Two more…

I tried to convince Skinny that the last of the mice had been evicted but he’d have none of it. He spent his time sniffing around the heater or poised near the food cupboard. I discovered why today…

It was almost still and 16ºC when I studied the weather from my boudoir so I jumped out of bed, let Skinny, Isabella and Fido outside and dragged on some clothes. There was plenty of moonlight as we crossed the field and walked up the Promontory although there were some thicker and thinner clouds too. The intensity of the light changed as the clouds moved across the moon.

Skinny and Charlie had the flashing collars again today although Charlie was not anything as bright as Skinny after a while. I turned Charlie off eventually as there was no point in it being on. Isabella disappeared and returned with another goat horn. I think she must have a stock of them somewhere.

The Italians and Austrians still occupied the beach car park and were speaking to each other as their vehicles were closer together. No other vans were parked along the beach.

I’ve taken to feeding the cats once back after the Early Walk as it means we get going faster and also that it’s light. They were laying in wait as I emerged from the gate and went into the storeroom. Some external cats have learned the timetable to try to muscle in on the grub.

I went up the mountain despite the menacing cloud formation hanging at the summit. I didn’t wait around and continued on to Petrakis via the dentist. I’d been meaning to get an appointment with the dentist for a while but now a filling has fallen out it’s more urgent. He comes only on Tuesdays and it’s by appointment only. I’ll call and make one. The next stop was Petrakis where I bought mostly fruit and veg with a few seeds and nuts thrown in. There were no large, black olives so hopefully there will be some next time.

The day was warming up as I got back so I removed some layers and released the dogs to feed them. It was good to sit down although I wandered down to the German couple beforehand to tell them their tyres should be delivered on Wednesday.

I spent a lot of time messing around with a UPS for the laundry room switch as the plan is to have all of the switches on backups to extend the time the Internet is available during power failures. I then looked at the oldest UPS I have which has started to fall apart so requires some modification to render it safe. I’ve not finished with that yet. A job for tomorrow.

I heard a munching sound behind me which seemed to be coming from the food cupboard. The muncher appeared oblivious to my presence and turned out to be the cutest baby mouse devouring a rusk. But he was not alone as there were at least two of them. I picked up the plastic basket with everything inside and transported it to a location away from dogs/cats and the van before digging through it. The two young mice scuttled off into the adjacent field hopefully to live a long and fulfilling life not in my van. I’m sure Skinny will let me know if more are around. I now realise I removed the parents and have now two of their young. It’s unlikely there are only two so I’ve left a trap to be sure. Anyway, how would Skinny react if there were no more mice to hunt?

The day petered out. Isabella barked at the cats so was confined to the SDC with Charlie as collateral damage. Luis and Fido are inside the van with Oskar and Skinny so it’s just Obi and I outside.

The rice is ready so I’d better get on with it. I’ve still not unpacked this morning’s shopping!