My 4th house Sun has been subject to a long term wallop from transiting Pluto forming a back and forth square aspect since the end of 2009. Relentlessly our rented cottage has seemingly rejected old and previously enduring parts of itself over this period causing at least, inconvenience and at worst, trauma ! Of course all of this is in correspondence to my emotional need for renovation and the latest developments, coming as they have with the last exact forward transit of Pluto seem positively Hadean. For a while we had heard an odd rustle in the ground floor extension bathroom roof . Jackdaws sit on this roof and scratch up the moss looking for insects, twigs blow out of the trees onto it and we have entertained the odd mouse so as it was only occasional, and falling sycamore leaves were adding to the ambient sound we thought nothing of it. The people next door ('Happiness' and 'Angel') have never been friendly and given the slightest excuse have tried, unsuccessfully, to make trouble for us. Back in the autumn my husband painted the front of the cottage one sunny weekend - an action which inexplicably precipitated a terrible row revealing deceptions, lies and manipulations of unspeakable hurtfulness by a third party going back eight years and ended in threats that our 'days were numbered'. We rather pointlessly reported them to the police and tried to forget the whole stupid incident. Just before Christmas there was a flurry of activity next door with sheds being cleared and moved and a lot of Jeyes fluid and cement in evidence over a couple of weeks. I can't now believe how we still didn't tumble to what was happening, but we soon did!
The coldest December on record; Christmas; Swine flu and the New Year brings us Pluto again. The scrabbling got worse. We had to suspect rats were getting in and sure enough a hole appeared in the half rotted fascia board. This was duly replaced. (Our absentee landlord is quite reasonable but rather ill-advisedly leaves the nuts and bolts of maintainance to us. The rent is good so we have done this for years). I still heard scrabbling on nocturnal visits to the bathroom but it was another week or two before my husband reported hearing 'thumping and galloping.' Why we didn't get the pest control people out at that point escapes me. We were shattered by flu and the cold weather, it was miserable, several of my online friends who normally keep me sane worryingly disappeared without warning, the world seemed about to disappear up its own backside and I just couldn't muster the effort required to deal with yet another house problem. My head was firmly yanked out of the sand when I came home one day to a nasty smell coming from the bathroom. By teatime it was unmistakeably dead rat. Of course this was Friday and everything closed until Monday morning. I will gloss over the horrible weekend. Our kitchen is next to the bathroom, it was freezing but we had to have doors and windows open, it was truly sickening.
Monday morning and the inevitable telephone queue to speak to someone at the council's environmental health (joke) department. If I paid them £43, they would give my name to their pest control company but as their card machine was out of order they couldn't quite manage it today . Cash on the doorstep? "Not the way we do things." In the end I had to walk across town in the pouring rain and pay cash at the council office. Next day I had a call from the company, based 40 miles away to say they'd be out the following lunchtime. The smell wasn't getting any better when the gentleman stuck his head through the minute trapdoor and declared that he didn't think the body was in the roof. This pronouncement was accompanied by a shower of rat poo over the carpet which he subsequently walked through. He had no overalls or even gloves,declared the hotwater header tank a 'severe health hazard' as it has no cover, put bags of poison down everywhere and departed. Apparently because it was 'only the hot water system' and the rats weren't actually in the bathroom itself,( though they had been under the bath on their way up throught the airing cupboard and into an old chimney which links the space between bathroom and kitchen) this does not constitute a health hazard and it is considered to be safe for habitation! Subsequent visits have established cracks in the sewer and holes leading from yes- you've guessed it - next door!
The upshot of all this is that the bathroom ceiling must come down and be replaced with a larger trapdoor, the asbestos header tank (gulp) needs to be removed and replaced along with various patching and filling, all of which will have to be carried through the entire house. None of this will guarantee that the rats will not find another way in if they're determined. Incidently, they seem to be coming in for shelter rather than food as there is nothing stored which might be attracting them. This gives me some hope. Of course it falls to me to organise all of this . For a week I have explained to the landlord and various builders what needs doing and now await estimates of the costs to submit to my landlord. Added to which I am starting a part-time course several miles away in two weeks time. Oh Goddess! Give me strength!
We are looking for somewhere else to live of course. Trouble is, our business, rented garage and allotments are all here and must be accessable. It is my dearest wish that we can be out of here before building starts, though obvously I will have to oversee the work for my landlord who has always been fair if a bit neglectful.
Chances of that?? My trump card is a transit of Jupiter - and presently Uranus to that 4th house Sun - very very soon. I am eyeing up cardboard boxes as I write!
The picture is 'The Pied Piper' by Elizabeth Forbes which is in Penlee House Museum and which I have long loved. The post title is of course from Browning's 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin ' which comes back to me from first year English classes when we had to learn it by heart!
