18 October 2008

We're in the middle of winterizing and trying to get rid of the field mice.

Think we're fighting a losing battle. 2 cats, and they love playing with the mice but don't understand killing...

But we have those sonic repellers out in every room, so mostly, we just hear the scurrying in the attic and hear some scuffling in the garage/kitchen wall area.

We have traps out, but they don't seem to be as popular with this new bunch of mice as they were with the troop that was here when we moved in.

As to where they're getting in...

The aluminum siding is attached over the wood siding, but it's loose, so crawling vines get under there periodically.

There are burrows in the crawl space under our bedroom that we think may allow for it.

The basement is cinder block, and the openings from the basement into the crawl spaces are open cinder blocks

And the garage doors don't close all that tightly.

And we know that the previous group of mice liked to come through the garage and into the kitchen stove.

So, it's more a question of where they AREN'T getting in.

But we're getting things cleaned up and slowly getting them into shape, so we probably won't have as bad a problem next year.

But we're surrounded by corn fields, and the mice like to run into the houses when it's harvest season and they get chased out of the fields.

We had one drop from the ceiling a couple of weeks ago.

It did a swan dive from the top of my 6' curio cabinet into a vent.

We heard if for a couple of hours afterward in the ductwork, trying to find its way out.

So we're looking into getting some wire mesh that's made for ductwork.

And we're going to be insulating our ducts, so that'll help keep the little buggers out of there.

And during the winter, we're going to go room by room to find the holes in the walls and ceilings and such where they might be coming in, so we can plaster and caulk and such.

But right now, we're winterizing--covering the single-pane windows with plastic to keep our heat loss down, insulating the pipes and ductwork, tilling the garden under, washing the siding and cleaning the garage so we can park our cars in it again...

Work:
Work's pretty good. Busy as hell, but that's good. And my boss is trying to get me on as a full-time employee instead of just a contractor.

Hubby just finished putting the insulation on some windows, he's still working, too. And stressing about money.

So, you know, business as usual.

New windows:

We're going to get them eventually, but with the break in and storm damage, our money had to go other places.

We're hoping to replace the windows next year if we are both employed.

But first... We have to have some more roof work done, and we got locks put on the garage doors.

Fallen tree bits:
Plus, we had a guy come out and cut down one of the rotten trees.

The one that we thought was most likely to fall on the house.

We have 2 more of those to get down before the spring storms get here.