Living in the country has a few teensy, tinesy drawbacks that manifest themselves every now and again. One of those being field mice! Now, when the weather is warm and pleasant, they are very content to take up residence in the barns, the sheds, the chicken coop, under the hay feeders, only making their presence known when the barn cat struts across the yard with a tail hanging out of its mouth. BUT..... when the weather starts turning nippy they scramble for a warmer place to shack up, and if there is food and water available, all the better. The first sign is some slight scratching in the walls, the freaky pitter patter in the ceiling as they race between the rafters, then, the tell tale gross out clues are" tracks" in the drawers or cupboards. Those little buggers can find their way into a house if the only opening is on the roof! To me it is one of the mysteries of the universe how a mouse the size of a golf ball can fit through a hole the size of a pea, but they can do it! Well, now we have the basis for my tale. The Farmer and I are sitting down to a quiet evening meal. The topic of conversation happened to touch on some Ghirardelli chocolate squares I had put on the stove the previous evening in preparation for some brownies I needed to make the next morning. I asked him if he had sneaked some bites of chocolate, as several of the bars had bitemarks in them, little bites and big bites. I showed him the telltale evidence that I just happened to have saved and told him that if he wanted chocolate, I had plenty of bars that he could have and could eat the whole bar all by himself.  He strongly denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he had lived with me long enough to know that the area around my stove is like hallowed ground, that nobody messes with. I examined the dark clumps in the pot a little closer, and to my horrification realized who or WHAT the perpetrator was! " Rocky, we have a mouse in the house!!!! and he ate my chocolate!!!!! " I jumped up and flew through the drawers and the cupboards, trying to find any signs, I made him pull out the stove and the refrigerator to look for a secret passage into my kitchen, after an exhausing search, he just shook his head and said, " I'll just get a trap, get me some peanut butter". My mind is swirling with thoughts of where was the mouse right now, needing to get up and clorox everything in sight. As we settled down to finish our meal......." Sugar! ," I hear from the other side of the counter. " Go and get my BB gun". " Rocky, what for?" I asked. " Well, if I am not mistaken there is a mouse walking across the backsplash behind the kitchen faucet with something in his mouth....looks like chocolate! " As I live and breath, the situation couldn't have been any more bizarre, but wait, I am not finished. " And what, might I ask, are you going to do with a BB gun?" Well darlin' just go and get it and I will show you". Like a sleepwalker in a trance, shaking my head from side to side, I go and get the BB gun....picturing little holes in my kitchen wall, shattered glass over the sink, the water faucet spewing water, not once imagining a furry little rodent, paws up on my kitchen counter.Talk about Blind Faith ! I'm a dyin' if I'm a lyin'! As that brazen mouse was traveling across the backsplash, stopping to take a nibble of my chocolate here and there, Rocky patiently pumped up the gun, aimed and fired!!!  Now, I had covered my ears and squeezed my eyes shut, and when he asked me to run get him a rubber glove and a sack, I nearly fainted from shock.
Good Golly, I am married to Wyatt Earp reincarnated! They say that truth is stranger than fiction and I for one will attest to that.  My only regret that I have is that the little interloper will not be able to spread the word to the other would be interlopers" Don't go into that house or your life will be cut short by the best darn sharpshooter that ever lived". Oh, and rest assured, for all of you that eat my brownies, the nibbled chocolate went into the trash! From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!