Monday 19 January 2009

They'll never eat toast again!

Like many houesholds throughout the country, we have had to host the occasional unwanted guest. Yes, mice have been regular visitors for some time now. We have tried all sorts of ways to get rid of them and all have been a resounding failure.

Until today.

This morning, Baby came to tell me that she'd had heard noises from behind the TV in the breakfast room. By the time we both walked into the room again, there was no sign of anything. Then the TV went on as my girls are hooked onto CBB. I went into the kitchen to make Baby's toast. The smell wafting from toaster was rather odd, but it all came out OK and Baby ate her breakfast. Rosa Klebb's toast was OK too, although the smell was rather stronger now. Girl from Ipanema reported that she'd just eaten bread and butter as smoke and a very nasty smell had poured out of the toaster.

It was the single mousedropping in the crumb catcher tray that alerted me to the horrible truth.

I opened up the bottom of the toaster - it's a Dualit, so I can do that - and switched it on to see where the smoke was coming from. The little line of smoke led me to the Horrible Truth. From the side of one of the elements, a tail and two back paws poked out.

Now what do I do? My brother has kept that toaster going for me for years now - after all, it cost a fortune. Should I simply chuck the whole think in the bin, and select a replacement from my newly acquired Argos Catalogue? Or should I dismantle it, scrape mousy remnants off, and start all over again?

Dear Reader - what would you advise?

6 comments:

Boz said...

You could probably do wonders with some sterilising fluid or something. If you don't mind your bagels tasting of hospital?

I lived in a mouse house a few years ago. We were all nice about it for a while, and trapped them in kitchen pots and pans to release back out in the wilds (of Clapham). Until they learnt how to climb stairs...

Sylvia said...

Just to update - I bought a new toaster from Argos. I removed the mouse from the toaster with a screwdriver. Luckily it came out in one bit. I will order a new element from Dualit and persuade my brother to install it for me. Then we will have two toasters. The family has vowed never to use it again, no matter how many parts get changed.

Hedgie said...

Mmmmmmm . . . toasty mouse!

You're a brave woman - I wouldn't be able to deal with a discovery like that. I probably will do without toast tomorrow anyway, come to think of it!

Btw, those sonic mouse repelling gizmos are very good.

BlackLOG said...

Certainly not the Argos route but you already know my feelings on Argos (via The Blue Cat). Well done on keeping the Dualit Toaster. We have one and they are definatly style over substance. The first slices are always under done the second slices burnt to a crisp (if you take the average then this is the best toaster in the world).

Paolo Ferrario said...

ciao mlenadellefortezze
bentornata sul lago che già conosci e fa parte della tue esperienza personale
picnic ad hang rock, come ogni opera artistica duratura tende a ispirare varie prooiezioni
capisco la forza di un vulcano, anche se non l'ho mai sperimentata direttamente
è la terra che chiama
visto che noi siamo di terra
tuttavia siamo anche dotati di coscienza e quindi possiamo dominare l'attrazione
quelle ragazze , invece , si sono perse.
e ci parlano, per tornare al tema, dei tre appigli delle nostre vite: spazio, tempo e destino
amalteo.splinder.com
qui però sono paolodel1948
la stessa persona

Sylvia said...

Update on toaster - I know that some of you have been on tenterhooks - Dulalit advised me to bin the toaster on health and safety grounds, rather than replace an element and pass it on to my friend. Apparently it's not the first time they had heard of such a thing happening. To date, we have been very happy with the replacement toaster (don't ask - haven't a clue what it is- it just works) and the Dualit toaster is still sitting in the garage.