I spent the morning outside moving large pieces of wood into a woodpile that we had already started. Â The mouse was back but this time he was alone. He doesn’t seem to be afraid and looks at me to see if I’m going to leave or what my plans are. I talk to him, uh, her, uh, whatever. Â “Get on your way now …”
The mouse skadaddled away to an area where I will be heading. Again, he seems to not be afraid. He’s a rather quick mouse running hither and thither.
I manage to make a new woodpile from wood pieces that are just lying on the ground. There are so many pieces of wood lying around that I wonder if this property has ever been taken care of. Large, small, medium … I rake up the pieces and put them in plastic bags so that I can send them along with the trash but there are too many. Three bagfuls later, I determine that I am done for the day but then I look around and decide perhaps I have a little more work in me.
Large pieces of a cut-up tree trunk sit in an area looking messy so I decide to roll some of them down the slight slope and make a pathway with them. After working with four large pieces I again decide that I am done for the day.
My left wrist is swollen and achy again. I took a Naproxen pill this morning and it seemed to help but now I need to ice it and put the splint back on. Â Since the orthopedic surgeon told me that I needed an MRI of my wrist, I’ve been calling places to determine the cost. Shopping for healthcare costs is not for the faint of heart. Calling, leaving messages and playing phone tag is enough to stop anyone from caring. Except me.
I have learned that the cost for the MRI is not the only charge I will incur. I will also have to pay for a Radiologist to review the MRI and give his/her determination of what the problem is. Â What a bother. Â Another hunt for pricing information.
One might wonder (anyone?) why I bother to check prices. Simply put, our healthcare plan is not as good as the one we used to have in Seattle. We have a $3000 deductible (unless its preventative visits) that we have to pay before our insurance matches anything. So I am more careful now about costs.
But, I’m digressing. Back to the yard …
Since I have so many pieces of wood (mostly decaying, moldy or unusable) I Â bag them and wait until I have room in my garbage can. Sure, I can pay additional to leave extra bags out, but why? My large garbage can will take 2 large bags of wood in addition to our weekly garbage which isn’t a lot. So, I’ll accumulate the wood and every week I will slowly send more rotting wood away.
One day, it will be too cold to work outside and then I’ll be able to catch up with putting the wood in the garbage. I can be patient.
I am now more cognizant in closing the garage door in case small animals might enter, ie the mouse. Â There are plenty of mouse feeders with poison out there so I’m not sure how this little fella managed to escape them.
I called my husband around noon to check in and said “You know, I could catch the mouse and we could keep him as a pet. I could call him Barky since he seems to like the woodpile.” (laughing) Â It didn’t go over too well … I wonder why?
