Secret Places

Not long ago I was beside myself with worry because of the problem that I had with rodents of the largest variety, nesting in my roof cavities and the whole roof had to be taken off and rebuilt. We found five dead rats up there that had come in via a concealed hole that couldn't be seen from outside. It was a crafty way in from next door's side that nobody would have guessed was there. Once settled the squatters had chewed up insulation and nibbled through live wiring and could have caused a fire.

If you look at the first photo, you will see a new hole, discovered only last week, when the men were hacking off plaster from the inside walls. It was a grim discovery as two more dead rats were found in there, mummified. They had obviously fallen in this hole and had been in there a long time. One of them was quite a giant, the grandfather of all rats, I should think! You should have seen the teeth. I didn't take photos so you are spared seeing them. They were quickly bagged up and disposed of.

Not long ago, the back of the house looked like this, and my garden was taken over by the scaffolding and was in deep shade most of the time. It was disheartening to see the disaster that all this caused to my plants.

I am somewhat amazed at how blue the sky looked then because I can remember some bad downpours that flooded the kitchen, even though we had the scaffolding canopy over the top.

This was the strange position I found myself in when there was a new roof on top of the kitchen but the old ceiling was still in place. It had all been cleaned from above and two holes cut because of the roof windows being put in there. The men did the job slowly like this, so that I wouldn't have be roofless while it was being done, as security might have been difficult with so many of us coming and going all the time. It also prevented the mess from coming down into the kitchen, as it was all cleaned away from the top.

However after the men had cleaned and removed the ceiling, I was able to see just how much loftier and lighter it was going to be in there.

My kitchen is still a long way from being normal again and I will have to wait for new units.

The men only ever agreed to get rid of the rats, you see, not to do a major revamp inside!

The outside is now fairly, clean looking and the scaffolding has been removed. I like the cedar wood on top that my son put up. However we decided, round the problem corner in next door's garden, to use brickwork and thick rendering and I would like to know how anything could get in there now. This is not a challenge to any rat reading this blog though!

Looking from the bedroom window upstairs the new roof looks really secure, so I am extremely pleased I decided to *risk* letting the two men in my life take on this task. I say to both of them, " Jolly well done and thank you!"