Its notionally a board game with dice, and progress around the board depending on various cards, random factors, and ability to think of items in a category beginning with a certain letter. E.g. Animals beginning with 'M' : mouse.
What makes it all worthwhile is the 'Rummage'. At certain points in the game you/your team are sent - at speed - to a particular room in the house to rummage for an item - any item - beginning with a certain letter. E.g. anything beginning with the letter 'M'.
Speed is necessary because taking too long might mean you miss a turn. At times, you might also be racing to beat another team.
I can't begin to describe what riotously good entertainment this was.
I wish I had thought to take some photos of the selection of objects we accumulated in the lounge during game-play. I was just having too much fun.
Its a bit of a blur, but i know one of the items I was particularly pleased with was a very appealing cast-aluminium (or similar) duck. Found - as you'd expect of course - in the dining room.
Marigold's hutch was not one of the designated rooms. It wouldn't have been fair to her, she is easily shocked, and it doesn't really contain much of interest. Straw, hay, carrots, corn..... poo... glowinthedark stars ... just the usual pet stuff.
However we have recently discovered that she has tenants. Little furry animals beginning with 'M'.
We know they have made nightly forays through our kitchen - evidence of nibbling in the vegetable rack, one or two sightings and squeakings though, as yet, no poo. Imagine our delight to find some of them in her hutch. I'm very happy at the thought of poor lonely Marigold having some little warm furry company and I like to think of them snuggling up at night.
If this seems unlikely, please don't tell me so.
I have suspected for some time that we also have small furry tenants living in the compost bin. The bin's content are being mixed and redistributed in a way which is beneficial for the composting process, but without human agency. (I'm assuming its not the neighbours popping over the fence to turn our compost....)
Last time I trekked down the soggy wintry garden to empty the mini kitchen compost bin into the larger garden container, I found further evidence of this mixing and turning and, in addition to that, a little round hole in the compost - which looked distinctly like a front door. Not only that, but when I tapped the kitchen bin against the garden bin to empty it, there was a most definate whiskery scurrying sound.
I'm assuming its rodents of the little actuallyrathersweet variety, rather than anything larger and more worrying.
If this seems unlikely, please don't tell me so.
25 comments:
Well, I've never heard of this happening! We once had a skunk who came in to the house by pushing a screen aside, used the cats' litter box (yes, really), and ate their food. But the skunk was curtailed by securing the screen. You'd better catch site of the size of these nocturnal visitors . . .
We get mice periodically here in the house on Tennessee Ave. they are very small and might be sweet, but they poo in the silverware drawer and eat our dried pasta. When I see one dart across the floor, I shriek and jump up on a chair, just like in the movies.
My roommate John is the macho one who traps them and moves them outside to more welcoming environments.
They're cute but ... there ain't room for three species in our house all at once. Humans, canines - yes. Rodents? Nope.
ahhh...mice. Cute little things. The only problems are:
a nasty habit to pee and poo on kitchen counters and other such places.
a nasty habit to nest in inconvenient locations such as behind the water heater.
a nasty habit to breed in inconsiderate numbers - well inconsiderate to humans, anyway.
The compost lurkers make perfect sense to me. We had them at the previous place. But the houseguests tend to get pretty invasive, unfortunately.
Once a mouse walked across our living room, and stopped to stare at the TV set. the sight of his little outline against the bright screen was so cute. It turned out he was basically shacking up with our hamster every night. The cats were so used to the hamster as a pal, that they just assumed the mouse was a guest, and should be treated as such.
And to think that Marigold didn't tell you about her guests, and you had to find out on your own. That's not very polite.
But perhaps the mice were holding poor little Marigold in a blackmail scam... she had to take them in or they would tell you about the Jack Daniels....
Crikey - Blackmailing mice and secret alcoholic guinea pigs!?
OK, I won't tell you so.
Dennis says that whole mouse hamster story was before Dennis came into the house. Dennis doesn't treat meals as guests.
Rummage sounds good, sounds like something I would enjoy!
Furry friends... Christmas before last, we were in a Gite in France, where we lodged with an extended family of them, they even tried to get into bed with me, one ran over my hair and another my feet, BH didn’t believe me until he saw the chocolate money neatly nibbled.
About compost, I was going to ask you about this. How long does it take to fill the bin, ours has never gone beyond 3/4 full and we add to it constantly. I have wondered whether some larger furry things have channeled a tunnel and are having a daily feast. What do you think, could it be possible?
Easter, that’s not too long :))))
Pigs and mice? Why not? :)
I wouldn't be going to close to that compost bin!
Hi Letty, just popping by before leaving on vacation. We get little field like-type mice (brown and cuter than the grey house mice) in our garage. I don't like mice in the house. Like Reya, I usually scream. I don't know why because I'm not afraid of them, I think they just take me by surprise by skittering away.
Come by and see where we're headed! I'll stop by again next week!
I *think* you are fine unless
you begin to find glowy poo.
In which case, you may need
to obtain a glowy poo scooper.
We get mice too. I don't mind them outside but I really object to them in the house. The little poos on the worksurfaces in the morning or discovering a whole pile of them in a drawer is not nice! Luckily we seem to be free of them for quite a while now although, *whispers* we do have the bigger whiskery scurriers that frequent our bins, eeeeeeek!
Marigold looks cute:-)
Sounds like a fun board game...but we don't have it here in Singapore, can you buy it online?
We had a cold snap here for a while and the ants came into the house to warm up and get some water. My Mama was gonna' go after them, but I said, "Mama, I told them ants they could come on in and get warm."
Does Marigold like ants?
Happy New Year, Lettie. :)
wow. pigs & mice sleeping together - surely some sort of sign!!
really, the mice just looking for a warm cozy home... so nice that marigold is obliging.
you can tell which rodent has taken up w/ you by the size of their poo if you decide you need to know.
Your home sounds wonderfully warm and nest-like: a natural habitat for such furry little creatures.
Mice get a bad press. Some people have mice as pets.
But I could see it might get a little crowded and awkward hygienically speaking if they start breeding.
I have had 2 of the larger rodents (word beginning with 'r'). They surfaced when the house next door was being refurbished, including its drains.
They were probably as shocked to see me as I was to see them. I gave them some strong encouragement to disappear down another drain and back to their underground habitat and I'm happy to say they obliged.
Then, as we say, the system was firmly closed. Whew.
Dennis would like to rummage around in other people's houses.
well as you might know I have rodents galore
exquisite central asian variety 4:
evil london sewermouse variety about 444
was that a real guinea swine? or just a glove puppet??
You can never have too much fun to suit us.
I'm worried that Marigold might get repetitive paw syndrome.
as if NG wasn't enough! now you have NM's (naughty minnies). how much more spong can one household take??
this rummage game sounds entertaining. i'll have to look for it. i'm always up for a new entertaining game. the last one i found was "cranium" and it's getting a little old.
skunks Tut-Tut? :o/
Reya here its humans, rodents, and teenager....
lee i must admit I'm waiting - with not exactly bated breath - for the nasty habits to become evident
ched thats so sweet
haha shammie, i can picture it now....
i know sivle! except that marigold isn't doing so well with the secret. after all, all you lot seem to know
malc. ta.
is that the mouse, Dennis? or the hamster?
dizzy i think you would enjoy Rummage! the compost does pack down as its ready to use - poss. best to put it all into sacks to store for use, and start again?
klulu i'm not too fearful at the mo but will be needing at least moral support when I clear the whole thing out. :o/
lynne hope you've had a fab time.
haha seraphine.
eek donna! still no poos here.
bella, she is very very cute. We bought the game in TKMaxx - don't know if its available online.
John. I'm sorry, i don't think i could cope with ants. is that very inconsistent?
yes kimy, do you think its apocalyptic?
when you say "strong encouragement", Sally, what does that REALLY mean? (of course some people keep 'r'-word rodents as pets too....)
Dennis its more fun in other peoples' houses than in one's own.
glove-puppet, Gledwood? how could you ask such a thing? humongous giant-creature though definately, to your little itsy bitsy furry friends.
shelly you say such sweet things.
haha Dumdad. Its just a risk the serious writer has to take.
i can't think about the spong at the moment Pod, too distracted by the thought of "naughty minnies". Will explain by email, too rude.
Cinn it was most entertaining. I think i've played cranium but can remember nothing much about it. Which might be indicative.
oh for the chance at NM-ism.....!!!
;0)
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