What do you think happened?

Returned from the hardware store with an array of devices to deal with the mouse infestation. My suggestion that we learn to live with the harmless wee critters was met by a tart rejection from 'the font'. Madame Bay helpfully pointed out that she didn't have mice as her dogs chased them away. At this point she looked disdainfully at Wilf and Digby who are self evidently not the sort of dogs who would act as successful mouse catchers.

Yesterday afternoon was spent setting up an ultrasound mouse scarer in the kitchen that was 'guaranteed' to keep an 80 square metre room free from mice and other rodents. The boyz joined me in the kitchen but soon retreated to a quiet spot on their favouritte carpet when it became apparent that food was not on offer. As back up I also planted standard mouse traps, 'super-luxury' mouse traps made of a rather attractive hard grey plastic , and a number of rather gruesome tubes with bait inside. My total investment in keeping the kitchen and family room free from our little furry friends came to a grand total of €78 - half of it being for the 100% guaranteed state of the art electronic system.

Imagine my surprise, and delight, this morning when I found all the traps empty and all the bait in place. Imagine 'the font's' surprise this morning when coming face to face with a mouse sitting on a shelf by the can of Illy coffee. It didn't even run away but sat there polishing its whiskers. Why is it some people have such an illogical dislike of mice?

After our return from the hardware store Digby spent much of yesterday morning making a nest out of a pile of cushions Madame Bay had absent mindedly piled on the floor in the hallway. She won't make that mistake again. Chased from that spot he then spent the next twenty minutes stalking her bright orange chiffon scarf , one end of which had somehow come unravelled and was trailing, enticingly, along the floor behind her. He was put out in the garden before he got into any more trouble.