A week ago, I discovered that there’d been a mouse, or maybe more than one, in the food “stock” box in the arrière cuisine; it had eaten it’s way into rice cakes, muesli and raisins amongst other things. The hens had a feast, I cleaned out the box and re-filled it, this time sealing it with a tray, weighted down, on the top. The following day I went to get something out of the box, to find nibbled bags of sugar, beans, boudoir biscuits and prunes; I think the hens must be in league with the mice! Another treat for the hens, another good clean and I found a large box with a proper lid, which I filled and sealed. Just for good measure, I put a piece of white chocolate in a mousetrap nearby and set it. Yesterday the chocolate was gone and so was the mouse; another mouse trap, set very finely, this morning, no chocolate and the trap had been upended, but no mouse……. Hmm, where’s Hugo when you need him?