As if we don’t have enough unfinished projects in our own house, I’m finding that the garage isn’t much better.
We, humans, left things to tend to later, and there are also things that the mice left behind for us to tend to eventually.
I discovered their crafty work, lurking in dark spaces. I even found a mouse nest in the pouch for my bike. I threw it. EWE. I’m not touching that thing ever again!
In an eating frenzy, throughout the winter, it appears that the mice were busy. I moved one thing and found more piles. Of seed shells. That must be a plump mouse or fat family of eight or more!? Sigh.
As I swept I reminded myself of other things like cat puke – I forgot about. It must be sufficiently dried on the carpet and will need to be vacuumed up. EWE. Yeah, I stumbled upon that skill years ago. Selective neglect. EWE. Yikes…WTH!? I can only do so much at one time. Plus, I don’t like puke and I don’t like poop. I cleaned enough diapers when the kids were young. Plus, the puke is only a day old, I didn’t see it when it happened. It should be good to suck up by now. Add it to the list!
What? No picture…NO! You’ve got imagination…picture it yourself, you can see it, right?! Plus, Mr. cleaned it up for me. Had you going though, didn’t I?!
Besides…I was busy making sure the birdseed bag wasn’t a target for the mice anymore. Mr. helped me, I helped him.
Each sweep of the broom, I struggled to see that our cats were messy ones. Between the mice in the garage and the birds in the yard, man, oh, man, it was a contest for who would win the messiest award.
Everywhere I went I saw messes. How am I ever going to finish my unfinished project list when there are so many messy things to tend to? There are weed messes in the garden beds. Mice poop and piles in the garage. Cat puke in the house. Bird messes in the yard.
It was exhausting thinking about all of it. But I kept on sweeping and moving sh&t. And getting dirty myself in the process.
I eventually took a break and sat and watched mother nature. Plus I needed to get some fresh air from the dusty garage.
Crap…even the birds that do the clean up on the ground appear to be messy.
The finches and other species land here on the birdbath. Look at them, all cute and innocent.
Not so fast, they’re not that innocent. They first visit the feeder. To knock out what they don’t want, keep what they do want, and then fly off to transplant or soften their nuggets in water.
And then I have another bathtub to clean.
Ewe – the birdbath is far from clean. Either the finches make the messes, or some other bird type does? One of them does the fancy drop the seeds in the water move, along with their worms, and some of them even plop a poop or two in there while they’re at it.
And then they leave the mess for me to clean up.
EWE…Yikes…this post is getting really gross. Isn’t an empty nest supposed to be easier to keep clean?!
Sorry, folks, I didn’t mean to drag you down into the debris with me. Yeah, I did, I needed sympathy or empathy at least…?! It was a gross clean up and crossing off of a nasty #IFUP project kind of day.
I swept out the garage, which is a non-fun task. Rewarding when it is done, though. And it was only my quarter of the garage. I can’t touch Mr.’s sections. I wouldn’t even know where to start? The shelves are full of ointments for cars, or lubricants for some kind of machine, or sprays to kill rodents or weeds, or you name it – whatever – it’s not my stuff? Foreign objects were plentiful enough as I conquered debris removal in my space.
But…I got it done. I even put together 3 boxes of donations, 2 boxes of recyclables, and I cleaned the birdbath, too.
Now it is off to work I go. Where did that weekend go?!
Post Inspiration – Knocking off my unfinished project to-do list #IFUP and Becky’s #JulySquares and #Blue.
PS – Do tell, did you have a fun weekend or a productive weekend – or both? Do your feathered friends make a mess too? Do your weekends seem too short too? Or is that just me?!
Hope you are not feeling too blue after a weekend of poop . . . at least it resulted in a clean house and a fabulous post!
It does feel good to have the messes cleaned up – I could use another day to feel less blue, though ;-)!
sending hugs xxx
Thank you!!
We had to give up on the birdbath, because the dog would drink out of it. Maddie can’t let a “bowl” of water sit without giving it a taste. Sometimes, she would stand up, knock it over and then we had a birdbath and a dog to clean. I don’t envy your cleaning tasks – nature isn’t always pretty.
Aw, Maddie, she was smart to think of it as a big dog bowl! But, I’d do the same thing, remove the not-so-fresh bath temptation. With all the snow we had, the mice had a field day in our garage, despite lots of traps and the snakes that came looking for them. ;-(
For an empty nest, that’s alot of mess. I was impressed by the boxes of donations that resulted – that’s an accomplishment! We spent the better part of yesterday cleaning window screens, windows and sills. With gross dead bugs.
You win the prize for grossest stuff. But at least it’s done! Congrats!
I think we neglected the area for too long – we were busy moving the kiddos who left the nest! Ewe – I don’t like window washing either – bugs…gross! At least my side of the garage is done! 😉 YAY for me!
🙂
have your H go to the Home Depot or to the Ace and get some 5 gallon buckets with lids. that’s what I keep my bird seed in. I haven’t found a mouse yet that can get a lid off. if I do find one then I won’t go into the garage unless I’m packing.
LOL! Great advice – I did notice that the mice had tried to gnaw through the wooden cabinets, and other plastic things. The snow we got this past winter drove them inside the garage. Grr. They didn’t eat the handle on the BB gun. I wonder how effective that would be at shooting a mouse?!
oh, it would ricochet off the concrete and smack a car window. then you would have a heckuva time explaining that one to your H … but it would make an interesting post.
get of of the mouse bait squares and put them down in the garage. I have several in my garage and I put some in my shed as well. no mouses in either last winter. here’s a link. don’t tell your H that they are organic brownies.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tomcat-Mouse-Killer-Child-Dog-Resistant-Refillable-Station-037201005/300934017
Oh, no, that ricochet factor would NOT be a good thing. No matter how fun it would be to write about it. LOL!
We have one of those. Maybe two – might be one by Mr.’s stuff? The one I cleaned by had tiny specs of aluminum. The bastard mice chewed up an aluminum can and Mr. placed the trap on the pile. You know – so as to not disturb their trail?! I think? I don’t think we caught any in it yet. I do like that they are child and dog resistent. Copper is always sniffing around the garage. Thank you for your suggestions.
tell the cats that they are lazy and you’ll stop feeding them if they don’t start doing what cats are supposed to do with mouses.
LOL – they’re princesses that don’t go out of the house. We did have a great mouser cat once, I miss him keeping the herds down. I don’t miss the body part treasures he’d leave by the doorstep, though. I guess mice are just part of living in a rural area?
he was just showing you what a poor hunter you were and he didn’t want you to starve. that’s why he brought you stuff.
He was very generous that way! 😉
Becky B is right! I say use a leaf blower on the garage floor, blast all of that EWE right out the door right quick. 😎
That’d be fun!
Did you wear a mask when you were sweeping up the mouse droppings from your garage. I know your answer is no. But beware. Mice carry a deadly virus and if inhaled, you can die. A guy in my old neighborhood did. So did these people:
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Local-Health-Officials-Warn-About-Deadly-Rodent-Virus-269299111.html
Aren’t you glad I told you? NOT! Just another thing to add to our worry pot. 🙁
We gave up on bird seed, feeders, baths etc. Too much work and trouble. Hubby and I have been on a 2 year purge. I’m at the point of giving up. I throw things out. Hubby goes in the trash and takes it out and puts it back. “It’ll come in handy ONE DAY!!!”
Today I was walking along our driveway which is overgrown with weeds, so you can barely determine the driveway from the lawn anymore. We used to keep it in check with Roundout but now that it’s been banned we tried the vinegar spray. It worked for a week, now all the vegetation is regrown. I know it isn’t working because the squirrels rang my doorbell this morning and wanted to know if I had any Gray PouPon, croutons and shredded cheese for their salads (hint: vinegar, vinegar, vinegar!)
The inside of my home looks fabulous. So does MY deck. The rest (hubby’s domain) can go sink with the Titanic. I don’t care anymore!!!
Hope this helped.
I didn’t wear a mask, but I was really careful when sweeping up the debris. I have a friend who caught the virus too. She must’ve caught it early enough, she’s still alive, but has respiratory problems that won’t go away. It’s been about 8 years for her. I like to spray the droppings with bleach/water mixture and let dry before removing. Pesks, I just wish they’d stay outside where they belong! Thanks for sharing your Hubby’s tendancy to do the same as mine. “It’ll come in handy” is one of my downsides too – I’m getting better, 3 boxes cleaned out. Still have a long way to go!
Shelley, I am so, so happy you knew all about the virus! Duh! You’re so smart and wonderful!
Hang in there.
It’s a never ending battle.
Good luck!
I’m like you, Cindi – I pay attention to important details that might come back to sting me later in life. You’re right, it’s a never ending battle. Glad I’m in good company with you! Good luck to you too.
Isn’t nature gross sometimes. No potty training ever! At least you are mostly done or probably done by now.
Yes, it is. I’m not done, I have another corner that Mr. has strategically perched up on shelves for me to go through. LOL – no more potty training here until Mr. and I need diapers – LOL!!!
Well done with the worlds biggest clean up Shelley 👏😀
Thank you, Brian!
For whatever reasons the birds we have here insist on throwing all the seed on the ground first. They make a huge mess!
It is crazy how messy birds can be. The sunflower seeds they throw are all growing, and we keep mowing them down. Maybe the birds are trying to grow more seeds?! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I can feel you, Shelley! Imagine our dog’s poop. Eww, right? Lol
Oh, how lovely the birds are! You’re so lucky to see them around.
Yes, your dog is bigger than my dog, so you know poop well! LOL Thank you, glad you enjoyed the bird photos, too!
Lol! You’re welcome, Shelley!
I must confess that when my backyard was a little paradise with the butterfly garden and the birdbaths and birdfeeders that I hated cleaning the birdbaths. I had four of them, which is a lot for such a small backyard. But I catered to all sizes of birds … the funny thing is that I have pictures of large birds in the small bath, small birds in the big bath. But it wasn’t them that messed it up, except for the occasional poop they flung in there – it was the red algae that grew, especially in the heat of Summer. I bought a hard bristle brush with a long handle and got a bucket and filled it with Simple Green which was not harmful to birds, but God I hated that job. I had the heaviest staining gloves on as I did not want any of the “stuff” on my hands. And the birds and squirrels left their seeds and peanut shells all over the place as well. Chaff flew everywhere and sunflower seed shells would make crackly noises in the mower. The mice story – I’d be freaked out as I don’t like mice and for years, until I got this new garage door which seals everything out (including snow in a bad storm), I kept two large doorsteps, one at each side of the front of the door, to stop the mice from going into the garage – my domain, not yours!
Yeah, cleaning the bird bath is a pain. I’ve never really scrubbed it like you did, but I do rinse it daily. The big Crows are the dirtiest ones. They’ll bring their carcasses from wherever they find them, and drench them in the water. Ewe. You’re garage sounds mouse proof. Wish ours was. Thank you for sharing garden tales! 🙂
I hated doing the birdbath and I had gloves like I was scrubbing nuclear material. 🙂 No way was I going near that red algae that forms in the heat. I couldn’t deal with the crows and carcasses – ewe indeed! The birds loved their bath and I had to stop giving them the water and food – the rat poison makes the rats thirsty so they seek a water source. Had to get rid of the birdbaths immediately – broke my heart as I loved watching them taking baths or sometimes just sitting there looking at their reflection or sitting there contemplating life. It seems like a lifetime ago. The garage door rolling sweep and the vinyl side trim (which is flexible like the rolling sweep) is a good feature as I got snow in the garage many times, even with the big doorstops in place. But the large-sized doorstops do help cut down on visitors.
I agree with you on the bird bath pros and cons. Our garage doors have a few edges that aren’t quite air tight. A mouse can get into a VERY tiny sized hole. Grr. Might need to get an outside cat?!
I was looking at the door this morning and I don’t think it is entirely flush on the right-hand side, and have to take a better look when it is not 90 degrees in the shade. I was aggravated when a black wasp followed me into the house (the handyman sealed the hole over the side door and I guess it is its kin looking for their relatives). It is at large and I hope it was not pregnant! My friend lives in a rural area in Kingsville, Ontario. She has had an outside cat for years and not a single mouse. Think on it.
Oh, no, hope the wasp isn’t building a nest! We worry about cats outside here with the other wildlife around. The big things like fox and bear. But, it is nice to have a mouser around.
I looked this morning and saw nothing, and I am sure it came in the house so it is likely downstairs – couldn’t find it there either. I am sure they are perturbed that the hole to the nest has been sealed up and their kin are inside. I sent a fellow blogger who raises bees a story I heard on the news about some wasp nest that were inside a car and filled up the entire car. The picture was amazing and they said the nest was as big as a VW Bug.
That’s good that you don’t see any nest activity. YIKES – that’s a huge bees nest!! WOW!