 |
| The Snake River, looking towards Lewiston, Idaho, from Clarkston's Beachview Park |
It’s
still smoky in our valley, but we expected that. I took these pictures of the
Snake River and Lewiston from Clarkston’s Beachview Park on Wednesday, August
15. Our yoga class is meeting in the park until further notice, which is quite pleasant.
 |
| Lewiston from Beachview Park |
Mike
and Ken went to the farm on Tuesday to practice shooting clay pigeons with
Mike’s thrower. While there, Mike discovered the mice had once again infested
the lawnmower. This time he will repair it himself, so this morning he rode his
Tiger XRX back to the farm to dismantle the mower. He gave a riveting account
of his eviction of the mouse family from their home deep inside his mower.
While
he was at the farm, he visited with the drywallers, which reminded me that I
have decisions to make on paint colors. I’m frustrated by that because how can
I tell from a tiny paint chip what color I want? What difference do shades of
white make, after all? But – suddenly a plan rolled out. I’ve written it down,
and if they don’t like it, they can just substitute other shades of white.
 |
| Lewiston from Beachview Park |
Working
out the cost of this repair with the insurance adjuster has not been pleasant,
just as I predicted. He doesn’t like the estimate for the cost of custom
cabinets and that seems to be where we’ve stopped. He seems to say he doesn’t
believe they were custom-built to begin with. He doesn’t think they were better
than what we could buy at Home Depot. It’s a small, old-fashioned kitchen.
Ready-made is not going to work.
Oh
– but I was talking about Mike’s visit to the farm. He observed that the
infestation of yellowjackets is the worst he’s ever seen, which isn’t really
news. There’s not much we can do about it this year. Maybe we can’t ever do
anything about it.
 |
| Sew-along update: sarong |
They
still haven’t harvested our fields, and I don’t have new pictures. Mike did say
that the zucchini plants are still alive and the strawberries plants looked
really good.
It’s
another hot day here in the old town, but it appears that in the foreseeable
future it’s gradually cooling into the 90s. KW
6 comments:
I want to hear about the "riveting discussion" about the mice eviction from the mower, and what he plans to do about future "guests".
When I took the cowl off Mama mouse ran out of the nest with one pup hanging on to a teat and another pup that fell on the ground. A touching scene but I killed the baby anyway. The nest was jamming the flywheel. I haven't made a final decision on the long range solution yet. Stay tuned.
See -- that was brutal and I protected everyone from it, but it's no worse than what Mickey Mouse does to the piglets in Steamboat Willie. (Well, maybe a little worse.) Young'uns are always cute.
I've been reading forums to see what others do to deter the mice -- mothballs, Bounce sheets, garlic, leaving the hood open. What one swears by doesn't necessarily work for the next guy. We haven't had this problem with other mowers, so we're baffled. And -- it's not a simple matter to check for the mice.
Do you have the receipts for the original cabinets? Or the word of the cabinet maker? And don't ask me about color--I'm a white (towards creamy white) person and that as far into color as I go. I keep hearing about the bees, but we've been strangely shy of them this year, not that I'm complaining!! There must be something about your mower design that speaks of home to those little mama mice. Ripstop drawstring cover for it??
Hi Chris!
Yes, the cabinetmaker is in the loop, and we do have the original receipts. As son Clint points out, the adjuster's job is to avoid paying. Well, one way or another, we'll put the house back together.
I, too, have heard from others that the bees -- wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets -- are bad everywhere this year. They make it unpleasant. We have taken out a couple of nests in town, but we don't know where they nest at the farm. Glad you haven't been bothered.
I agree about the mower design. I suggested a cover of some sort, but Mike's afraid if we cover it, the mice will just find it even more homey. Maybe we should get a vault for it.
A vault! I like it!!
Post a Comment