Mouse Attack

Les jours feriés sont des jours de fête civile ou religeuse ...and they have MILLIONS of them in Martinique. I'm sure there have been five or six since I got here, and there are three more in the next two weeks, two of which are on Thursdays. Bank Holiday Thursday! Did you ever hear of such a thing?

...Ok, I have some catching up to do. Remember my friends the mice? Well they finally chewed a hole in the perspex barrier big enough to get into the cupboard under the sink. We heard a lot of scrabbling and scuffling coming from in there the other day so Jennie and I opened the door to take a peek just in time to see a large furry flurry disappear into the darkness and then sit on the other side of the perspex, peering at us, undoubtedly coveting my snacks, and rubbing his hands together in glee at the thought of edging ever closer to his goal.

Fearing an infestation I immediately reinstated my defence system (a piece of wood and a chair) to stop mighty mouse opening the door and getting into the kitchen. I also blocked up a gap in one of the drawers with a rolled up floor mat. But the teeth of the mouse must not be underestimated. Only an hour or so later it had gnawed its way through and was running around in my kitchen trying to decide which tasty treat to go for first.

Angered by the threat to my food supplies I ran towards it, not really sure what I was going to do (food is sacred to me), but the beast eluded me once more, climbing fearlessly up the drawers and pushing the remains of the mat out of its way to run through the gap and back into the cupboard. And I’m sure I heard it laughing at me as it scuttled back through the hole.

After many wild hand gestures and much breathless conversation with Lisette, I managed to convince her to erect a more solid barrier to try and prevent further invasions. So now I have a metal plate between me and mouse world. And after thoroughly disinfecting the drawers and anything that was in them I can finally rest knowing my precious food is safe from tiny teeth...for now at least...

I'm off to the Post Office this afternoon to stand in a ridiculously long queue of sweaty people for several hours. I wish they'd just sort it out and get more workers on the desk. I think if I added up all the time I've spent queuing there since September it would make about a month. Wish me luck!