And Rats to You Too

Last time we were up at Fossils Retreat was the weekend of 13-14 February. We had arranged for a huge skip to be delivered so we could make a start on getting rid of a lot of our three huge piles of demolition materials. As there is plenty of timber (and plenty of nails in it) in the three piles that needs careful sorting (usable/useful/hmmm/firewood) we concentrated on filling the skip with stuff like plasterboard, old lining boards and the like. As we were turning over and throwing off wood to get to the rubbish, I warned Denise of the possibility of rats. When the skip was nearly full, Denise loaded up the barrow with smaller bits of debris scooped in armfulls into the barrow. She had just chucked one armload in when I looked down into the barrow and saw ...


These wee babies (7) were pink and nearly transparent, no more than 2.5cm (1 inch) long. Denise reacted immediately and for some reason did a rather peculiar dance consisting of stamping her feet, clutching and pulling out the front of her singlet and screaming her head off. When she had calmed down and realised none had gone down her front (remembering the mouse episode in the potato tyre), her motherly instincts kicked in. We figured they were just newly born - probably while we were partaking of a long lunch and reading the weekend papers. Sadly, motherly instincts were quashed when Jennifer reasoned that 7 rats were better taken care of now as against in the house in 3 months' time.

Note : They were given 2 'instant death' treatments by Denise. There were no survivors and the wee corpses were reverently covered and disposed of in the rubbish skip

So, now we have three still large, but flatter piles of timber - a lot of matai - to be sorted and denailed (we're looking for helpers who want to develop their arm muscles. This is hard wood). The front gate has been finished and hung after several trials and tribulations. We have two raised vege beds up - one filled with soil and mushroom compost, and have planted lettuces, silver beet and brassicas. We just hope we get some rain in between our next visit.

Twilight, looking south from the front gate of Fossils Retreat