Weekend!
Holy cow, is it Memorial Day again already?
Indeed it is.
Maribou and I talked about how we needed some time to ourselves to just seriously unwind and recharge and get back into ourselves after a crazy school year and whatnot and thus, of course, we scheduled the ever-living heck out of the upcoming three-day weekend. We’re going to catch Mad Max tomorrow, then come Sunday there will be a meat-grilling party at a friend’s, and we’ll be seeing yet other friends on Monday and I’m pretty sure that there’s something on Saturday that I’m forgetting too *PLUS* we have to do all of the chores, errands, varieds, and sundries.
I mean, seriously, our cups seriously run over but, dang, we’re going to need a weekend to ourselves after this holiday weekend so we can seriously unwind and recharge and get back into ourselves after a crazy school year and whatnot.
So… what’s on your docket?
(Photo is “Footrace finish line, 1925” from the Seattle Municipal Archives, used under a creative commons license)
We discovered that two (2) of our drawers and three (3) of our cabinets are infested with mouse poop. So that’s going to be my weekend, for the most part. Also, shopping for humane mouse traps online.
Another child development specialist came by Thursday to talk about Lain’s sleeping problems. The state’s commitment to helping parents with children with potential developmental lags is truly impressive. It was a bit awkward because the situation on the ground changed entirely between when the appointment was made and now. Things aren’t “all better” now, but significant progress starting being made almost right after the appointment was made.
The other thing that was awkward was that the Primary Development Specialist misrepresented the problem. The PDS is absolutely convinced that any and all problems are coming from Lain’s diet (trouble sleeping? Diet. Lazy eye? Diet…) and so the new specialist came prepared to talk about dietary things we do not think are an issue.Report
Iron floss and caulk is what you need… (mice’ll chew through plain caulk)Report
“Iron floss and caulk is what you need…”
I don’t think a responsible parent feeds his kid iron floss and caulk. Sure, occasionally as a treat is fine, but not as a steady diet.Report
This was a simple response to the problem of mice in the house. Not to the problem of children in the house, as they’re much larger and may indeed learn to use doorhandles.Report
Good luck with the humane mouse traps. In our experience, they didn’t get the job done.
With a heavy heart, we had to resort to capital sentencing.Report
I have had good luck with the kind with a tunnel, with bait at one end, and which zaps the critter. I don’t know how humane it is, but I suppose most anything is better than the convention kind, which might snap the neck quickly, or might just do enough damage for a lingering death.Report
Ah, I read “humane” to mean “traps, but does not kill”. We tried a couple models of no-kill, and they failed.Report
Just don’t try no kill with squirrels, they panic and bash their own brains in.Report
https://www.youtube.com/user/SuicidalSquirrels
http://www.experienceproject.com/question-answer/Are-Squirrels-Suicidal-Or-Just-Stupid/29863
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-11-suicide-squirrels_N.htmReport
A few years ago I had a mouse. I kept hearing it at night, and I’d even caught glimpses of it, so I knew where it went (mice, like the cats who hunt them, are creatures of habit). So I bought a no-kill trap and put it right on the little bugger’s trap. Over more than two weeks, nothing happened. I tried different baits, I tried moving it around, I tried multiple traps, nothing. So I bought another kind of no-kill trap. Same thing. So I bought one of those kill traps that’s a box, so I wouldn’t have to see the poor little bastard when it got it Nothing. After a couple months of struggling to catch him, I ended up using glue traps, which are just awful. Caught it the first night.Report
This was basically our situation too. Single mouse somehow got in, and at night he’d get into the bananas on the counter or the chips on top of the fridge; and sometimes we’d hear him at night, but could never get him (dogs would go BONKERS).
The trap that finally got him was sort of a hybrid, it was a classic spring-loaded neckbreaker, but it had a case or shell that (mostly) concealed the body (though the tail was still hanging out).
I stuffed the attic vents (where we suspected he might have gotten in) with steel wool to prevent a recurrence.Report
The only time we had a mouse it was a field mouse (we had had 3 feet of snow, and it wouldn’t melt for a Month!). It didn’t want to eat a thing, just wanted someplace warm and with decent shelter.Report
That’s strange. Ours almost always works. What sort of bait did you use?Report
Our one attempt to use a humane trap was a dismal failure – it was a tin box with a one-way flap. I cleaned up the grain the mice had been getting into, leaving only a bit in the trap. I checked the trap daily for weeks. Nothing.
I forgot the trap where it was.
Some weeks later, I discovered that a mouse had finally gotten in there, at some time long enough ago to die of hunger or thirst.Report
@will-Truman, Mice don’t like peppermint extract or oil. We used cotton balls dipped in the extract with clove and cayenne mixed in and then put them in all the places we had seen evidence of mice. Also, humane traps were never considered. Mice are cute, but also very destructive. It is a battle to the death and one we wanted to win quickly.Report
Last weekend was the long one here – Mr. T and I went down to the south of the province where Fledermaus has been working (costumes for the Wizard of Oz!) and spent Kiddo’s birthday weekend in Drumheller, swimming and hiking and sitting by campfires.
This weekend is pretty unplanned – on Sunday, Kiddo heads back South to spend the last week of Fledermaus’s residency with her. We might replace the hot water tank. The weather looks wonderful, so maybe we’ll find some things to do in a park somewhere.Report
The fava bean experiment came to a close. Not many beans but reasonably good leaf greens for the winter. Last weekend it was time to plant a few sweet potatoes, and a dozen or so sprigs of spekboom.
Speckboom is fast becoming a favorite for the crisp, tart taste (vitamin C) and durability. Like the nopals, it retains it’s leaf mass year around so it is ever available for consumption. Much better than the seasonal purslane, additionally, it can hold its own in dry conditions.
Dabbling around with Echeveria there are only two that suit my tastes. Will need to take the remaining dozen or so to the plant shop and barter for something useful.
The berries picked from a desert holly are drying up and about ready for seed extraction. In reviewing the stands of bluewood condalias, and spiny hackberry, I stumbled across a bush that was subtly different, the thorns were shorter and the branches more friendly. A little research revealed it to be a blackhaw! With any luck I hope to be propagating holly and blackhaw over the summer.
A oyster mushroom growing kit has been beckoning for duty the last couple of weeks, if time allows, will set that bad boy up and running. If exhaustion sets in, will be reading ‘The market for liberty’.Report
What does an oyster mushroom growing kit consist of? Do you need a whole restricted-airflow terrarium type thing, or do they do alright with room air?Report
The one I bought at a supply store looks like this:
http://www.asseenontv.com/oyster-mushroom-growing-kit/detail.php?p=557333
Haven’t opened the instructions yet. I’ll write a follow-up next friday to describe the process. FWIW a lot of kits on amazon are open air kits.
The bigger task is to reproduce enough spores to supply log bundles around the landscape. Locally we also have shaggy ink caps. Very easy and safe to spot after you have observed their fruit cycle for a season. The problem/key with ink caps is to pick them before they get gooey-inky, and it’s best to cook them directly after collecting.Report
That’s be awesome, thanks!Report
I had such a good time with one of my just-graduated student workers yesterday – we went to two different coffeeshops and then a movie. It’s hard to have them graduate every year – hard mostly because they usually leave the state, or at least the city – but it’s lovely to transition from being their boss to being their friend,when that happens to happen. Even if I have a small-yet-persistent sad this time every year.
I’m pretty sure we aren’t doing anything social on Saturday (rest easy, @Jaybird ) – but we do have All Of The Chores and Errands Ever to do on that day. Otherwise I am looking forward to seeing various friends and REALLY looking forward to the times I will spend alone doing nothing (those are especially lovely when my workplace is CLOSED – as it will be all weekend – because I am not even a little bit on call).Report
Going to Humboldt to see the Redwoods.Report
Shut up! I grew up there!!! Hike, fish, swim, but don’t inhale ;). Enjoy!!!Report
I have a pretty busy weekend, and its not even a 3-day weekend for me:
1) This morning I have a Malifaux tournament in Upper Hutt.
2) This evening I’m going to a live performance of the Thrilling Adventure Hour.
3) Tomorrow, I start the Adventurer Conqueror King campaign I’ve been working on for a year.Report
I will also be seeing Mad Max on a triple date situation, except my “date” is with a man I couldn’t have less romantic feelings for. More like a brother, really. Anyway, I’m waiting to hear back about a job I applied for, so I’ll be distracting myself all weekend. Oh, and I’m on call again. On a holiday weekend. 🙁Report
Denver Comicon! A whole weekend of geeky fun. Plan this year is to give the oldest a bit more freedom while I take over thetask of supervising the youngest, hopefullu freeing K up to attend panels and get pictures and autographs.Report
I’m in NH for two weeks for work so the wife flew up last night to spend the holiday weekend with me. We’ll do the tourist/shopping thing in Freeport,ME and revisit some of our favorite places there. A trip to Stowe,VT for ice cream. And our local team at work has given me a long list of seafood joints to try around here, so we’ll eat our way through Manchester.Report
I’d never spent much time in Manchester; just driving by the loop to it on 93 from Boston to the White Mountains.
We went there a few months ago, spent a few hours walking around. It’s a fine city. My captures from the day, to give Mike and his sweetie context. I liked the mix of architecture in the downtown a lot.Report
I’ve been planting. We put in six new vegetable beds, which has been a massive undertaking. Yesterday, we purchased some new lilac bushes to plant behind them.
And last night, it got cold enough to frost in the low areas. The apple trees are just reaching full bloom, nearly two weeks later than is usual.
Today, we’ll go help my mother clean out her house, she’s putting the farm I grew where I spent my childhood up for sale. This is a sad thing, but also a happy one.
Until the vegetables are all planted, it will be a busy time; lots of stoop labor, and not much time for writing. I’ll try and get some photos, and maybe write a post about why I’m putting in new beds. (The old beds are still in use, too; I’m essentially increasing my growing space by 50%.)
But I do want to know: what’s your favorite vegetable or fruit? If you garden, what do you grow? If you don’t, what would you grow?Report
I’d love to be doing something with the outdoor landscaping, if the weather would just give us a break. So far this month, we’ve had precipitation equal to the average total for all of May, June, and July — with more forecast for this afternoon and evening. Snow still piling up in the high country 30 miles to the west. White water enthusiasts may find that there’s too much of a good thing once the melt really gets going.Report
We could use some of that here; this should be our ‘rainy’ season, and instead, there’s forest fire warnings.
There’s still deep snow in the high country here, too; my daughter hiked through waist-deep snow on a backpacking trip last week; except for the colder spots at the top of the presidential range, it should be gone soon; but it is late in melting.
I do not dare plant tomatoes yet; but traditionally, Memorial Day is the time to do that.Report