You know, I've always believed that when you have guests, that you present your house as you would yourself. It's something my mother handed down to me. "you're should always look your best and wear clean underwear, etc". You know, ...just in case you get hit by a bus or something. So knowing that we were having friends come over for a visit, I had already cleaned up the previous day and so all I had to do then, was pick up all the rat traps and place them in the laundry room. Out of sight; so that our guests wouldn't feel that they've walked into an infested house.
That morning, I found that Tille, our dog, had an ear infection. So I dutifully rang the vet and made an appointment. And then I did what I thought might be the right thing to do, by making a peach pastry tart to go with our coffee for morning tea. So we had our snack, sitting in the warm winter sun on the deck. ah, ambience,...I love it!...great start to the day. Great conversation. I did explain to my friend about the rats, but tried to make it sound that it was all taken care of and that it was all good now.
And as the day progressed, we ran out of power as we had our lunch. I took Tillie to the vet and I just as I had suspected, she had an ear infection.
By about 5pm, I thought I had better start making Split Pea and Ham soup for dinner. Quick and simple. The boys came in from the shed after working on the Scout all day. Chris has asked if they'd like to stay for dinner. Now on the one hand I'm thinking, that would be great!,.....but my mind is screaming at me...BUT WHAT ABOUT THE RATS?!!! they'll hear them and freak! oh please God, don't let the rats come into the house while they're here! Okay now,...so WHO'S freaking out?
And as darkness descended upon the house, the little critters in the ceiling started up with their movements. Now.......it's a little disconcerting, when the ruckus starts as your guests are sitting there, at the dinner table. And one of the things that I love most, about Chris, is that he usually takes these kinds of things in his stride. Open and up front about everything in life. He really knows how to keep things in perspective and how to laugh at himself and others. So that when our guest is taking a spoonful of soup, hearing the noise above his head, he jerks up and asks, "what's that noise?" I cringe;.... and Chris laughs, and say's "it's Mickey, the mooch". Obviously, he had already explained about the rats because our guest seemed to know what he was talking about. And the best part is, is that our guests who are country people as well, understand. So with my relief in their understanding and Chris's wonderful sense of humour, we finished our dinner.
Our friends departed into the night for their journey home and I went back into the house to reset the traps for the night. We caught another 2 last night. I'm sure we'll eventually get rid of them all, but it's going to be a while before that happens. And maybe one day I will be able to take this kind of thing in my stride too.
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