Rewind to Friday, I was navigating the short 6am walk from the front door to the garage completely in the dark and completely from memory. This morning, with an accelerated heartrate, I made the short trek with lights a blazin'. Thank goodness the passage was uneventful. What changed?
I found out that the six of us (2 adults, 2 kids and 2 furbabies) are not the only tenants of our home. It all started in the summer when our new neighbours decided to blaze a trail through the wild undergrowth separating our 2 houses and build a walkway.
The stonework is beautiful and it looks great. Then on Sunday the dog disappeared for a good 10 minutes in the scrub on our side of the great divide. Upon closer inspection I found enormous (well I am exaggerating a tad) holes in the concrete under our front porch. The dog was going nuts for another 10 minutes until I smelled an altogether unwanted yet familiar odor. I grabbed the kids and ran. We all managed to come out of this event unscathed and odorless. Even the dog.
Not sure why I am upset because in hindsight I think Pepe has lived there for quite a few years. I remember on my first mat leave 4 years ago I saw a little striped monster venturing into the neighbours garbage. If the recent development of a paved walk had not come to fruition I probably would have been happily ignorant of our house guest for another couple of years.
What to do now? Our arsenal contains a bright overhead light (these critters are nocturnal and wouldn't appreciate new lighting installed by their landlords), used cat litter (I know ewww), ammonia etc.
We haven't done anything yet as hubby is still strategizing. In the meantime I am off to buy copious amounts of tomato juice just in case the canine wants to make anymore friendly overtures.
