“In baiting a mousetrap with cheese, always leave room for the mouse.”

That's a Greek proverb, that is. I would have written it in Greek but...

This is the score today. Mice 1 - Caroline 0

The thing is, I DID catch a mouse - or rather, the humane trap did, carefully baited with honey-roasted cashew nuts. Nothing but the best for my mice.

I went into the larder and the trap was shut. Result! I picked it up and rocked it gently back and forth. Certainly no cashew nuts in there but it didn't seem as though there was a mouse in there either. How on earth could that be? (Little did I know that the mouse was bracing itself against the sides to prevent motion-sickness.)

I had a brainwave then. I would open the mousetrap inside an empty dog-food bin - a plastic container about 18 inches deep. I did this - and out popped a little mouse, its tummy bulging with several cashew nuts. I was just saying 'Aaaaaaaaaah! How sweeeeet!' when the mouse, from a standing start, jumped vertically two feet into the air, over the side of the bin and disappeared behind the fridge.

Curses! Or should I say 'Rats!'?  (No, I won't say 'Rats!' because, as much as I love little meece, I DO draw the line at their bigger, scarier relatives.)

The trap is set again with more cashew nuts. The mouse is no doubt chuckling behind the fridge, saying to herself 'if you think I'm going to fall for THAT again, you're going soft in the head, Mrs. Cashew-Nut-Provider!'

We shall see...