Before I begin this post, there are two things you should know about me. The first is that I like antiques. Especially items that have history in our family. One's with meaning for my husband or myself. The second thing you should know is that I am EXTREMELY afraid/petrified of mice. Not just, "Oh, there's a mouse!" Heart pumping, body shaking fear!!! They are not more afraid of me than I am of them. It is not possible!!!!
Okay, with that being said...
A few years ago, before Emma was part of our family, Steve, Michaela, and I went down to Steve's grandfather's land in Sunnybrook, Ky. Steve showed us around the house (that should really be demolished), the outhouse in the backyard (UGH!!!), and around some of the acreage. We also explored the attic of the house and found a small table and a pottery jug. Steve was excited to be able to have a part of his family history.
The table was refinished. The jug was put in the garage to be cleaned out. We left for England and were gone for three years. The jug was left in the garage. Since returning to Kentucky, we have been very busy getting things back in order--cleaning, painting, etc... One of the projects Michaela volunteered to do was to clean out the jug. She took it to the backyard, put some dish detergent in it, and began spraying water into it. I went back to check on her progress. There were suds and lint everywhere. Michaela wanted to go sand a project in the garage so I took over spraying the inside of the jug. As I continued to spray, I began really looking at the enormous amount of dust and lint coming out of the jug. I realize it had been in the garage for many years, but the amount of stuff coming out was extraordinary. I bent down to get a closer look and was fairly certain that what I thought was lint and dust was actually MOUSE HAIR!!! I sprayed one more time and out pops a mouse carcass!!! Did I mention I am petrified of mice. Even dead mice give me the heebie geebies. I had been cleaning out TONS AND TONS of mouse hair. I threw the hose down. Ran into the garage and told Michaela to go wash her hands. ALOT. I immediately went and stood in the shower for 45 minutes with the water as hot as I could stand it. I am not sure I feel clean yet!!!
Steve took the jug to the back and dumped it out. He would not tell me what he found, but it was 'quite a few' skeletons. ( I later saw in the fence row that 'quite a few' was actually more than a dozen.) Lots and lots of mice in the garage. In the jug. It makes me ill. I shiver just thinking about it.
What is even crazier than dozens of dead mouse carcasses in my garage is my husband thinking that the jug is coming into the house. I.DON'T.THINK.SO!!!!!!!!!
