I had a game of hide and seek recently when my cat, Goliath, chased a mouse into the house. He was making a very funny sound by the door and I figured that he wanted in. I opened the door and before the cat made it across the threshold his playmate snuck in.

First the cat cornered the mouse behind the door. I tried to scoop it onto a paper but he was faster than I was. He took off and went behind the couch. By this time Micah, the dog, wanted in on the action. I let him in thinking maybe he could be of some help. It was a merry chase as we went from behind the couch, to under the buffet and on to beneath the corner cupboard.

The cat got tired and he just lay down and went to sleep in the middle of the living room floor. The dog, however, was relentless. He followed that mouse wherever he went.

Finally I had to leave to do an errand. I put the dog in his kennel and was on my way. By this time the cat wanted out. I patted him on the head and told him to stay. There was no way I was letting that cat out until he caught the mouse. I think he must have injured it when he was playing with it because it was a little slower than is normal for a mouse.

When I returned home I let the dog back out. He went right to that corner cupboard in the dining room so I was sure the mouse was still holed up there. When I moved my sewing machine case there was the mouse. As soon as he spotted the dog he was off. He scampered for the living room and dove under a cupboard there. Now, I am not exactly proud of what I did next, but when it comes to a mouse in the house it is every man or woman for himself/herself. I grabbed one of my thong shoes and whacked at him as soon as he emerged from under the cupboard with the help of the dog. I am pleased to say there is one less mouse at Hickory Heights.

Incidentally, Goliath brings me a mouse every now and then, but usually it is dead by the time I see it. He brings his treasure either to the side door or the back door and leaves it on the mat for me. He is a good mouser, but must be his diet is adequate because he never eats them.

This is at least the third time that the cat has let a mouse into the house. One time my other dog, Hannah, caught the mouse. She was everywhere chasing that little creature, but she never gave up. When she cornered it she just killed it and left it for me. The other time I saw the little critter head for the upstairs. When I slammed the door shut I caught the mouse with the door and flattened him.

There is no shortage of mice around here. Field mice are just that; they live in the fields. Of course, there is an abundance of fields around Hickory Heights. Every fall I wage war with mice. This fall my dryer sheets in the cellar way seemed to do the trick. Cold weather brings them in. I am sure my mid-summer visitor just responded to the open door this time.

This is Saturday morning. I set aside time to write my column for next week. It just so happens that I have no electricity. The lights blinked and blinked before they finally went out entirely. Luckily my computer was charged so I could still make good use of my morning.

My Kindle is low on power so I guess I will be reading a real book today. I try to have two books going at the same time so I am not without reading material. The only problem is that I am at a real exciting part of the book that I am reading on the Kindle and cannot get back to it – at least for a while. While the electric goes out every now and then it is much better than it used to be. We used to be without electricity routinely.

Last week the grandchildren and I went to the Chautauqua County Fair. We took a picnic lunch and ate at Point Gratiot by the lake. They took turns skipping stones over the water before we left. I think they had almost as much fun on the picnic as they did at the fair. We met other people from Warren County there and visited our way around the grounds. The kids treated themselves to traditional fair food before we left for home. A good time was had by all.

Well, I guess I am going to have to go to the store. The electric is still not on. I used up my loaf of bread on our sandwiches. I was going to make a loaf in my bread maker but without power that is not possible. I am certainly glad that I did not have it started before the power went out or I would have had a mess. I was up plenty early but I chose to do my reading before I fixed coffee and my breakfast. I guess I will need to stop for a cup of coffee while I am out as well.

If there are any typos in this please ignore them – you can probably figure what I meant to say anyway. I am doing this in the dark. I tried working out on the porch, but it felt damp and cool. I certainly am glad that I took a typing class so I am familiar with the touch method of typing.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net