2023 Quick Daily Posts

[Serinde]

It has! Everything -- even the backup configuration -- is working. Once we buy ourselves out of our old contract, it will also save us quite a bit a month. All good!

[richardandtracy]

We have an unwelcome visitor in our kitchen.

We discovered it as a result of clearing things out to have our boiler replaced (very warm & toasty, just when we needed it). We knew Ozzie had caught a rat in the kitchen when the back door was shut. We also noticed a rather unpleasant smell around 4 days later. This coincided with taking the kitchen apart to clear things for the boiler work. Well, it was a rather drippy bag of goo next to where there was a rats nest in a cupboard. We didn't inspect too closely because of the eye-watering stench, but assumed it was baby rats that had died after mum was caught & eaten by Ozzie.

However, we noticed a couple of more scrabblings in a stud wall and then I saw a quick dash as a rat made for the cat food bowls. Only saw it out of the corner of my eye, about 5" long.

We don't really want to poison it. Too much chance of Ozzie getting it and making himself unwell. So, bought a 'Humane' rat catcher (actually the same one as in this Reddit Video of a rat being released (sorry about the language plastered across the screen): https://www.reddit.com/r/AbruptChaos/co ... _at_least/
Anyway, first try last night drew a blank after baiting with cat food (as ratty does a good job of clearing up all old cat food that our overfed monsters leave). Hopefully we'll get it soon. In two or three days if the humane trap doesn't work, the poison's coming out. Don't want ratty in the kitchen.

Regards,

Richard

[Mabel Figworthy]

The cats aren't interested then? Lexi caught a rat once but then kindly left it for us to deal with; when it stopped moving she lost interest. (My aunt's black labrador, on the other had, slept soundly in his basket in the kitchen while a rat walked past about 2 inches from his nose. Very laid back, that dog was. Practically comatose.)

[Steam.Jo]

If you leave food unattended in the kitchen you will continue to get rats. Once in their "piddle" trail is repeatedly used it is going to attract others. Rats will even dig through brick walls to follow an old trail. If you catch it and let it go , even miles away,, it or a friend/relative will be back

You need a terrier or jack Russel: If you can find how rattie got in then water their pee around/along the route or they will be back.

Jo

[richardandtracy]

The cats are vaguely interested. Not seriously.
At the moment ratty is much more interested in the cat food than anything else. And he's living indoors, not venturing outside into the wet. Anyway, we hope to catch it, or poison it in the next few days.

Regards,

Richard.

[Steam.Jo]

Eating and peeing on the cat food is one thing but there is also the damage they cause gnawing things because their front teeth keep growing... They are a right nuisance.

(Semidetached) Neighbour had same problem with rats eating his dog food. They got into his kitchen, up through the cavity and into the adjoined loft. From there they ate the non red insulation from his house wiring, started sleeping (weeing) in the boxes of old children's clothes. The end came when it got into my loft so I fed it some lovely blue seeds which made it thirsty so it climbed into his cold water tank and couldn't get out again. New house buyer finally found out why his water tasted so revolting about a year later. One of the others I poisoned turned into maggots and found a way down through his kitchen ceiling and were landing on his hob while he was cooking... adding extra protein to the bacon he was frying

I tried all of the electronic gadgets to discourage them from coming through into my loft. The only really effective thing to turn them back I have found is a high powered LED movement light: When ratty walks up to it in the dark it suddenly lights up in front of their nose blinding them and they panic and go back the other way

Jo

P.S. Rats have tape worms when they pee on the cat food they are going to share them too.

[Serinde]

Revolting.

[rcperryls]

Revolting.

That is a refined way of putting it.

We had a rat once that got stuck in our chimney (very long story how the rat nest in the chimney got mostly eaten by the snake but I won't go there) and sorry if I am repeating a story I've told before. It was summer and Laverne was paying a lot of attention to the fireplace which was covered by a large painting in the summer. My DH removed the painting and a rat came running out. Laverne(my avatar kitty) chased it under the kitchen hutch and kept it from moving anywhere else so it was cornered, while my DK got his BB rifle. and got it. In the meantime, being very brave, Shirley (Laverne's not half as brave sister) and I had positioned ourselves on top of the oven. Fortunately not on at the time. Creepy as could be while happening but makes a kind of funny story.

Carole

[Steam.Jo]

Revolting.

That is a refined way of putting it.

I'm just trying to encourage him to get rid of them ASAP

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

Christmas Craft event at our church yesterday for local families - some of the parents were enjoying the crafts as much as the children were . Several of the older children chose to embellish their box with a little stitching; I pre-pricked the holes and they stitched on beads or snowflake sequins. Two wanted a bead heart, and several chose this pattern: (my own model as I forgot to take pictures of some of the children's boxes )

[Serinde]

That's wonderful. Getting everyone involved leads to exciting places.

In other news, it's raining here. Bucketing. And I'm not convinced the sun has risen yet, either, it's still so dark. Storm Debi, apparently.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Started wet dark and windy here too, now mostly just windy. Sorry you are in perpetual gloom

The children really enjoyed making the boxes, they were so pleased when the box came together from two unpromising-looking flat pieces of card - and pretty much all of them had someone in mind for whom they were making it, and what they would put in it!

[richardandtracy]

There was me thinking Storm Debi was all 'Pastels' and 'Ballerina Barbie'. (cf second 'Addams Family' movie).

Hope you stay safe Serinde. Thinking of you.

At our end, our ratty problem has us confused.
We've not caught it. But there is no new evidence of its existence. No droppings, no inexplicable disappearance of cat food, no nibbling of the poison bait or triggering the traps, and no sound. Anywhere. And no bits of ratty if the cats had caught ratty. Maybe we have a phantom rat. Very odd.

Regards,

Richard.

[rcperryls]

This has been a very strange weather year. Stay safe through the storm Serinde. I sometimes think that giving storms a name may not be the best thing meteorologists have done. It might be a way of identifying them in the future, but I wonder if it doesn't encourage the storm gods to create more of them.

Carole

[Serinde]

Debi mostly blew through this morning, no damage done. Things looked up -- briefly -- and now it's very dark and soggy again. To be fair, this is November. It is Scotland. *sigh*

You many have a point there, Carole. This is already the 4th named storm this year (which starts in Sept).

@Richard. Perhaps it has found your home so uncongenial now, it's gone away to bother somebody else? Just say thanks, I'd recommend.

[richardandtracy]

Serinde we're tempted to avoid looking a gift horse in the mouth, but.. we do need to be totally convinced it's gone for good.

I'm a bit in limbo at the moment. Enya's in hospital having her op to remove her cysts and may (hopefully) be back this afternoon/evening. I took her in for 7.30 am, same time as every other day patient. Everyone was told to sit in the waiting room and come when called. Naturally they had no idea who was there and wasted everyone's time by shouting over the hubbub of 50+ people calling names of those who hadn't arrived. Even something as simple as registering everyone as they arrived would have improved efficiency. Can't believe it.

But then again... it's the same hospital who (when dealing with my hernia) registered my bed as occupied by me when I went for my op, then because my bed was registered as occupied (by me), proceeded to look all around the hospital for a spare bed. So, I ended up in post op recovery in a basement corridor outside a nurses rest room. [I learnt this from Tracy this morning. She spent a good while looking for me, I was too out of it at the time to realise quite what had happened].
And the same hospital that a computer unable to find MIL for 3 days.
And the same hospital that sent FIL home with Norovirus.
As you can see, I have an appropriate degree of faith in the hospital.

Regards,

Richard.

[Mabel Figworthy]

I hope their treatment of Enya will be such that your faith in them is restored to some extent!

[wendywombat]

As you can see, I have an appropriate degree of faith in the hospital.

Regards,

Richard.

If all else fails you could phone your daughter...or stand outside with a Megaphone!!

Seriously, I hope all goes well with Enya. and you can all relax a bit.
You've all had one Heck of a year!

[richardandtracy]

Things became a bit of a whirlwind after 5.30. Picked her up at 6:45 and got her home slowly & gently.

She hurts, but is OK. The hospital did OK, though it was my daughter who called us to say she'd been given the OK to go home.
It all was done through 4 keyholes, which is astonishingly good given the size of the cysts.
Cats homed in on her as soon as she got home & wanted to curl up on her lap or tummy (!!) & help her.

A nice relief that it's done.

My dad is now in a nursing home - moved yesterday. Oh boy.

Regards,

Richard

[Serinde]

Good news. Her shoulder(s) will hurt due to the gas they need to pump you up (as it were). Keyhole surgery is a revelation when it goes well. Please let Enya know that the nicest room in St Cross Stitchers is hers to command, and the cats are welcome as long as they don't try to pull rank on Dr TinyCat.

That's a big decision for your father and all of the family.