Coffeeneuring + R'Attic Clean-up
Oct. 8th, 2017 05:12 pmOn Saturday morning, after rowing, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scrottie and I met up at the Waterside Workshop Cafe for the first "Coffeeneuring" date of the season. [of course, now that I've revisited the website, I see we were premature by about a week. Whoops. I regret nothing.]
What a nice space, with delicious treats, and fantastic seating facing out over the BAP.
They even had whole-wheat cinnamon rolls, although they did not appear to be equipped to serve food and beverages "for here."
Coffee accomplished, I got groceries and then headed home to tackle some weekend chores.
Top on the list was an attic clean-up and assessment. During the middle of the week last week, S was interrupted in the midst of work by the sounds of a rodent scrabbling around in the wall that the desk faces. He went up and moved enough stuff around to determine that more time and effort would be required to deal with the new resident. So I went on up yesterday to do more rearranging and to try and seal off whatever entrances the rodent might be using. We'd been vaguely hoping that giving the cat access to the attic would discourage the rats, but it seems the main attraction for her is just the warmth.
While I'm on the subject - I only just learned about the distinctions between Norwegian rats and roof rats today. This is most funny when you consider that I used to have pet rats as a kid, and used to do research on rats as an undergraduate.
Anyway. It was unsurprisingly warm and dusty up there. After more thorough inspection, I concluded that the rat's most likely entrance point was through a hole above the back porch that used to contain a light fixture. So I wriggled my way over there after laying a piece of cardboard over the rafters and insulation, and boarded over the hole. I also shoved steel wool in a bunch of places. Then I rearranged and organized most of the stuff that's up there. The attic holds a surprising volume of stuff, including a ton of my household goods and camping gear and such.
The most amusing part of finding the rat's nest was that it had gnawed a few pieces of fake greenery off of a small holiday wreath, and then used the greenery to line its nest, giving it a nice, fresh, festive look. At first glance I had wondered about the rat's obsession with rosemary.
There's not much else to report from the weekend, otherwise. It has been a relief to be able to check a bunch of miscellaneous chores and small projects off the chore list.
scrottie and I met up at the Waterside Workshop Cafe for the first "Coffeeneuring" date of the season. [of course, now that I've revisited the website, I see we were premature by about a week. Whoops. I regret nothing.]What a nice space, with delicious treats, and fantastic seating facing out over the BAP.
They even had whole-wheat cinnamon rolls, although they did not appear to be equipped to serve food and beverages "for here."
Coffee accomplished, I got groceries and then headed home to tackle some weekend chores.
Top on the list was an attic clean-up and assessment. During the middle of the week last week, S was interrupted in the midst of work by the sounds of a rodent scrabbling around in the wall that the desk faces. He went up and moved enough stuff around to determine that more time and effort would be required to deal with the new resident. So I went on up yesterday to do more rearranging and to try and seal off whatever entrances the rodent might be using. We'd been vaguely hoping that giving the cat access to the attic would discourage the rats, but it seems the main attraction for her is just the warmth.
While I'm on the subject - I only just learned about the distinctions between Norwegian rats and roof rats today. This is most funny when you consider that I used to have pet rats as a kid, and used to do research on rats as an undergraduate.
Anyway. It was unsurprisingly warm and dusty up there. After more thorough inspection, I concluded that the rat's most likely entrance point was through a hole above the back porch that used to contain a light fixture. So I wriggled my way over there after laying a piece of cardboard over the rafters and insulation, and boarded over the hole. I also shoved steel wool in a bunch of places. Then I rearranged and organized most of the stuff that's up there. The attic holds a surprising volume of stuff, including a ton of my household goods and camping gear and such.
The most amusing part of finding the rat's nest was that it had gnawed a few pieces of fake greenery off of a small holiday wreath, and then used the greenery to line its nest, giving it a nice, fresh, festive look. At first glance I had wondered about the rat's obsession with rosemary.
There's not much else to report from the weekend, otherwise. It has been a relief to be able to check a bunch of miscellaneous chores and small projects off the chore list.
