my most repulsive post yet...

All hail the humble peppermint (photo by kali.ma).

To my immense dismay, I discovered incontrovertible evidence that I don't in fact have the house to myself. Once again, the London Rodent Collective has decided to send representatives. Sigh....

I'm too much of a coward to set out traps, mostly cos I don't want to have to handle live, partially alive, or dead rats. My immediate response was to set out some poison left over from our last visitation. However, this too isn't ideal as a) it's cruel, and b) if it does work, you may end up with decomposing rodents in your walls or pipes or drains. Don't say I didn't warn you - this post really is vile.

So I turned to my trusty friend Google, who produced a) ample statistics on rats in London which is far too nauseating to repeat on this blog, and b) ample evidence that the essential oil of the humble peppermint plant magically repels rodents. My heightened state of despair caused me to clutch at this straw.

My local aromatherapy shops seemed to stock every possible essential oil except this one, so while waiting for my order to arrive, I've culled all peppermints plants within the vicinity. The house now smells a little like a toothpaste factory - all minty fresh.

The amazing thing is, as far as I can tell, it's worked! I've not yet spotted any {ahem} fresh evidence within the house. They are still in the area, as I did see a rat frolicking around our compost bin, so I'm not campaigning for mint to be canonised quite yet. Nevertheless, this feels like a major step on the road to triumph. Joy!