How am I to quilt when...

[IBake]

hubby has just informed me that we have mice in our basement...where my sewing room/guest room is. Now I deal with most anything, from the coral snake I found in our back yard in Fayetteville, NC, to the black widow spider on our wall outside the sliding door in Tuscon, to the scorpions in our screened in porch in FL., to the ground bees in Hampton Roads VA., but I DON'T DO MICE!!! Don't worry he says. they're small. I don't care if they are so big they carry off the dog. I cannot quilt while sitting on a chair with my legs up under me.....what if they crawl in my shoe? What if Gus (the 100 lb. giant schnauzer) decided to try and eat one like the baby bunny? Peeps, I just don't do this! I have sooo much sewing to get done.

Does anyone have a spare home? I bake......and my cinnamon rolls are to die for....Hey, maybe that's it. I'll poison cinnamon rolls, give some to the mice and some to the hubby who let them get into the house (I'm sure it's his fault) in the first place.......Don't laugh...one ran ACROSS my foot once. That was enough.

I worked for a VP once and we were walking down the hall and this mouse came running out. My VP stopped it with his foot....and when he found me I was sitting on top of the reception desk in the lobby.... I don't do mice.....even bats are better...and dealt with them in Mpls. at home with my folks and two boys.

[Bubby]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I have a spare home...you're welcome to use it, but it's here in Licking. I suspect there is a black snake in the basement because I find shed skin from time to time.

[Sew Perfect]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I think I would roll over and die! I don't like mice, snakes, spiders, rats, ants, roaches, or things in the water that eat people. There are my phobias out in the open...and to think I was once a tom boy!

PS. That's me in my avatar pic when I was a kid. Behind my brothers and me is Black Creek. We use to swim in the same water as alligators and snakes and thought nothing of it back then. Now, I wouldn't be caught dead doing that. In fact, when my husband and I came to Kansas, there was noway on earth anyone could pay me to swim in the water because I was afraid of creatures being in the water that eat people.

[Vonnie]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I think you need a cat!

[GinnyKNC]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I have a spare room and working two jobs wouldn't mind the help cooking lol. I don't do any of the things you mentioned above so I know how you feel. I found a nest of copper heads while turning my rose garden 8 years ago and have never gone back to the garden!

P.S. I don't have time to visit you in jail so no poisoning the DH

[redcaboose1717]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I don't blame you....but that wouldn't keep me from sewing....!!! ( I would just bring my sewing upstairs....until DH gives you the ALL CLEAR about the mice ( and yup, I would have to see the dead little buggers for proof that they were dead ) .....A couple of mouse traps, a piece of cooked ( small piece of course ) with a dab of Peanut Butter and the little mouse will get his neck broken !!! Of course you could go the other route and put DeCon in your basement......it's much cheaper doing that.....than giving DH some of the poison cinnamon rolls ( you know, the cost of a funeral, time off work, and then be alone is no fun ....well, maybe for a week or so, but long term....naw, I would just move the sewing upstairs for awhile.......LOL !! LOL!!
Of course if you didn't live so far away, I have a completely finished basement ( no mice promise....we have a BIG YELLOW TABBY cat named "Buffy".....and he isn't thrilled with little critter house guests.....) that you could come and sew in with me !
Your story about the mouse and your VP reminds me of once when I was sitting in a MAJOR hospital's cafeteria here in Michigan, and I was reading a book ( while DH was in surgery ) and looked up, and right in front of me scampered this BIG mouse !!!! Well, you can be sure, I got up, threw my paper plates etc. away....and when I turned to leave.....several Cockroaches sped right in front of my shoes ! Ugh !!! Needless to say, I NEVER EVER ate in that cafeteria again....

Now.....BATS....no, I don't do them either. My sister lived in a house once that ( she lived there with her DH and kids for 5 yrs ) every August, they would get a bat into the house .....yuk......I wouldn't babysit over-night in that house after that......

I really feel bad for you.....but I would go to the store, and either buy some mouse traps or Decon..( well if you have some kids, I (would do the mouse traps ! )
You might suggest to DH if he doesn't get rid of the mice ASAP it's gonna cost him a lot in NEW Fabric ( is there anything you are really wanting to add to your stash ? Now is the time then !! )

Thanks for your post...you made my day.....LOL! great laugh !

[Cat n bull]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

Put some peppermint oil on cotton balls and make a barrier all around your sewing table!

I don't mind mice, but certainly do not want to be sewing with them either!

The critters that are the highest on my Ick Factor list are spiders and ANYTHING that flies, but especially those that fly AND sting. That extra airborne dimension they have over us is an unfair advantage.

Spiders are just horrifying.

Bats do not bother me at all, in fact I LIKE bats. They swoop down to drink from out pool every day at dusk. Have had some CLOSE encounters with bats, if you happen to be coming up out of the water as they are diving down.

Have a funny bat story too. The neighbor kids love to swim in our pool, and of course their parents would never think to supervise them so I sit out with them so they can swim. They are nice kids, I don't mind. One time they just did NOT want to get out, and I had reached my limit of sitting with them, so I told them the bats were coming, they needed to get out soon. Sure enough the first few came out and swooped down within inches of the boy's face. I have NEVER seen 2 kids fly out of a pool and run so fast down the street in my life! LOL!

[bubba]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I would do mice any day over a ssssssssssssssssssssssnake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If there was a snake in my house, maybe even my yard, I would leave the house and never go back......I might even start it on fire on my way out!!!

[Cat n bull]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I would do mice any day over a ssssssssssssssssssssssnake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If there was a snake in my house, maybe even my yard, I would leave the house and never go back......I might even start it on fire on my way out!!!

I would rather have a snake than mice! At least snakes don't crap in your cupboards and eat your food!

[Mom23]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

Seriously, you suspect a snake after finding a skin from time to time!!!!! I would have to hire someone to go through every single item in the basement, perhaps even empty it, or I would have to move.

Just realized it's an extra home. Whew, I thought you were living with a snake in the house.

I have a spare home...you're welcome to use it, but it's here in Licking. I suspect there is a black snake in the basement because I find shed skin from time to time.

[bubba]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

When we were in Hawaii, we looked at a house for when we move later this year....the agent opened the door, and a little gecko went running under a cabinet! Those things I will have to get used to, at least they eat bugs. I'm sure I will have many sleepless nights if I know one is in the house, for fear of it scurrying across my face!

[buckeyequilter]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I don't like anything roaming around in my house that should be outside....snakes, mice, bugs, bats, spiders....maybe a butterfly, yeah a butterfly would be ok but they stay outside like they should, they don't try to move into my space.

[redcaboose1717]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

Cathryn,
Great story !! When my kids lived at home and with our pools, I too got to be the "pool babysitter".....so the next year, I told all the neighborhood kids that if they wanted to come over, they had to have their moms come to watch them.....and that worked really well. It actually was kind of nice too, the moms came down, we chatted, the kids weren't here all day either,which was great.
One of the reasons WHY I made a point out of having the kids bring their moms, was I didn't want to be so responsible. Many years ago, ( at my niece's 5 B-day party ) a little girl drowned in my parent's pool.....To this day, no one knows how she got into the pool, it was LOCKED and double fenced.....
So, I realize I am a little more "cautious " about pools because of that incident.....but telling the parents they had to be here, cut down on a lot of the kids being here all day. Of course I didn't mind the kids being here if I was outdoors with my own kids, but there were some moms that would say to their kids " Go down to the Dorers' house and swim for awhile while I get some things done" ......
THanks for the tip about peppermint....I didn't know that ! My MIL used to ( well she still does ) put cucumber slices in the corners to attract ants.....instead of buying ant traps. ( she has a big garden )
I normally use a lot of natural remedies or cleaning supplies ( Like vinegar and baking soda to clean my sinks, Cornstarch and water to clean my windows ( you wet the windows with a sponge in a bucket of the cornstarch & water, and then using newspaper, wipe the windows clean. The newprint gives you really shiny windows ! )

[bubba]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

In our fifth wheel, we hang moth cakes.....rodents don't like the smell of them either.

[Sew Perfect]

Re: How am I to quilt when...

I would do mice any day over a ssssssssssssssssssssssnake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If there was a snake in my house, maybe even my yard, I would leave the house and never go back......I might even start it on fire on my way out!!!

the owner of a nearby quilt shop was telling me the other day about how he was bitten by a Copperhead snake in his basement. He had no idea how it got there, but he and his wife were able to sever the heard. He was in ICU for sometime.