Finger-Safe Rat Trap

How many times have you primed a rat trap and gingerly moved away only to have it suddenly explode, leap about 3 feet in the air and provide you with instant laxative?
Well, here's a wee tip to modify your rat-trap so you can more safely set it and run.

Parts needed:
Electric drill with 9/64" bit and a 5/8" blade
1 x 1.5", #8-32 machine screw.
4 x 5/8" washers
4 x nuts for the machine screw.
Couple of small spanners or wrenches and a screwdriver.

Standard rat trap

Using a bit size of 9/64" (or thereabouts! :-)) drill a hole all the way through the trap as shown. 

 On the bottom side of the trap, dig out some of the wood around the hole you just drilled using a 5/8" blade so that the trap will lie flat after inserting the machine screw.  You could also dig out the wood by carefully using a sharp-bladed knife or chisel.

 Insert a 1.5" #8-32 machine screw and a 5/8" washer

 Secure the screw with another washer and a nut.

 Add another nut to the machine screw, then a split washer, an angle bracket, another washer, and finally another nut.

 When it's assembled, the last nut should cover all the threads of the machine screw.  Tighten all the nuts--but not too tight: You should be able to move the angle-bracket.

 Pull back the trap's "business end" and rotate the angle-bracket as shown.  The angle bracket holds the spring mechanism in place.

 Now the trap is "set" ready to go.

 The addition of a wee handle also helps to keep fingers out of the way and allows easier placement of the trap. If when placing the "set" and baited trap, it should accidentally go off, the angle bracket will hold the spring mechanism in place (it allows it to move about a quarter of an inch) so no "laxative moment."

 After the trap is baited (mine is baited with cheese and a sprinkling of cornflour), set and placed where you want it, carefully rotate the angle bracket around as shown above.

Over time, you may have to occasionally re-tighten the top two nuts .

Good (Safe) Hunting! :-)

Uses for cat fur

Opal loves to be "Furminated."  It hadn't been done for a while and so I harvested quite a crop of fur on the last occasion.  After studying the pile of furminated fur it looked like such a waste to dispose of it all so I have some suggestions for taking advantage of this "gold mine."

This is Opal, by the way (she had just walked through a spider's web):

A cuddly toy for the kiddies, perhaps?  (Not suitable for those three-years old and under due to small parts.)

 A handy-dandy toupee to cover that little "slightly-thinning" spot (especially on those cold, winter days).

A fairly impressive 'tache!  Very dignified, I think.  (However, not suitable for those with cat allergies.)

  

Another Culinary Delight

Sallie and Joel introduced me to "Avocado Toast" which, by the way, is quite delicious.  I did, however boost the deliciousness factor up a notch or two by adding sauteed mushrooms.  Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmmm.

Toast two or three slices of bread, butter them and spread with a generous layer of fresh avocado.  Now sprinkle them with fresh lemon juice and add ground black pepper (and maybe a little salt) to taste.  Top it off with mushrooms sauteed in olive oil.  You won't regret it!  

Clotted Cream

Had a wee look at a site called MilkDelight.com just to get some information on cream.  In it I found this statement (this is it verbatim):
"Clotted cream is also an important part of cream tea, plopping a dollop or two into a cup of tea, and cream tea is often the drink preferred with scones and jam."
I did try to correct them through their "contact" system but it failed due to "technical issues."  No wonder Americans get the wrong idea about things when sites disseminate rubbish like this.

Boxers ain't for me!

I've decided I'm going back to wearing "briefs."  I've tried the "boxer briefs" which, initially, are abundantly comfortable and lets one's appendages enjoy a feeling of nature (i.e. not caged or imprisoned)   Sadly, the darned things keep falling down (the boxers, not the appendages).  I was playing golf yesterday and 3 times in 9 holes I had to undo my belt and unzip my pants in order to hoick up my boxers.   Maybe it's the slightly rounded belly that's causing the problem.  Whatever it is, it won't be a problem much longer.
UPDATE!  Found "lo-rise" boxer briefs.  They don't "Urkel" up the belly quite so far, therefore have less tendency to fall back down again. We have a keeper!

Always be concise with your labels

The other night I decided on having enchiladas for tea. I had them previously made and frozen so it was just a case of taking them out of the freezer and sticking them in the oven. Label instructions were "Heat in 375 oven for 30 minutes." Well, it actually took longer than 30 minutes--nearer 45 but all looked well and the food was piping hot. On turning it out onto a plate I thought "Hmmmmm, what happened to the tortillas?" Deciding that the tortillas had obviously disintegrated during the freezing/reheating process I carried on but I did think that it looked a bit regurgitated. (That's a euphemism, by the way)

So we sat down and started eating. Tasted not bad but I was still looking for tell-tale signs of tortilla. Then it dawned on us: What I had put in the freezer was just the filling! I was supposed to thaw it, wrap it in tortillas, sprinkle cheese on top and "voila!" (Or "wallah" as they say here in Amerikay.) Anyway, I scraped the half-eaten regurgitation off the plates, filled a couple of tortillas, sprinkled cheese on top and stuck the whole lot back in the oven to heat it up again and melt the cheese. Now it looks right--and it tasted goooood!

Of course to any good tale there has to be a moral and it is this: When you stick something in the freezer, don't assume you'll remember what it is and don't just say (for example) "Heat in 375 oven for 30 minutes"--label the darned thing with full details and thus avoid surprises!

Banana Epiphany!

The other day I was making a banana piece and had a thought: "What would it taste like with jam on it as well."

(If you don't know what a "piece" is, all will become clear.)

Take your two slices of bread and add a good slather of butter (or margarine if you prefer) then select a softish banana and mash it on top of the butter.

Next add your choice of jam. Mine was ma Mammy's home-made raspberry.

Mmmmmmmm. Buon Appetito!

It was delish! :-)