A few days passed without any mouse sightings so we assumed it had returned to one of the Christmas boxes and was back out in the weather on the porch, until Monday evening when suddenly a grey streak darted from behind the bookcase disappearing under the TV cabinet...........again. 

The new catch-and-release trap came out of its box.  Easy directions in three simple pictures, allowed me to handle the set up.  No technology involved.  A very small piece of cheese with peanut butter on it was nudged toward the back with a pencil.  Since the TV cabinet seemed to be the mouse's favorite hiding spot, I set the trap behind the cabinet when we went to bed.  At 3:15 a.m. I was awakened to the sound of "yikes! i'm trapped!" ....scratch.......scratch...........scratch.  The cute little fella frantically tried to dig its way out of the slippery plastic container.  I flipped the back porch light on, set the trap next to the wood pile so he could make a quick get-away between logs, opened the trap, and I went back to bed and to sleep.  When I released the mouse, I noticed the food was still in the trap.  At some point, the mouse felt safe to go back in and get the cheese morsel because it was gone in the morning. 

I've been stumped about what Christmas card image or design I wanted to create this year.  Sometimes images come to mind easily.  Other times it's the first week of December pressure that forces some creativity and I'm not always thrilled about what I end up with on paper.  Authors and artists generally write or draw from life.  Christmas to me is a time for expressing love and is a very spiritual time so I get stuck focusing on what's in my heart and how to express it.  Suddenly yesterday the light bulb over my head lit up and I knew what this year's card image needed to be.  Late in the afternoon my sewing/art room is chilly so I put the heater on and sat at my drawing board sketching this year's card.  Happy with what I drew, I left it and went to the house.  Today after we had our senior coffee and read the Cherokee Scout, did some errands, and returned home, I decided to tackle the coloring on my sketch. My paints and supplies are kept in the large amoire that a friend built for me years ago when we lived in Florida.  I know a mouse has visited my room because it's left evidence so I recently put peppermint essential oil on a cotton ball to deter any further visitations. I wonder if it's the same mouse. It's how it is living in the wild. 

In my box of watercolors, my green is missing, totally empty and deposits of green are on the other paint cubes.  When I showed Cliff, he said a mouse licked the green and began licking the cube to the right.  So.....this year's Christmas card will express my mischievous little rodent companion.