Friends, life in our little castle is often like a fairy tale! And what fairy tale would be complete without a dark and scary dungeon full of creepy crawly things?
The basement of our little castle is huge, spanning the whole length of the house. It used to be quite the party area, according to the family who lived here in the 1960s-1980s. The wing of the basement that sits directly under the living room has a fireplace and bar area, but unfortunately there was some damage to it when the house sat empty before we bought it at an auction. Someday we plan to restore it to its former glory and have an awesome man cave down there, but for now we just use the other area of the basement that holds the laundry room.
The other night I needed to do laundry, so I dropped my clothes down the laundry chute and headed to the not-so-creepy side of the basement where we have our washer and dryer. The bottom of our laundry chute has a little door with a latch, so the laundry stays in the chute until you open the door and pull it out. I keep a plastic tub under the laundry chute so that I can open the door, dump the dirty laundry into the tub, and then drag the tub across the room and load the washer.
When I got downstairs to the basement I noticed that there were two sweaters already in the dirty laundry tub underneath the chute. Now, we’ve lived in our old house long enough for me to learn that critters and bugs love our basement. This is especially true during the changing seasons and when the local farmers around our small town harvest the fields. So, I’ve developed a very effective technique of kicking the side of the basket to see if anything scurries out from under the pile of clothes. I gave the tub with the sweaters two swift kicks, and I even lifted up one end of the basket and dropped it sharply back down. Nothing scurried out, so I opened the latch on the laundry chute door and dumped my clothes into the tub. Then I dragged it over to the washer, making sure to stand to the side of the tub while I loaded the dirty clothes into our front loader washing machine.
Friends, I never, ever, lift a pile of dirty clothes and hold it close to me as I shove it in the washer. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s best to keep a safe distance between me and the dirty clothes so if a bug falls out of the pile it lands in the basket and not on me. And I always keep a clear exit path (hence the decision to stand beside the basket) so I can bolt if I see any scurrying things. Life in a little castle is always an adventure!
So there I was, lifting each piece of clothing out of the tub with the grace and finesse of someone who has mastered the art of doing laundry in the basement of an old house, when I looked down and noticed something odd in the bottom of the basket. Something was sticking out from under the sweaters, curved and covered in a pattern that I didn’t recognize. Was it the belt on my gray sweater? A bracelet that one of the kids had sent down the laundry chute? What was that?
I leaned in closer to get a better look. AND THEN IT MOVED!!!!!
Friends, there was a SNAKE in my dirty laundry basket!!!!
I screamed words children shouldn’t hear. It was horrifying! How did it get in there? I could see it was a baby snake, which obviously lead to the very important question, where was the mama snake? HOW? WHY? WHAT NOW?
I made my husband remove it from our house, but not before my daughter sweetly asked if we could keep it for a pet. I told her she could either have a snake or a Mommy. I wasn’t living in the same house as that creature!
So now I’m absolutely terrified every time I have to do laundry. Besides kicking the side of the basket and standing to the side while lifting each item and shaking it before tossing it in the washer, I now wear my rainboots and carry my son’s toy lightsaber. You know, just in case I have to quickly fling a snake away from me!
Oh, you know, just prepared for battle, also known as going to change the laundry.
Oh friends, living in an old house is quite an adventure! It’s a good thing this house is so beautiful, otherwise I don’t know that I’d be willing to live surrounded by such excitement!
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Have a beautiful (snake free) day!
Sandy
Wow…I live in a circa 1868 house…and have encountered creatures…but never a snake!…What a jolt, that must have given you?!
It was horrifying! Who knew that old houses could be such an adventure!
I love houses from the 1800’s. Lucky you!
I would add gloves to that battle armor. And maybe a helmet.