A Quiet Day At Peaceful Forest Homestead

A lazy Sunday at Peaceful Forest!

Since for the time being, my pantry is torn apart so my husband can remodel it, it is still storing our food. But as much as I HATE plastic, I have it all stored in the plastic containers like big boxes with tight fitting tops. It is an ongoing fight with me and the mice! So what I have to do is just wait till my husband can get on with that job. It took a backseat to the remodeling our kitchen, and the building of the battery room which is connected to our cellar.

So today, I carried all my home canned food jars upstairs, and put them on shelves that I was using for books I have for sale on Bonanza. I put all the books in boxes and made a list of what book is in which box. It is easier that way for the food to be on the shelves so I can see it. The reason I could not leave them in the pantry, even in the plastic containers, was because it gets really cold in there during the winter. You cannot allow your home canned food jars freeze. It will ruin the food in them. So I put them upstairs. It is cool in the area where I put them, as there is a window right there. The upstairs is heated by the chimneys that run through the ceilings and out the roof. But it doesn't get really hot.

Tawny getting up from her nap!

I love living in the country. But the one reality of country living is that the mice love it too! They will attack us every now and again. For weeks, sometimes for months. Then we get rid of them. And have gone as much as two years, without even one chewing on our house or sneaking into the pantry. This year though, has been like a war. Our cat, Hobo has gotten a good share of them. She has even managed to get more than one in a single day!

I keep two mousetraps in the pantry. Some nights we get one in each. That means there must be a lot of mice coming in. I know some people will read this and feel sorry for the mice. Well, unless you have them coming into your house and leaving their calling cards on your food, dishes, counter tops, sinks and anywhere else they can think of..................you don't understand what a big problem this can be. I love animals. And I even love snakes, frogs and some bugs, and have learned to appreciate spiders............which I used to be terrified of. But I will never appreciate flies, conifer bugs or mice. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

If you are thinking of moving to the country, just remember you have to get over your fear of mice, bats, snakes, frogs, bugs, etc. They are out here too. Stands to reason that they would rather be in the country too. So you have to learn to fight them, tolerate them, and not get stressed out over them. I used to. Over the mice. Now I just have learned to fight back. Soon my pantry will be as mouse proof as my husband can make it, and I can't ask for much more than that.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Taking Down Ceilings In Old, Old Houses!

After the ceiling was torn down

This week we had some cooler temperatures so we were able to take our ceiling down in our living room. What a mess that was! We just stuffed all the furniture in our kitchen and on the deck, put up old sheets in the doorway to the kitchen. Then covered the batteries (part of our solar system) and the wood stoves in the living room (we have two - one is our huge heating stove, and the other is the one we had in our other house and here we use it for a stand.). My husband then went to work.

Cat food and mouse bedding in the ceiling!!!

These walls and ceilings in this week were put in during the 1850s and they used these little slat boards and cement. This cement made so much dust and it is old, and then we also had mouse beds inside the walls. Horrible! One spot in the ceiling that when he tore it down he called to me, "This spot is full of mouse beds!"

I came in to see, and I said, "That is full of cat food!"

They had been stealing cat food from the cat dishes, I guess. Then hauled it up in the ceiling for a period of years. I couldn't believe how much was up there. I know my brother-in-law thought we should just put paneling over the walls and the electric lines over that. If we did that, this stuff would be inside our walls forever! I think that would not be good. Some of the cat food had molded and who knows how long they had been doing that? We've been here and fighting mice for 11 years. We are hoping some of the things we are doing will stop their activity.

Covered up our wood heating stove

Next week we have 11 bags of cement to take to the land fill. Now we have 2 walls left to do in the living room and 2 in the bath room. More work for my husband, but at least it is getting closer to being done. This was the worst of the job. Ceilings are the worst to take down since it falls on you. You MUST wear a mask to do this, though I admit my husband didn't always do this as it was hot. But it should be tolerated anyway. For your safety.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole