to the county park, several miles away. As for the birdhouses, they were about to go back into the garage to make space for pumpkins anyway, and we'll toss the ones that were occupied. The birds that nest in our backyard never cared for the birdhouses, they're probably better hidden in the shrubs and rose bushes. So the cute little houses ended up as decor, until the mice came along.

So, the sun has set on another weird day. It was a good excuse to enjoy a beautiful evening and to have a break from wondering how to evict two tiny creatures from our patio without too much effort on our part. We did have five raccoons living in the upstairs of our garage once but there are professionals to handle that scary a job. This is going to be a DIY because it would be too embarassing not to do it ourselves.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

See you soon!