Still Alive

But barely =(

We've been an en-lurgied household for nearly three weeks with no end in sight as yet. I started it all off over two weeks ago with some sort of flu like virus that had my sinuses screaming and left me feeling like a wrung out dishrag for over a week.

Then as I was still recovering the Ewok came down with a 'proper man cold'. He's had the sniffles before but this time it's serious. He's been coughing and sneezing for three days straight and his poor little nosey is red raw, so now every time he wipes his nose it hurts so much he cries, but he won't let me put anything on it to help as it stings too much to start with. I've just has to sneak into his room and take his temperature as it was 38.8C (101.8F) when I put him to bed. Fortunately the baby paracetamol seems to have done the trick as it's back to normal now. Fingers crossed that's the worst of it for him and he'll be feeling better tomorrow.

Naturally, because my system was still buggered from whatever virus it was that I had, now I've come down with the blasted cold as well. It arrived yesterday and then invited it's mates along for the party today, so now my nose is red and sore too.

And finally, I've just heard Wookiee downstairs sneezing his head off. He's been sorting through old boxes of stuff from when we moved here nearly 5 years ago, so it could just be dust, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him snuffling with this cold tomorrow.

Bleargh.

Verminii Eradicus

Or at least I bloody well hope so.

You may recall I've posted before about a small mouse problem we were having in our house. A wee blighter that was managing to elude capture and removal. We did think that Wookiee had managed to get rid of it at one point (I'll post separately about Big Bad Wookiee Chasee Mousie) but when we started seeing and hearing the signs again soon after, we just assumed the blasted thing had got back in somehow.

A few days ago, after some more research into humane(ish) ways of catching pestiferous small fuzzies, I ordered some glue traps from Amazon (of all places) and put one down in a spot where I was almost certain it would catch it eventually. This was on the kitchen worktop, where it butts up against the fridge freezer (the bugger was climbing up behind the f/f).

Aaanyway, about an hour ago, I was sat in bed reading when I heard a minor clatter from downstairs. Assuming cat related shennanigins I ignored it once I determined that it hadn't disturbed Ewok. About 20 mins later there was a far worse clattering and sound of empty bottles and cans hitting tile. This was my first clue that the trap may have caught something as there were several empties on the same surface as the trap.

So I trotted off downstairs to find all three cats lurking just outside the kitchen door. I switched on the light and saw that I had indeed caught the nefarious little git that'd been causing so much trouble.

Now you'll have to excuse me my language while I get this out of my system. You see I hadn't caught a mouse...


IT WAS A FUCKING RAT!!!!!


IN MY HOUSE!!!!


*ahem*

Sorry, I'm still a little freaked out by it all actually.

Of course having caught said rat, I now had to dispose of said rat, preferably a few miles from home. At 3 o-clock in the frikkin morning. In. My. Nightie.

Having awoken Wookiee for emotional support as much as anything else, I managed to transfer rat and glue mat into a convenient Really Useful box* for the trip. Then I pulled on a pair of trousers, grabbed a bottle of oil (to release the rat from the glue, it's how it works), a torch and my cardi (it's cold and v windy outside), loaded everything into the car and set off into the night.

I drove to the next village, about 3 miles away, and parked up in the end of a track leading off across some farmland, unloaded the box and dumped the rat out. I then proceeded to try and pour oil onto the glue round the rat's feet and tail, without getting too close. This was made more interesting by the strong wind blowing the oil sideways, but I got there in the end and Meester Rat scurried off into the night minus some fur and a bit of blood (not sure why, but there was blood on the trap). I then chucked everything back in the car and went home.

As you can imagine I'm blogging this now because frankly, I'm wide awake, and I still need to get over the fact that it was a FREAKING RAT in my house, and not just a mouse. I know mice are disgusting, dirty and disease ridden as well, but they just don't creep me out the way rats do. I should also point out that it wasn't a full-grown rat, otherwise I don't think the trap would have caught it, it only being designed for mice. However I can say that the glue traps do work, very well indeed, and they're a damn sight cheaper than some of the other options.



* They really are really useful *grin*

Like father, like son.

People frequently comment on how much Ewok looks like me, and I think on the whole they are basing this on the fact that he has reddish curly hair, as do I.

However, as these two photographs will show, he also bears a striking resemblance to his dad:

Ewok, taken today:



and Wookiee, taken when he was about the age that Ewok is now:



Fortunately he hasn't inherited his father's satellite dishes ears!

Not long after this picture was taken, Wookiee's mum took him for his very first haircut, after which his hair grew back straight and dark brown. This is one of the reasons I haven't taken Ewok for a proper haircut yet.

UPDATE

Ok in the interests of fairness, I've managed to dig out a photograph of me at the same age, no laughing at the back please:



I'll post a more recent one of myself at another time. I have one from a couple of years ago that I'm not ashamed to show people.