"When downstairs in the house there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. And what to my wondering eyes did appear, but the cat and from its mouth a set of ears!"
So, I was up for the 4am duty (letting the hard-headed brown dog out for a morning constitutional), waiting serenely on the couch when cat Roosevelt came in from the garage in high spirits. As he bopped around in the darkened room, it was soon obvious that his "toy" was self-propelled. Adrenalin kicked in, I jumped on to the couch, and yelled for the resident naturalist to get his backside out of bed and come to my aid immediately. Obviously not prepared for early morning maneuvers, it took a lifetime for him to get down the stairs. After that there was a fair amount of commotion since the cat was trying to get his treasure to a safe place, the dog had come in, and John was trying heartily to be the ringmaster in this circus. Herding cats is difficult, but herding one with a mouse is an even greater challenge. As it happened, I convinced the dog to come upstairs with me (actually it was not so much convincing as grabbing her by the collar and pulling), while John located the cat with the mouthful of mouse. Finally, face-to-face with the creature, he had a thought to get some gloves! However health-conscious that thought was, it was a tactical error because as any mouse-phobic person will tell you, if you take your eyes off the offending critter, it won't be there when you look the next time. And sadly that is exactly what happened. When he returned, the mouse was absent his corner. The only thing worse than having a mouse in the house is having a mouse that is running about unseen in the house! John and Roosevelt did a thorough search (I know because I watched from the stairway) but couldn't locate the mouse. So, back to bed we went (as if either of us would/could sleep). John went back down shortly and I followed after a time. It wasn't too long after that the mouse made his appearance and then all hell broke loose. Both Roosevelt and Zoe were on the case and while Roosevelt is quicker, Zoe can move furniture in her single-minded quest. Finally the mouse was escorted outside. So, another year of mouse vigilantism begins. It's not nice, but there it is.
On more positive notes, our Christmas was very nice. We picked Jake up from the airport for a week's visit and the other "kids" called with good wishes. We had fun opening gifts and fixed a lovely dinner with the annual banoffi pie to finish. We ended the night watching a movie. I will go to work this week, but John will work from home and can transfer Jake to the ferry if he needs to breathe some urban air. We have some dinners-out planned and will just enjoy the company. So, I'm off to the shower and then a Skype session.
And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight, Merry Christmas to All! (and to all a good night....)
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