Friday 13 May 2016

friday


  1. I wrote a blog post about coeliac awareness week. and then deleted it. it was really boring.  you're much better off going to coeliac.org.uk  they've got loads of great information.
  2. one of the cats brought in mice. two mice, at the same time. no idea how. whilst I caught mouse one in a box mouse two hid somewhere in the kitchen. he's still there, I saw him this morning run from under the fridge towards the washing machine. he is super fast and super tiny and occasionally the cat looks at the washing machine in a slightly puzzled way and then wanders off bored....... the teenagers want to keep it as a pet.
  3. the teenage boy had a haircut. after years of wanting to have long and shaggy curls he suddenly asked for it really short. . he has filled my phone with selfies trying to look at it from all angles............      when he walks into the room for a second I don't recognize him.... does that make me a bad parent.....
  4. the teenage girl has suddenly become obsessed with baking. I suspect it is because the exam revision is making her go slightly mad. 
  5. I am preparing to wage war on slugs. Claire has already had slug casualties. All slug repellent ideas welcome. Also mouse removal expertise appreciated.

hope you have a lovely weekend, with lots of cake.  and no mice. or slugs......

50 comments:

  1. I am waging battles with snails at the moment that are feasting on my lovely plants, any tips will be so useful. You are not a bad parent, I am the same when one of my boys goes from having long scraggly hair to having a number 2 cut, it does make them look so different. xx

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    1. I'm going to try slug/snail trap filled with yeast and sugar. I'll let you know if it works x I've about got used to the haircut!

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  2. Ha, I can't believe you still have a house guest! Your post resonated with me so much - my elder son had the same hair style for years and changed it ever so slightly at the front and I didn't recognise him! And daughter is also suffering revision blues - at least you get to enjoy lots of homebakes! Enjoy your weekend.
    Caz xx

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    1. revision blues are the worst. I'm going to fill the cake tin today for all emergency exam situations x

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  3. Thanks for the mention Tess. They are dastardly things. There are snails in my little greenhouse now and every night they take their pick of juicy young plants. I've tricked them tonight by putting the plants outside. Of course, that's where the slugs are... You've made me smile with the phone full of your son's selfies. I never recognise people when they change their hair. And I can never identify the children at cricket when they're batting and they've got helmets on. Is that one of mine?? Good luck to your daughter with the exam revision and the baking. The cake looks divine. Let's hope she keeps baking even when it's all over. Good luck with that mouse as well. I've heard they're very keen on chocolate, not sure if that helps at all. CJ xx

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  4. My dog eats mice and slugs, I can send him your way if you like. Have a great weekend. x

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  5. LOL at the mouse! How cute. But not really. We sometimes get them in when it is starting to get colder. The last one that came in the cat caught and played with it. Yuck. Yuck. Poor thing. They tend to stay away from the house now - at least the smart ones do.

    The cake looks wonderful. Yum.

    Have a lovely weekend

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    1. it was a very tasty cake! at least this mouse was in the kitchen, the last time the cat brought one in he left it in my bedroom for me x

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  6. I kept doing a double taken when my son shed his long blondie emo locks for a short hipster style - it made him look so different! Just to let you know that I have nominated you for a 'Liebster Award', please come over and take a look! xx hawthorn :) http://bit.ly/1Ww9pyf

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    1. thanks for the award xxx I've just about got used to the haircut xxx

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  7. We have a small, humane trap for the odd wee beastie that we find in the garage - I can be a bit slap dash filling the bird feeders in there! He looks very sweet in the photo; I can see why the children want to keep him as a pet. Good luck to your daughter with the revision. We're in the same situation at the moment but, sadly, her stress isn't taking the form of baking! Happy hunting. xx

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    1. I think we need to get one of those humane traps x exam stress is the worst. x

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  8. I could almost have written this post. War was declared here by the slugs on my plants do now I retaliate. Beer traps are what I'm using. We haves mouse:mice in the lift and we were just told about chocolate too so we will try that this weekend. Our son also cut his hair, yep who is this tall stranger whose face I can now see. And revision and baking Aldo taking place here by our daughter. I so could have written this post

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  9. The little mouse looks so sweet...it's when they move so fast that the panic sets in here! Good luck to your daughter with her exams...her cake looks beautiful and baking is such a nice way to combat stress.
    And the slugs......they are just waiting here for me to plant out my freshly grown greenhouse plantlets....I tried putting out a cosmos last week and a slug ate it immediately. I would try beer traps but am sure our dog would drink it! I look forward to learning some new ideas.....
    Helen xox

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  10. Your house sounds just like mine. I have a post about mouse hunting if you want to check it out! As for slugs I'm trying copper tape round the top of my veggie patch. Seems to be working so far. Don't worry about the cake baking, I always turn to baking when I'm avoiding something else! B x

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    1. I shall pop over to read your mouse tips! cake procrastination is the best kind x

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  11. I would struggle with the mice, but OK with the slugs. Have a great weekend.

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  12. I have mice and slugs eating my plants! I have tried the humane root but it doesn't work so we use food that is poisoned (not nice I know but if I didn't they would eat everything I grow, actually no they would gnaw through all the stalks and leave the leaves scattered as a little souvenir of their visit) hidden so that the birds and other animals can't see it/get to it. And slugs, beer baits work, as does copper round your plants but the best way is to go out at dusk and remove them all, you will get hundreds at first but eventually you will be removing less and less, we put them all in a container as we find them (with a lid) and then chuck them in our bin with all the other green waste that gets collected once a fortnight! Then you can come in and eat cake as a reward!

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    1. I'm going to try some baits, and yes then I think I'll have to start collecting them x

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  13. My 15 year old son had his haircut very short this week and I showed him his seven year old blonde surf dude look in a photo. He said, 'what were you thinking of letting me grow it that long!' I reminded him how much he hated having his hair cut at the time! Kids eh? On the plus side they'll use less shampoo!

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  15. No slug or mouse advice I am afraid! Hope you get them both sorted out though. Hope the exams go well for your daughter too. Enjoy her baking in the meantime. Sorry about deleting my other comment, I made a right mess and thought this was a different post! Thank you for joining Five On Friday, I hope you are having a good weekend. Sorry to be late visiting, I have been otherwise occupied as I said in my post. xx

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  16. Your kids sound so cute! How funny the cat brought in two mice! Tell the teens they would be better off buying one from a pet store. This one might not be disease-free.

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    1. yes, I think a domestic mouse would be a better pet. x not sure it would like to live here though that cat would think we'd bought a mouse tv if we had a cage....

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  17. Our cat is too lazy to catch mice luckily, but in our old cottage we used to have mice getting in. We used a humane trap and released them in field up the lane. I'm sure they just made their way back :)

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    1. this cat is quite old, I don't know how he managed it x I'm going to have to get a humane trap I think........

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  18. Our cats usually bring in mice freshly killed but occasionally there's a live one and I've wasted a lot of time trying to catch them, so I sympathise wholeheartedly. Humane traps are probably the way to go. Mice like chocolate digestives... Wishing your daughter the best luck with her exams x

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    1. I think the cats have recaught it........... but thanks for the tip. problem is if I buy chocolate digestives it won't be the mouse who eats them...........

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  19. The hair? The hair is gone? *wail*

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  20. I took a boy for a haircut this morning and he looks so much smaller now. Not just his head, his whole person seems to become bigger when his hair is too long and bushy. I think people have success with beer in a dish in the garden to kill slugs. I haven't tried it but I hear good things. I hope your daughter's exams go well!

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  21. My girl had very long hair which she got cut to shoulder length. It was such a smart grown up style she looked so much older. I really liked the change. She is lucky that her courses are all assessment based which is a huge relief as all the work is done, but it's not been without its moments!
    I've seen a tiny mouse outside. It lives in the shed and eats the bird food. I'm hoping it stays there.
    Finally, I saw a hedgehog in the garden last night - hurrah - I'm hoping he keeps down the slugs (not that I've got much planted)!

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  22. My mum did double takes for a very long time when I went for the very short dark hair, and I can vouch that she is a wonderful parent! I also vouch for baking as a stress-relief technique. Hope the exams are going ok, and she didn't have the bizarre business question on the biology paper I read about today xx

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  23. Ah, the baking revision distraction! An old favourite ;) As for the mice - have a fish tank net handy, they're the best thing I've found...and patience, plenty of patience! Xx

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  24. Great cake, what a civilised way to procrastinate!,x

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  25. Even without cats mice regularly find their way into the house. One of the joys of living in the countryside I guess?

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  26. I so admire you casual attitude toward the mouse. I would probably move.
    Amalia
    xo

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  27. Gosh, I missed this post! That cake looks fantastic -- I need a piece -- NOW! And it sounds like your cats need remedial training -- they're not supposed to bring the mice in a-l-I-v-e! Our cats need that same training, if you figure out how to do it LOL! Hope your little mousey is gone by now! (Oh, and I LOL'd at you not recognizing your son!!!)

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  28. we have tons of slugs... all eating my hostas. Very annoying.
    No mice here, but Lille the ferocious beast, barks at everyone walking past the house. Not good at all.
    And you can send your teenage daughter my way if you wish...

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    1. I'll put her in the post. you can take her clothes shopping. I am RUBBISH at it. also I don't understand make up..............

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  29. That mouse is cute! Never thought I'd say that! My son also currently wants his hair really short. I am laying out a lot of money for regular haircuts! Hope the exams are going okay. We are in the depth of them here too.

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  30. Sorry, I am very late to this. Hope you are getting the rodent situation under control. As a 'dog person' I could suggest if you didn't have the cats you wouldn't have live mice in the house but that's not very nice, is it {smile}.

    As for the slugs, have you tried garlic solution? Lovely post about it at Jessica's Rusty Duck.
    http://www.rustyduck.net/2016/05/23/hubble-bubble-toil-trouble/

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  31. Lovely looking cake, hope the revision/exams are going well. Slugs - I have had submerged yogurt pots of beer recommended, and copper bands, especially around raised beds, both of which I keep meaning to try (I have some copper bands still in their packaging and saved some slightly out of date beer specially for the purpose), but I still have a three quarters full tub of those highly effective but very bad blue pellets from last year, and I'm slightly ashamed to say they're proving very effective this year too. It's just very dispiriting to see all your hard work being eaten so fast by invisible night invaders, and those blue pellets are a mighty easy solution. As for the mouse, maybe you need to stop feeding the cat? But 2 at once is really impressive. And I can definitely imagine not recognising Sam if he ever has his hair cut short, I often look at short haired photos from 7/8 years ago and marvel at how different he looked then and find it really difficult to imagine how he'd look now with short hair. He had to wear trousers the other week (rather than the shorts he always lives in, other than for school anyway) and I almost didn't recognise him for that reason. Turning the tables as well, Harry (husband, dad) gave himself a very vicious hair cut by accident with clippers last Summer and basically ended up bald. Straight after he'd done it he had to go and pick Sam up from a cricket match, and apparently Sam walked straight past him not recognising him at all, so it works both ways! Sorry, late at night, rambly long comment!

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    1. I think not feeding the cat might be a good solution, but then it might encourage it to find extra mice... avoiding blue pellets due to cat. so far best solution = get rid of cat..........

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  32. I always thought that when cats brought mice home they'd be dead, not still alive! I have no idea how to get rid of them, sorry. While that one does look cute I'd go mental if I saw one in the house. Traps, I suspect, are the way forward.

    I think I have scattered enough slug pellets recently to cause a small environmental incident but I don't feel guilty, my plants remain alive. Good luck with those exams and those stressed teenagers - I'm sure that cake is a good solution all round. xx

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  33. SLUGS MUST BE EXTERMINATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree! They ruined all my veg last year! So far they are behaving in my new garden- tis puzzling, but I mustn't become complacent! No idea about the mouse- I had awful mouse problems in my old house near to the end because of my neighbours damp problem!!!

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    1. my sugar and yeast traps are doing a great job so far. they will not eat my courgette plants, I won't have it.........
      hope your veg is safe this year x

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  34. A daughter who bakes is a very fine thing (especially when they do the washing up too!). And I think a relaxed baking session is an excellent way to prepare for an exam. Our cat used to bring in live and very tiny field mice to play with during harvest time. The cottage had a healthy colony of mice in three different attics which didn't really bother me. But the sight of a dead rat did so I called in the mouse man who has done a very good job of eradicating all rodents. He uses a bait which dehydrates them so they go outside in search of water. Outside bait stations then persuade them away from the cottage. I don't use slug pellets because they are not only very bad for wildlife but the toxicity builds up in the soil, causing far more long term damage. Yes, I lose some new allotment plantings to slug damage but the majority survive and the gaps are soon filled which gives me a longer period of harvesting. In my garden, which is alive with birds, frogs and hedgehogs, I would not dream of using slug pellets.

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    1. eeek to the rat.....
      no I won't use the pellets don't worry. for a start they're toxic to the cats....

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  35. I must say I am a bit scared of mice! Don't know why. They are cute but I prefer to have them far away. :) The cake looks so pretty and delicious with the pink frosting. Wish good luck to her in her exams.

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