The new worktop

The new kitchen is nearing completion, today the granite worktop goes in and tomorrow the electrician should be here to connect up all the lights and appliances.

Getting plastered

Plaster drying in the kitchen

Here's the current state of our kitchen.

Much of the plastering is done now and the ceiling is getting quite dry. Soon we'll be able to get on with the decorating.

As you can see, the window opening is still boarded up, but we expect the new window to be ready any day and things will look much better once it's fitted.

Donna's even starting to get a little excited about progress now. It looks like a brand new room!

Darryn has worked extremely hard; he's managing the entire job and bringing in other trades as necessary. When the work is done we will be so glad to get the house tidy and get back to normal!

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)

Three mice in one trap

Here's how to catch mice without harming them.

Three mice

We'd heard scrabbling noises above the ceiling boards and suspected mice. I bought two commercial traps, the humane kind that catch the mouse unharmed and allow you to release it into the wild. The result? The bait was taken and the traps were sprung, but the mouse was nowhere to be seen.

So I tried another way and it worked. I caught three mice on the first attempt.

Buy a cheap, plastic bin. A tall bucket would do, but bear in mind mice can jump more than 30 cm. The bin must have smooth sides that are close to vertical so the mouse can't climb out. Put some food in the bottom of the bin - cheese, chocolate, dried fruit, nuts are good choices.

Stand the bin in the area where the mouse has been active and place boxes, pieces of timber, stones, or a rolled up decorating sheet against the outside of the bin. This will make it easy for a mouse to reach the top of the bin.

A hungry mouse will smell the food in the bin and will jump inside to reach it. But it won't be able to climb back out. Mice are nocturnal so check the bin every morning.

I caught three mice and released them in the garden, far enough from the house that they should not find their way back.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)

A new path

We had a new greenhouse recently; building it was all a bit of a saga - but that's another story...

New path in the garden

The area between the old greenhouse and the fence had always been something of a nightmare.

It was overgrown, the hedge that preceded the fence was wide and left little room, and the ground was full of broken glass, old concrete posts, rusted bits of ironwork, you name it!

But now it all looks a lot more promising. I've built a new path with a rustic stone step where the levels change. I also added a narrow border beside the greenhouse base.

The new path makes it easy to get from the back door to the summerhouse. It's been fun to do despite the hot weather.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)