JBR - Fahr Beer Pilsner

Beer: Pils, Fahr Beer, Turner Valley, Alberta

Details: This Black Forrest style Pilsner is unique to North America. Fuller bodied with less hop and bitterness, this beer stands out amongst other Northern German Pilsners more commonly found in Canada. This beer is filtered for clarity, has 5.0% alc./vol. and has a crisp finish. The Pils maintains flavours of crackers, floral notes, and a slight lingering bitterness to cut through the initial sweetness of the malt used. 

Awards: 2020 World Beer Awards Canada Gold Winner for Best Classic Pilsener Style Lager Beer

Recommended By: Sutik a few days earlier, he told us it was a really good microbrewery

Date Tried: Sunday October 18, 2020 

Location: Sky Bistro, on the summit of Sulphur Mountain, at the top of the Banff Gondola

Meal: A light dinner that was really delicious - Jason had the gnocchi and I had a mushroom and asparagus dish.
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "Very clean, crisp, high quality. You can taste the German in it." 

Why it tasted German: The founder of Fahr Beer is Jochen Fahr, who was born and raised in Ebringen, Germany. The brewery also follows Reinheitsgebot, the “German Purity Law.” 

Editor's note: Was hoping a drink would help Jason on the gondola decent, he really isn't a fan of heights - it didn't, I think he was even worse going down than up. 

JBR - Lager With A Scary Story

Beer: Ghost Bride 

Type: Lager

Date Tried: Saturday October 17, 2020 

Location: Vermillion Room, Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel

Meal: An amazing steak dinner!
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "I don't know, fine." 

Another Custom Brew: This beer was also a limited edition made specifically for the hotel by Big Rock Brewery.
Editor's note: We heard the story last night during the Ghost Tour of the hotel.

A Depressing Flowchart

So, in an effort to feel more control, or something, I have been mentally going through a flowchart of events for the next few weeks of this pregnancy.
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Heartbeat - Is there still a heartbeat? - I say 'still' because there was one at the last ultrasound at Week 7, but we know from last time, where we saw the heartbeat twice before the eventual fetal demise, and that while seeing it early lowers the chance of miscarriage, it doesn't eliminate it. After days (weeks?) of worry, we will get this answer tomorrow (Thursday) at an early early hospital ultrasound arranged by my doctor.

-- Heartbeat - No - I should know right away during the ultrasound if there has been another 'silent miscarriage' the behaviour of the technician is quite different when things are fine vs. not. Though they sometimes stick really hard to the "technician can't say anything" and I will need to wait for the doctor at the hospital or my own doctor later in the day to give me the sad news. If this is the case then all further steps stop and I will get a reference to the Early Pregnancy Loss clinic to deal with another miscarriage that will be devastatingly similar to the last one. The following weeks going through that process will be awful and annoying and I am trying not to build out that branch of the flowchart except to know that this time I would like to go through the processes at the hospital so that I can be put under general anesthetic and that the tissue can be tested afterwards.

------

-- Heartbeat - Yes - As mentioned above, I should (hopefully) find this out during the actual ultrasound. If everything is still developing properly, not only with a heartbeat but proper size for 12 weeks then I move onto the next step.

Prenatal Testing - When will I get my Enhanced First Trimester Screen (eFTS) done? - My original hope was to not have to do the eFTS because the results are much later than the NIPT (Non-invasive Prenatal Testing, or the blood only paid-for DNA test that I needed to get a redraw for that started this whole emotionally challenging spiral.) The eFTS is also not as accurate so having to rely on those results instead of the NIPT means that we aren't out of the dark tunnel of worrying that we are sitting at the end of this pregnancy. More on this below.

-- Prenatal Testing - Tomorrow - Because my doctor's office was sending out urgent ultrasound requests to multiple clinics and hospitals, they were unsure if the one I have tomorrow will be just a 'viability scan' to basically check for the heartbeat and that is it, or if they will have time at the hospital to do the full eFTS. If there is time, than the ultrasound will just continue on for 45 minutes or so with a ton of measurements being made and I will be sent for blood-work tomorrow as well. This is preferred because we will get the results sooner and everything will be done at the same time.

-- Prenatal Testing - Next week - If they only have time for the quick scan tomorrow then I will be keeping the clinic appointment I have for the eFTS on Wednesday June 29. This will delay results by a week, and as my own doctor is away next week, possibly delay us learning the results even longer. (Obviously if there is no heartbeat, or if there is and the hospital ends up doing the eFTS, I will cancel this clinic appointment.)

NIPT - Did it work from the blood redraw? - I gave blood again this past Friday to try to get results through the DNA system, after my first blood draw the week before came back without results. Based on my weight and the low FF (Fetal Fraction is a measurement of the amount of the DNA found in the blood that isn't mine) from the last blood draw the chance that I can get results from the second blood draw is only 41%. This is why we are moving forward with the eFTS in the likely case that the NIPT comes back inconclusive again. I should know by early next week what happened with the blood redraw.

-- NIPT - Yes and Low Risk - This would be the best outcome of this flowchart, if I was drawing it out the box it sits in would be a starburst or something. The NIPT low risk result is very very accurate, it would mean that we could move into the second trimester of this pregnancy with a huge feeling of relief that the baby is currently healthy and doesn't have the three most common chromosome differences. (We would ignore the chromosome speculation in the eFTS in this case.)

-- NIPT - Yes and High Risk - This would be a very very worrisome outcome. Since NIPT is more accurate than eFTS, heading into the Diagnostic Testing it would be highly (greater than 90%)  likely that there are chromosomal abnormalities which would mean a termination of the pregnancy. The next step would be Diagnostic Testing, see below.

-- NIPT - No - This is fairly likely and would mean we have to wait for the eFTS results. The 'no result' as a result in itself actually signifies a slightly higher chance of chromosomal abnormalities which isn't good. The next step would be to wait for the eFTS results which depending on when I got the testing done (see above) will be ready between Aug 3 - 12.

eFTS Results - What is my risk factor? - It will be a long wait for these, but if the NIPT is inconclusive for a second time it is our only option for screening on chromosomal abnormalities.

-- eFTS Results - Low Risk - Definitely a good outcome, this would give us about the same level of relief that a NIPT Low Risk result would, that the baby is currently healthy and doesn't have the three most common chromosome differences. It would just come almost three weeks later.

-- eFTS Results - High Risk - Strangely not as bad as you would think. Because eFTS uses fetal anatomy measurements along with my hormone and protein levels to determine the risk factor it has a really high rate of false positives. It would still be cause for worry but a lot of room for hope when moving onto the Diagnostic Testing, see below. In fact there would be only around a 10% chance that there are chromosomal abnormalities which would mean a termination of the pregnancy.

Diagnostic Testing - Another whole flowchart - If we ended up in this box, either from a High Risk result coming from the NIPT or eFTS then there are a bunch of considerations that I am not dwelling on at the moment. Firstly there are two types of testing depending on how far into pregnancy you are. Depending when I get a High Risk result I made not be afforded a choice between them but if I get it early enough then I can choose between the two, one of which would involve waiting a few weeks. In both cases this type of testing is considered invasive and carries a risk of miscarriage from just undergoing the procedures. There are other health risks for both me, the baby and the pregnancy depending on which test taken. The results take between two and three weeks, so again more waiting and the potential of terminating well into the second trimester, a horrible outcome. The results from either test are considered diagnostic (stronger than screening). But let's cross that path, make that flowchart when we get there.

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Hard to make a flowchart vertically using only blog-word-processing. I can definitely see this making better sense in the more traditional visual form with boxes and arrows. However, this let me get the thoughts and timelines and steps/stages floating around in my head down onto 'paper' to some extent and hopefully help me sleep better tonight ahead of the first step coming my way really early tomorrow morning.

Things I Can Control

------------- from Facebook (my mom sent me this)

Angry With Panic Buying

So, the coronavirus has been causing general worry and panic across the world lately. With good reason, at the moment Canada has a bit less then 150 cases, with one death. Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the situation as a pandemic stating that, "There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives."

However, the response by the general public has been a bit frustrating. People are rushing to stores to stockpile supplies, most commonly water and toilet paper. This was partially magnified by officials urging Canadians to have supplies to stay indoors under self-quarantine for 2-weeks. The issue is that, people often don't know how much they need to get through that time period so overbuy to ensure they are covered.

Buying of water is strange because there is no threat to our water supply, it is safe and will be ongoing. However, a few times the instructions stated that households should have water for 2-weeks as well. I think in this case it is for places that don't have drinking water in their taps (certain buildings or communities sadly have to purchase potable water.) And for those households they should have enough on hand to make sure they don't need to go get more mid-way through a 2-week self-quarantine.

The clearing out of toilet paper has been confusing me. Then I came across an article today (lots actually, but I liked the one from CNBC the best) that explained it is a mental thing, illogical in general but psychologically makes sense.

“Fear is contagious,” says Steven Taylor, a professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and author of the Psychology of Pandemics. “We pick up cues by looking to other people—it’s how stampedes happen in stadiums—so if you’re in a shopping centre and you see some people around you acting in a frightened way and stocking up, that’s going to have a fear contagion effect that causes other people to start over-purchasing.” - Maclean's article

So everyone doing it is leading everyone to do it. And when we are stressed and scared our reasoning skills are weaker. We also shop to sooth, and during a time of uncertainty there is great desire to be in control. In fact, the large packaging and that when it comes to physical size for price it is good value makes people even more drawn to toilet paper purchasing as a way to regain a sense of control.

Fine, no harm done, do what you need to do to feel calmer and better about the current situation... unfortunately, right now, that isn't the case. Panic buying like this can turn into a selfish act as those in need or who are more vulnerable can't access things because others chose to horde them. I don't like the 'looking after number one' mentality when it reaches this point. It must be the socialist in me that thinks we need to work together as a community in this type of situation. Teamwork* will save us, toilet paper won't.

* Even if that teamwork means we collectively try to work more from home, stay indoors and limit attending large gatherings

Whaaat?!?

I have made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow. We were trying to get pregnant but I am still in shock that it happened! Also, that I was just a bit bored this morning and decided to take a test, I hadn't really even registered that my period was late. Jason is over the moon and we have already started to tell everyone (mainly through texting - the modern era.)

AHHHHHHH

My event is six weeks away!

We did get some things done in advance this year, but it doesn't feel like we got enough things taken care of. There will still be a mad rush over the next month and a half to finish everything in time.

Itinerary Update - Bit Of A Split Up

Pre-Scheduled Post: Sunday - Cape Town City Tour
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) we will split up ....

Mom and Tessa will join the Winelands Tour along the country's principal wine route to the scenic towns of Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch with tastings along the way.

Kristen, Noah, Jason, and I will take a full-day excursion to "Shark Alley" to experience great white shark cage diving.

Unbelievable!

My mom saw a water cyclone, or Waterspout at The Cottage. She told me about it on the phone the other day but I was excited to see on on her blog yesterday that the photos she took turned out. Check it out over at Vicarious Travelling.

My 'Not A Bucket List' Bucket List

I don't like the idea that I might have a bucket list, it is a morbid concept. I also don't like the idea that I would go through life checking off boxes, lists help me achieve things in my daily life but I wouldn't want them to control my entire existence.

However, Erin AH gave me My Future Listography, and I do really enjoy picking it up and going over things in it every year or so. There are also things that normally show up on other people's bucket lists that I really really want to do - so I basically have an unofficial one.

Skydiving would be incredible, I would love to run a marathon at some point, and there are lots of counties still to visit and amazing places to see. In fact one of the things I am most excited about for my upcoming Africa trip is the chance to cage dive with Great White Sharks which has been a dream of mine forever! It is something I thought I would have a hard time figuring out how to do, not just because they are remote but because I assumed that I would need to learn to scuba dive, turns out I will be doing a tour that has the cage attached to the side of the boat, so you can snorkel.

Something else that I have wanted to do for a long time was go tubing down the Elora Gorge. It keeps getting mentioned in various 'Toronto Day Trip' lists and sounds like a really fun thing to do. Last weekend Kristen and Noah invited us to go with them up to Elora and spend the day swimming, I mentioned the tubing, which they hadn't heard about, and we decided to try that. No matter what, it is an early morning to get there because the conservation areas fill up and the lines to get in can be insane. Last Sunday it turned out the tubing was closed due to high water, so we went with Noah's original plan to go swimming in the Elora Quarry, it was beautiful and very enjoyable. It also served to whet my appetite even more to go tubing.

Luckily it was open this weekend and we got to go. It was even more exciting and beautiful than I had imagined. The rapids were fun, I dumped out of my tube at one point even though we had gone into town to rent special ones that had handles and a back rest (they were cheaper, cleaner, and meant we got to skip a line inside the conservation area.) I would say I can cross it off my bucket list, but I like to instead think of it as a new fun tradition to try to do each summer - now that I understand the system better and know what to expect.

(Photo: Selfie by Jason. From Right: Jason, Me, Kristen, Noah - Helmets and life jackets on, ready to ride the rapids at the Elora Gorge.)

Ok, So It Is Here, Again

I am depressed.

It isn't that hard to talk about it because I have trained myself over the years to be as open and honest about this as possible. However easy it might be to admit it is happening, it isn't easy to go through - it is scary.

I haven't felt this way in six years, my last big crash was a long one from the end of 2010 all through 2011 and possibly into the start of 2012 as well. I met Jason in the middle of 2012 so, while he knows that I have clinical depression, he hasn't actually ever seen it happen.

Starting around mid-July with a combo hit of Saturday drinking and a Sunday/Monday without one of my pills I started the slow annoying spiral. Luckily it was the 'body' pills so my thoughts didn't get messed up. However, it has now been at least two full weeks of feeling really down and I have been fighting hard to not let it affect my work or social life.

I fixed the missing pill issue right away, quickly improved my diet, luckily had my mom around for a week to give me some guidance, am careful with my nighttime sleep habits, etc. I get into work everyday and I haven't bailed on social engagements. My thoughts are okay, nothing horrible happening and when they do get negative I am able to challenge and defuse them. However, I am crying a lot, spending way to much time in bed during the day time, not enjoying things like I usually do, and generally feel like shit all the time.

Working out is the main thing on my list right now where I am lacking. Getting some cardio exercise into my daily routine would probably help, but when I feel like this it isn't an easy thing to do. I also should think about seeing someone about it - a doctor, councilor, or psychiatrist. I don't want to mess with my pills again though and it is a struggle to find someone good to talk to, it is also expensive.

But I am fighting this, got to keep fighting it.

Scaredy Cat

I don't really post much about Two here anymore​, because she has her own Instagram (linked on the left) but this morning she was being pretty amusing. Basically she randomly became super curious or scared of everything, like she had never seen it before. When she is curious she taps and bats at the item incessantly. If she is scared she either runs away or attacks or both.

Things Two was scared of or intrigued with​ this morning:
- The bathmat
- Phone charger cord
- Me taking my morning pills
- A hair tie on the bed
- Jason
- The dryer door
- A sock
- My purse
- Turning on The Tassimo
- Bed pillows, throw pillows, couch pillows

And this evening everything is back to normal again. It is funny when she goes a bit crazy, makes me wish I could have stayed home with her for the day to watch all the rushing around.

Me, On A Sailboat, On Tuesday, In The Azores

When Jason shared his photos from the trip I was surprised how many there were of me. I am just not bothered by having my picture taken so it doesn't really register. We both only had our phones with us in terms of cameras but Jason came away with more pictures. I thought I would show what our sailing day looked like based on photos, it was a nice post to do about Monday, lets do it for Tuesday too. (All photos are Jason's unless otherwise noted)

Setting off! A beautiful day, a beautiful boat!

Skipper Pedro (left), First Mate Rui (right), and Jason

Photo by ME

Touring along the coast, passing cities and towns.

The architecture is very 'European.'

They let me drive!

I think there was some type of autopilot going too, 

but when I turned the wheel the boat moved.

Left the wheel to hang out at the bow.

One of the quiet coves along the southern coast of Sao Miguel.

I can see it! Our destination far ahead. 

It doesn't lie far off the coast of the city of Vila Franca do Campo,

but we left from Ponta Delgada so had to travel east to get to it.

The reason for it all!

This is the Islet of Vila Franco do Campo, 

something that I REALLY wanted to explore.

While we didn't see it from this angle (helicopter?)

you did get a sense of its shape from sailing around it,

climbing along the rocks on the inside, swimming in the lagoon, etc.

Photo from Tourism Website

We are getting closer.

The weather was perfect.

Just enough wind to be exciting,

not enough wind to make Jason uncomfortable.

I can't take my eyes off of it.

It is literally an ancient submerged volcano, and looks like it.

Rounding the islet to get to the entrance.

The cliffs show the rocks at strange angles and formations.

So beautiful.

Not just lava rocks and harsh cliffs,

also tropical vegetation.

(And later we would learn,

tons of newts and crabs.)

Time to swim!

We reach the entrance and they anchor the boat.

Jason and I swim into the Islet to explore.

Docking the boat.

After our excursion, we went into town for lunch.

It has moss still on the shell!

My reaction to one of the pieces of seafood served at lunch.

Full on tentacles.

But then I had fresh octopus for my main course,

it was amazingly delicious, melt in your mouth good.

Saying goodbye. 

Left the islet and the city Vila Franco do Campo,

time to sail back to the main port.

Dozing.

Spent the ride back enjoying the sun.

A bit bigger than us.

Came into port just as a cruise ship was leaving.

We want to thank our friends and family who supported this trip, which was our honeymoon, and those who participated in our crazy wedding back in September. The money that was gifted to us was used on this trip and allowed for the types of adventures we might not normally splurge on. We had so much fun and are very grateful.

Will It Happen Here?

So, here we are. The day we all woke up and realized it hadn't been a terrible dream and that Donald Trump had won the election in the US. There is general sadness, numbness, and even fear all around me today.

The following was part of a Facebook Post a friend of mine, James, wrote, it gave me pause. I have copied it below and adjusted it slightly.

While Canada is a totally different country, a lot of things that happen in the United States seep Northward. You can almost pair up the waves politically: where Reagan/Bush brought Mulroney; Clinton and Chretien rose to power together; Bush won in 2001 followed by Harper a couple of years later; and then after 9 years of Harper and 6 years of seeing the amazing Obama in office, Canadians voted in Trudeau last year. They all line up. The idea that the next wave after Trudeau is something like Kevin O'Leary is downright scary.

Motherhood - What I Would Not Be Doing

Excerpts from Mother, Writer, Monster, Maid by Rufi Thorpe:

"I am proud of being a mother. I love my two children. I love them so much that it hurts to look at them and I am pretty sure they are the best, smartest, scrappiest, funniest boys in the world, and having them changed my life. My life before children was selfish and bland, all feelings and no grit, just a drifting miasma of mood. To go back to living like that seems like hell."

"I have tried to say it to my husband; I have tried to say, 'I hate my life.' I have tried to say, 'I need help.' I have tried to explain why I am finding being a mother so difficult, but in the face of his questions, my explanations collapse. It isn’t exactly that spending time with the children is so horrible. I mean, sometimes it is, sometimes we have a bad day, but most of the time it is relatively pleasant: we go to the store, we go to the park, everyone is well behaved, the three-year-old says something cute, the baby does something new. The problem is not in what I am doing. The problem is in what I am not doing, which is writing every day, but which is also leading a life of the mind."

"I recognize the leveraging power of ineptitude. My husband can’t cook well; I do the cooking. My husband accidentally shrinks a few sweaters; I do the laundry. My husband can’t lactate; the baby comes to New York. In his inability to do things, he is excused from labor. In my rush to excel, to shine, to be a good wife and mother, I have done nothing but ensure my labor will be lengthy and unpaid."

"The conflict is between the selfishness of the artist and the selflessness of a mother."

"I am profoundly unfree."

For me, the haunting quote is: The problem is in what I am not doing.

I never thought I would be the type of person to have FOMO but I fear that having children wouldn't mean just be missing out on an event or two it would be missing out on who I could be. Sacrificing not just part of life but choosing to walk away from whole lives I could be living, other things I could be doing,

A New Toilet - No Pictures

I forgot to do Before and After photos of our recent min-reno at Casa Verde. We got a new toilet! What is most impressive is that Jason installed it totally himself, I came in to assist with some listing and bolt holding at a couple points but for an hour Jason just went to work - took out the old one and installed the new one.

I gather it isn't a difficult thing to do - I have read that it is an easy DIY, the guy at Home Depo said we would have no trouble, Jason was very confident he could do it - but I was really tempted to pay a plumber to do it. Especially since we already have a plumber coming in to do some other small things around the house.

It was a total role reversal, normally I am the one saying that we should tackle a project ourselves, borrow the tools, look it up online, figure it out. Jason is the cautious one who is more inclined to hire someone in. This is the dialogue that finally convinced me to have Jason do the install:

Jason: Switching out an old toilet for a new one is really easy.
Me: We could just get the plumber to add it to his quote.
Jason: I can totally do it.
Me: Have you done it before?
Jason: No, but it won't be a problem, I got this.
Me: Are you sure? I really think we should consider finding out how much it would cost to have the plumber do it.
Jason: Don't worry, if Mike can do it, I can do it.
Me: Mike who?
Jason: Your brother.
Me: Oh yeah! Mike did switch the toilets himself at his last place. Oh, for sure! You can totally do it!

Oh Man, So Soon!!

I used to have to use a calendar or visit a website to figure out the time between dates, like I did for my trip to London.

But now, I have a countdown app on my phone, to be accurate it is a Days Left Widget. If something important or exciting is coming up then I start to track it on the main screen page of my phone. After the date passes the widget starts counting up, and telling you how many 'days since' it has been.

After our offer was accepted, I had a countdown going for the date we closed on Casa Verde. That was back in February but I am keeping the count going and think of it as the number of days that Jason and I have been homeowners. (According to my phone, that has been 111 days.)

So I also have one going for the wedding and last week it dipped down into the double digits. It was much more reassuring when it said 100 or more days until the event. Now it is only 96 days away and I feel like there is still so much to do!

He's Gone, On Father's Day

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A Sunday post about my Dad, named after a song that he loved.

When Great Trees Fall
By Maya Angelou 

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory,
suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

The Strength Of Words

Yesterday I read the brief article followed by the full statement from a sexual assault survivor in California, raped behind a dumpster while she was unconscious. It details a terrifying situation and shows the range of emotions that come with that type of experience: anger, fear, pain, helplessness, confusion, etc. It is detailed and well written. Having spread quickly across the internet it seems that this powerful statement, bravely written, read, and shared by the victim, is having an impact on many people. I don't know what change it might bring but I hope for something.

Read it: 

Here Is The Powerful Letter 

The Stanford Victim

 Read Aloud To Her Attacker

I see myself in her words, or a future child, or a friend or family member and it scares me. With no way to prevent it from this side the reassurance of law and justice provides little comfort when the courts so regularly fail rape victims.

Hopefully A Killer?

The same comic who created How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you has a more recent post about how much cats actually kill. His observations stem from research done with attached cameras on house cats. The researchers found that one in three cats killed prey. Be sure to read the piece - it is really funny, in a scary way.

It has me wondering about Two though - will she be the one in three that is capable of killing? (Binx was.) The research seems to have followed house cats that were allowed to hunt outside, and I am curious what the numbers would be for indoor cats and their interactions with mice? Two hasn't experienced any mice yet because we don't have any at Rrunuv Bayit. Sometimes she tries to follow a small spider around but in general this apartment doesn't have mice, bugs or pests.

Casa Verde will be a different story though. We have found evidence of mice in the basement during our demo processes. So far we haven't seen any but with a house that old it will definitely be something we'll have to deal with at some point. I hope that Two is helpful but at the same time it is so awful to hear and find a cat's 'kill' that I almost wish that she would turn out to be the type to ignore them. Hopefully just her presence will be enough - all mice can just go find a cat-free house to live in.