And more mice trouble

Thank goodness my traps work.

Mice have chewed the electrics in the kitchen, getting under the floorboards upstairs. The electircian held out the offending wires in silent accusation. All is now replaced...the kitchen lights work again and the traps set.

 I  hope the seven mice I have caught since new year are it. They are so destructive. We could have had a fire! Silly me to think that having vanquished them last year, that they woud not be back in the cold weather! Mice can squeeze in through the smallest of holes.

I do not mind mice outside as long as they don't attack my beehives etc. I do mind mice chewing wires in the house!

It is obvious that Mr Darcy and Heathcliff have decided that chasing mice is not as much fun as curling up in front of the fire!

One of my least favourite jobs is checking the mouse traps but someone has to do it. Particularly after reading the Bryson book.

Have you set a mouse trap today? Or do you prefer curling up in front of a fire?

Return of the mice

After reading At Home -- A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson, I decided that perhaps the mouse traps ought to be dusted off and put down in the basement again. The result = 3 dead mice.
It is a matter of checking and re baiting but mice can get anywhere...and do.
At Home is a brilliant book full of lovely factoids. I had already read a lot of his research books and knew one or two things he quotes makes for a good story but not totally accurate. For example, the oft quoted story about schoolgirls being strapped to make their waists 13 inches in diameter. That is smaller than a mayonnaise jar and Dorothy Langley Moore back in the 1940s proved that it didn't happen. Her theory was that people exaggerated and that clever cuts can make things look small. She also had one of the largest collections of dresses from the period.  When she did her book in the 1940s, she found that at times, she did have to take the waist in. Best guess for Judith Flanders was that the periodical where the story is taken from served as a cover for S& M bondage types. According to Flanders there are two types of letters in Beeton's periodical -- one sort deals with tight lacing, spanking etc and the other dealt with more normal aspects.
It should be remember that Scarlet OHara was created by a woman living in the 20th century and who never had her waist cinched or indeed knew people  who were currently wearing a corset and crinoline. 
It is a bit like saying that everyone wears 10 inch high heels today.

Recovering

I had forgotten or drawn a blissful veil over how much a shot takes out of you and then there is the whole question of antibiotics.
My finger is getting better but remains bruised. Mice have a severe bite.

The feed shed still needs to be cleaned out but the food is now safely stored in bins with tight fitting lids. So hopefully the mouse population will decrease significantly.

My revisions are coming on. I can see why they will make the book much stronger and more significantly I think I can see how to improve up coming books. It is like coming blinking into the light after being in a very long and very dark tunnel.

My Rita books are almost all read and I have discovered a new to me author which is half the point of the Ritas.

Mouse Wars: a new front

Yesterday, a mouse bit me.
I had already dispatched one large rodent (presumed mouse) from the dog food feed bin at dog feeding time. I captured that mouse and my youngest did the honours. As I let the dogs out for their night time ablutions, rustling resounded from the feed shed. Sure enough, another rodent (presumed mouse) was in the dog food bin -- looking for its mate or merely seeking to steal food? Who knows? Who cares? But I disliked the thought of my dogs eating mouse droppings.
I put on rubber gloves and grabbed a plastic bag. My youngest was on standby for dispatch as well for torch duty.
I managed to inexpertly catch the creature and when I was attempting to put it in the plastic bag, it swivelled and bit my hand -- drawing blood through the rubber glove. I let go. The mouse escaped. My husband commented that mice have sharp teeth. I was unimpressed.
I bathed the wound, put antiseptic on and still it was red and swollen this morning.
Thus far I have had a tetanus shot (last one 1989! You only need a total of 5 in your life but better to be safe). The doctor has also given me a course of antibiotics. Any animal bite with breaks the skin must be taken seriously.

Oh and a mouse was caught in the mouse trap this morning in the basement. It was summarily dispatched with a shovel... I wore thick leather gloves. I now have proper respect for mice and their teeth.

Task for this afternoon: clean out the feed shed, including replacing feed bins with bins that have tight fitting lids.

The 2010 mouse tally

With the thaw, the mice have begun moving again and the new trap in the basement has caught two mice. There is a rather large gray mouse (not a rat) who has been seen going in and out of the feed shed. Both my youngest and I would dearly love to catch it. However, the amount of mouse damage in the feed shed appears to be abating. I suspect the mice in the basement also make a pit stop in the feed shed...And I rather concentrate on trapping them in the basement.
There have not been more mice in the attic since my Christmas entrapment. This is good news but I remain reluctant to remove the trap...
Currently I am waiting for the AA to show up and start my car. I suspect the battery is now low...Sigh. But I am glad that we have home start.

The wip is progressing and as various bodies are back at school or work, I have no real excuse.

The kittens are growing rapidly. They are now allowed out of my study but do not hesitate to come back and meow when they think it is feeding time. They enjoy hunting toy mice and balls, so it is only a matter of time before they become fully fledged mousers.
Tess thinks the kittens are hers and does every so often try to clean them...the kittnes are not so fond of this. The dogs also assume if the kittens do not finish their food, it is fair game.

Mice also like chocolate covered Turkish delight

I went into the attic yesterday to begin my marathon bout of wrapping presents. There I discovered we had had more little visitors. Attracted by a bag of Robin food that my dh intended as a present for my youngest who is keen on birdwatching, the mice had wrecked merry havoc. They are obviously British mice as they had shredded one of my American flags. They nibbled a bar of chocolate covered Turkish Delight but left the Old Jamaica bar intact and did not touch the Rhubarb and custard creams. The mice also tore into the wrapping paper. Thankfully the mice did not get into any of the big presents -- although I suspect it was a close call as some of the boxes had been nibbled...
So I spent time cleaning the attic and moving the mouse trap upstairs. I will get another trap for the basement but the trap has been untouched for a week.
I then wrapped all the presents and moved them elsewhere. Because of the presents, no one else was permitted to be up there. At the end of the afternoon I was exhausted but all presents are now wrapped and out of the attic. The trap are set and the mice should be exterminated soon.

The kittens are growing every day and hopefully within a few months will be merrily chasing mice. Heathcliff has decided this morning that the computer mouse is an amusing toy. Mr Darcy is investigating my cup of tea. I was going to post a picture but Heathcliff and Mr Darcy managed to press the keyboard in such a fashion that the folder vanished. Kittens bring different problems than puppies.

Persistence pays

Apparently there is going to be a BBC Radio 6 broadcast on Christmas Day about the panel sessions and some of the failures who went on to success. Jimmy Page narrates -- Kate Hardy please note.
David Bowie in 1965 was told he could not sing. Led Zepplin passed but the report said basically they were not the genuine article and were derivative and unconvincing. Marc Bolan's T-rex was considered execrable.
However, the bands improved and went on to great success. And it goes to show that what you do after a response is important. Creativity is not static.
Many times it is easy to concentrate on your field and think no one else struggles, no one else needs to be persistent.
The very lovely photographer who took fantastic photos of me and the dogs (hopefully I will get her permission to post them AFTER the article goes out) said that the thing that got her where she is was persistence.
In this world, in order to succeed, you need desire, dedication, determination, discipline and persistence.

In other news:
Heathcliffe and Mr Darcy are starting to settle in. My computer does not want to recognise my camera. My youngest has taken a few pictures with his new camera so I hope to post them soon.
Mr Darcy has a white tip to his tail. My daughter assures me that they will grow into their names. Somehow, seeing Mr Darcy hanging upside down from the kitten house roof, it gives a whole new perspective on the affair. Heathcliffe is charcoal gray with black stripes and enjoyed scaling the heights. They are barely six weeks old.
Tess & Hardy are slightly perplexed by them. Curious but welcoming. Heathcliffe paused from his exploration of the scratching pyramid to swipe at their noses with his claws. Chile just rolled his eyes and went to sleep.
The kittens are sleeping in my daughter's room in their lurid pink house. The dogs are in the kitchen. The plan is to unite the two in the kitchen once they are better acquainted.

The mouse extermination total stands at 16.

It is snowing.

A Christmas Wedding Wager in Polish or PAMIĘTNA WIGILIA

The very lovely Donna Alward let me know that A Christmas Wedding Wager is out in Poland this month and because of the way Harlequin works, it also means that it will be out Czech as well. Hooray. And hooray that they have used the US cover. That cover always reminds me of a Christmas card.

The blurb is:

PAMIĘTNA WIGILIA Numer 36(284)
W sprzedaży od: 14.12.2009r.
Anglia, 1846 rokDo Newcastle, gdzie Emma Harrison prowadzi ustabilizowane życie, niespodziewanie powraca Jack Santon, jej dawny ukochany. Kiedyś chciał się z nią ożenić, lecz pani Harrison była przeciwna małżeństwu córki z ubogim inżynierem. Emma długo żałowała, że nie odważyła się sprzeciwić matce, nie umiała bowiem pokochać innego mężczyzny. Poświęciła się opiece nad chorym ojcem. Teraz, po latach, odkrywa, że jej uczucie jest wciąż żywe. Również Jack, który zrobił w świecie błyskotliwą karierę, nadal pragnie Emmy. Oboje jednak mają wątpliwości...
cena: 11.00 zł

Anyway I am thrilled and hope people in both countries enjoy it.

On mouse extermination news:

I have now exterminated a baker's dozen. This shows the level of infestation, rather than my prowess as a mouse exterminator! And I have come to conclusion that regular inspection of the trap works. It also helps that I can hear the twang of the mouse trap going off when I am working in my study. I then race down the stairs and dispose of the exterminated mouse.

I did notice that a helpful mouse had covered the poison in the live catch traps with bits of newspaper and then closed the traps. New poison has been put down. This is war after all! But I can still admire the ingenuity of the enemy.

And I am looking forward to bringing in the big guns some time next week.

Mouse wars and a lovely review

The number of exterminated mice now stands at 10. I suspect there are more mice, partly because I saw a tail disappearing when I opened the door this morning and spotted exterminated mouse number 9. Peanut butter. Peanut butter. Peanut butter (and not storing the bloody bird seed in a non secure container!) will be the way to beat this infestation. The ultimate mouse destruction machines should be arriving within the week. Various kitten type things have bought in readiness.

My morning was made by a lovely review from Pearl at Realms on Our Bookshelves. She said:

It was a story of seduction, duty, family-intrigue, secrets, politics, trust and passion, with a great plot that was revealed gradually, with strong characters that held my attention firmly, with the right amount of battle and action and with a courtship brimmed with adversity that made the HEA that more welcome and appreciated.
Though this book was a category romance of less than 300 pages, it totally didn’t have that feel, it was well rounded, well crafted and complete. Hence, praise to Michelle Styles for the delivery of another entertaining, solid Viking story and giving this historical romance lover an escape in the form of a few pleasurable reading hours.
You can read the full review here.

As regular readers of this blog know, VCP was a tough book to write so I am very pleased that Pearl thought the experience pleasurable.
Now all I have to do is finish my current mess in progress and make it even more enjoyable!

6 - 2 is the current tally

The tally right now stands at 6 successful extermination of mice and 2 mice who escaped from the Rentokil lethal mouse trap.
I do have to wonder if one of the mice who escaped is the mouse who ate a hole in the live catch trap. Luckily this mouse also ate the poison. The trap has been baited again and pushed slightly back. And I have put the poison down again. Some success I suppose as the rat run poison remains and the other live catch trap's poison was not touched.
So I think we have a bad infestation of mice but I am hopeful that we can get it sorted. Mice in houses, leaving droppings and weeing on items is gross and a health hazard. Plus the nest making. Luckily they have not chewed through any electric cabling...

Roll on the kittens.

And yes, I think mice can smell cats. I have to wonder if the reason they have not invaded the kitchen is that it is where the dogs sleep. I think Tess and Hardy would enjoy chasing mice if they had the chance!

Mice like peanut butter

Since putting out the lethal mouse trap baited with peanut butter yesterday afternoon, three mice have met their maker. Two yesterday evening, and then one found this morning.

All the poison has gone from the rat run and the two live catch traps. I should note here -- the poison is not able to be accessed by puppies or when they arrive the kittens -- it is why I am using the live catch traps and the rat run.

I have re-baited the lethal mouse trap with peanut butter. And have put more poison down. I am hopeful that they will just go back to their lair and die! The poison takes several doses.

After seeing the destruction they caused, both in the house and then last March having lost two bee colonies to mice, I feel no pity for them.

This is war!

And soon the ultimate in mouse destruction technology will arrive...the kittens!

More Italian releases

I was really pleased to discover that 2 more of my books are going into Italy in January.

First of all there is the Italian version of An Impulsive Debutante -- IL VALZER DELLA DEBUTTANTE
or Waltz of the Debutante which I think is a lovely title.

The blurb reads likes this:

Inghilterra, 1847

Lottie Charlton è ansiosa di andare a Londra per partecipare alla sua prima stagione mondana. Sua madre si aspetta che trovi un ricco gentiluomo con cui convolare a nozze e lei ha tutte le intenzioni di accontentarla, ma il suo comportamento avventato la porta dritta tra le braccia dell'affascinante Tristan Dyvelston, la cui reputazione è stata fortemente compromessa molti anni prima. Per evitare lo scandalo, dunque, Lottie è costretta a sposarlo, anche se lui non possiede un titolo nobiliare. O almeno questo è quello che le fa credere Tristan, determinato a vagliare il carattere e la sincerità di cuore dell'incauta fanciulla sottoponendola a una serie di dure prove. Saprà l'impulsiva e viziata debuttante superarle? E soprattutto, saprà perdonare al marito quel piccolo inganno a fin di bene?



And you can find out how to get it here.


Then I have my first Harmony Historical release which is where the Regency ones go. A Question of Impropriety becomes UNA PROPOSTA SCANDALOSA or A Scandalous Proposal.

The blurb is:
Inghilterra, 1813
Diana Clare è tornata nel Northumberland dopo una parentesi londinese che ha segnato profondamente il suo animo e la sua vita, e per cinque anni ha cercato di dimenticare ciò che è accaduto nella capitale. Poi Brett Farnham, l'attraente Conte di Coltonby, si trasferisce nella tenuta confinante e, suo malgrado, la costringe a ricordare quanto sia piacevole essere lusingate, corteggiate e amate. Diana però non vuole più soffrire, e soprattutto non ha intenzione di affrontare ancora il rischio di uno scandalo. Anche perché Brett, almeno in un primo momento, la desidera come amante e non come moglie...

And you can find out more here.

Fingers crossed that it means Impoverished Miss,Convenient Wife will also be going.

In Mice in the basement news:

The traps were sprung and mice obviously caught but they managed to wriggle free. There are mouse droppings all over the traps.
I shall try again.

Mice in the basement

I discovered late on Friday when I finally got around to getting the Christmas decorations out that we had mice in the basement. They were enticed there by my youngest storing bird seed. Bird seed and mouse droppings mingled. All the stockings had to be washed. Several hand made decorations from long ago Christmases had to be tossed.
What is worse the mice had made nests in several boxes of clothes and old papers. I had carefully stored stuffed animals, dresses I had made for my daughter when she was little and boxes of letters from when my husband and I were at university. Most are beyond repair and have been tossed. I was in tears. Some were beloved stuffed animals and I had spent hours smocking a pinafore for my daughter, only to have it shredded. The children's books were covered in mouse droppings...I did manage to save a few letters and cards though.
I shall have to get some more rat poison and put it down there as I am unconvinced that the mice are gone.

My youngest when he gets back from his boy scout camp will have some explaining to do!

Do I have bees?

The whole question of whether or not the bees have made it through the winter is currently vexing me. My husband even casually mentioned that perhaps I should consider reading the latest missive from British Beekeepers Association about what to do in the early spring. He suggested going to look at the hives. I looked. However, there is snow on the ground. Unlike moles, when the weather is cold, bees clump together and hibernate.
But I do worry. Part of this worry is because I did not put mouse guards on before I left for Sorrento in the autumn and by the time I had returned, the weather had gone cold and the mice would be hibernating. I did not dare check to see as the weather was too cold...and so on. Mice like to eat honey and hives make perfect hibernating places. This is the first time that I have not put mouse guards on. SIGH.
The winter aconite is in flower as is the hazel tree. There should be plenty of pollen and such like for them. The one good thing about the garden is that we do have year round flowers.
My husband said that he saw the starling looking interested in the hole in the wall where it had chicks last year. Spring will be here before I know it, and I will have my answer about the bees.