Dive's 500 Word Challenge

I decided to take on Dive's 500 Word Challenge of the week.

This week's sentence is: "So, you fancy going over the road for a bit of looting and pillage?"

It's titled: Crog and Titus

Crog and Titus were sitting by the fire feeling quite satiated from their dinner of geese and partridge. They were big and strong men – hunters.
This had been a good hunt and they would go back to their village proudly and share their bounty with their families.
All in all they managed to bag six geese, seven swans, two turtle doves and three French hens. That should keep them feed for at least a week before they would need to hunt again.
Crog grunted opening up the front of his loin cloth to accommodate the expanding belly.
“We did good Titus. Our village will be proud of us. We will be hero’s among our people and shall be treated like kings!”
Titus who was Crog’s young apprentice hunter viewed things a bit differently. “I don’t we got enough to sustain our families and we will have to hunt again too soon. This is too tiresome for me.”
Crog scratching his belly looked impatiently over at Titus who was neatly folding his furs, burying the bones, preserving the leftover meat in small tightly closed leather pouches and sweeping up around the fire. “You fuss about too much Titus. Stop sweeping, that is woman’s job.”
“We are cro-magnon and highly evolved. We need to show our future generations that we cared about our lands and stored our foods so it would last longer. Look Crog, I was able to use some scraps of leather to make these wonderful patchwork pouches in which we can carry our bounty better! Aren’t they wonderful?”
Crog burping rolled his eyes and started drifting off to sleep.
As Crog slept, Titus felt the call of nature and wandered off into the nearby bushes to take care of business.
Carefully digging a small hole in the ground, Titus crouched down and concentrated. While admiring the stars up in the sky he heard a sound in the distance. Always the curious one, he finished up and quickly covered up the dung hole with some lovely pine branches and set off to find the sound.
Crossing over a small dirt road Titus saw a small village of people dancing around what looked like a bright fire. There were seven lords a leaping, eight maids a milking, eleven pipers piping, twelve drummers drumming. Titus noticed that it wasn’t just a fire they were dancing around there were 5 golden rings sitting perched up on a small alter with 4 calling birds around them.
Running quickly and quietly back towards their camp, Titus woke Crog up and told him about what he had seen.
“Eight maids a milking and 5 golden rings!? Crog said excitedly! “We will surely be treated as Kings if we bring them back to our village!
“I wouldn’t mind a lord a leaping or two for myself!” exclaimed Titus, we can kill the rest of them the noise is just so irritating”.
“So Crog, "So, you fancy going over the road for a bit of looting and pillage?"

Black Friday

In my entire life I have only shopped once on Black Friday. I was about 18 and my friend Robin and I were bored and drove up to a shopping mall with no money in our pockets and decided to experience the Black Friday phenom.

That experience has cured me for life!

Driving home from Thanksgiving at my Dad's house last night we past the Best Buy store nearby and at 8:00 pm there were already people camped out in front of the store to get bargains.

I don't get it. I really don't.

First I hate crowds. I hyperventilate when there are swarms of people around me. I don't have that aggresiveness to fight and push my way to get to a "must have" item for sale. Luckily for me my kids were never the type that needed certain toys at Christmas. They had their wishlists of course and most of the time they got what they wanted when I could afford it, but camping out in front of a store in the cold and rain for hours and hours just to have either the bragging rights that I was the first person in the store at 5:00 AM to get my kid the hottest toy this year seems just 1 step away from total insanity to me.

Is there anyone out there who has ever done this? I would love to hear what you bought and why you did it.

What is the lure?

I know that sometimes the prices are incredible - but still...I just don't get it.

I hope all the Americans had a lovely Thanksgiving and I wish you all a safe and bargain abundant Black Friday.

I myself am staying home, in my jammies where it is relatively safe and stress free.

Cheers

Here's a song for all of those Black Friday shoppers out there!

Of mice and women

I caught one!

The snap trap got it.

The little thing was about as big as my thumb and so darn cute.

I feel wretched now.

RIP little mouse - I'm sorry.

They're baaaaaack - again

Those pesky little critters!

Mice!

So far they seem to be in our garage only. Usually we get them in the basement as well, but I haven't been down there to properly inspect the place since our new roommates have moved in.

They were freaking out over crickets, can you imagine if they knew there were mice down there too?

In the past I have used snap traps, glue traps (horrible, I do not recommend them) and poison. I have even tried gizmos that are supposed to kill the mouse and then keep it in one container so you don't see it.

Usually one of the above techniques work. Except for that last one. What a waste of money that was.

This year the mouse population in my neighborhood have put up little bulletins in their little mouse dens and have spread the work that I am out to get them because they have alluded capture so far.

First was the snap traps. I tried Cheez Whiz - they licked it clean off without setting off the trap. Then came the peanut butter - I thought it would be a bit sticker and hard to lick off. They licked that off too! One little bugger not only licked the peanut butter off the trap but it must have gotten caught on his/her tail and they dragged the trap to the middle of the garage and left it there. No sign of blood so I don't think it was injured.

Getting really ticked off now.

I put two glue traps down. I really don't like these because the mice get stuck to the glue and basically starve to death and you have to pick that trap up and throw it away eventually. It's not humane in my mind, but I am getting determined.

Two days...nothing but a few little mouse droppings around the glue traps.

I tried to put a dab of peanut butter in the middle of the trap and do you know that little varmint licked the peanut butter clean off the glue trap without getting stuck!!! one trap actually had some pieces of insulation on top of the glue so it wouldn't be sticky.

I even think I see a little teenie tiny, itty bitty, little teenie tIIIIny (think of Emily Litela people).....paw print on the adhesive.



You can just make them out in this picture!

Seriously!!!

WTF?!?!

This is one smart little mouse.

I have to say I am very impressed with his evasive maneuvers!
BUT I am the human - I am "supposed" to have a superior brain!

Now this is personal.

Now I feel like Wyle E. Coyote chasing after the Road Runner. (looking for the ACME anvil to drop on my head any moment)

:::drumming fingers:::

I would try the catch and release traps but I have heard that mice can find their way back to your house unless you take them far, far, FAR away.

With my luck I'll let it go in the woods and he'll tell all his little mice friends and next thing you know I'll have a Willard situation on my hands.

Any tips, tricks, helpful hints from Heloise will be considered!

Stay tuned...the saga continues.

Maybe I can hire this guy: