I apologize for the start-stop method of blog posting. In addition, I have run into some technical difficulties trying to post pictures. We have been displaced from our home due to the cold weather and complications with the heat pump installation. Plus, we have had distractible excitement around deer hunting season. We spent most of the week with my husband’s parents to keep warm while Daddy worked on the installation. It is midweek and we have arrived home. We are grateful for a warm house.
The heat pump installation is a curious creature to me. Daddy purchased a ground source heat pump. Trenches were dug and the heating and cooling framework will be placed in the bottom of the fishing pond rather than a hole in the ground. There is still more work to be done before we draw the heat supply from the ground. For now, we are using the electric back up mechanism on the heat pump to keep warm.
Frankly, I miss the wood burning stove. I love the smell of wood burning as I walk out in the yard to do chores. We will have to wait until our house is built to use wood heat. Much work still needs to be done before we can bring the cows home. So, there will be no winter chores again save feeding Hank and drowning rodents who make their way into the house. Now that the duct work is completely hooked up, we should see a decrease in the mouse population.
In all of my years in the country, we never had mice in the house. This is a new experience for me. We are using the dreaded glue traps. My children, being ruthless, fight over who gets to drown the prey. I have converted to a country girl, but I still struggle with certain aspects of rural living. I think my children take country living a bit far.
As I snuggle down for the night in this warm home, I am reminded of how our gracious Father cares for our every need. I am thankful for a home in the country, land to farm, a home full of love, peace and joyful noises from children. This Thanksgiving, I have so much to thank God. The children and I are safe, free from daily tyranny, enjoying the love of a godly husband and father. We have had a wonderful year of peace.
Udderly His,
The Kansas Milkmaid
Thursday, 19. November 2009
Our heater seems to take a vacation at least once every winter–not a good thing. Glad your family’s warmth problems have been resolved.
Wednesday, 9. December 2009
Hello milkmaid!
I used to milk cows–a whole herd of them. I still live in the country, in the “Grandma house” next to the bigger family house on an Amish/Mennonite farm, but Mom (who lives in the big house) rents out the land now, and none of us living on the farm keep cows.
Concerning mice, my daughter and I have discovered those plastic mice traps that have huge “tongues,” (or whatever those things are called that the mouse triggers to make the trap snap shut) but it is still best to have a cat if you use these traps. Although we usually bait the traps with peanut butter, most of the mice are caught when they run by. All you have to do after you bait the trap is squeeze one end of it, and that will set it. When there is a mouse in it, all you have to do is squeeze the end you squeezed before to release the mouse. The down-side is that the trip-trigger (or tongue) is so big, mice often get caught by a leg and try to drag the trap around. In this case, take the trap with the mouse still in it to your cat. Do not release the mouse until the cat has the mouse in its mouth. If the cat decides to play with the live mouse, be prepared to stomp on the mouse or whack it with a broom or bat so it has no chance to return to your house. You can check Walmart or Target for the traps; they used to carry them, but I haven’t checked recently.
On the positive side, the trap is so good no mouse can get by it without getting caught. We don’t have near the mouse problem we used to before we got these traps. Also good, you never need to touch where the mouse was. You don’t have to bait them if you don’t want to. The secret for where to set a trap is so the open mouth faces a wall. I usually put mine right inside a doorway where they are likely to come through.
One year I could hear a mouse gnawing behind the wall, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It finally gnawed a hole in the window sill between the addition and the original house. Since I am concerned about a mouse gnawing through electrical wires, etc. I decided to leave the hole open and put a mouse trap right at the entrance of the hole. It is our welcome mat for mice. We have caught many a mouse that way!
Other mouse info: As mice travel they leave traces of urine, etc. Other mice follow their trail–to their death when the trail leads into my house. But you can obliterate the trail by pouring/spraying a band of solution around the outside of your house. Use 1 oz of gum turpentine (it is more expensive, but apparently works better than regular turpentine) 1 oz of dish soap to help break down and dispense the turpentine throughout the mixture, and 1 gal of water. You may need to repeat when it rains if mice start coming in again.
I hope this is helpful! Happy milking!
Waneta