The Old Cape Teapot ebook sale and ...skunk!?

                                           ON SALE  
                                          
                READ The Old Cape Teapot FOR $0.99

                           Friday 12/4/15  to Monday 12/7/15
      

    Regular Price $3.99  ebook $0.99

 

Mystery with a touch of history! Join present-day amateur sleuth Nancy Caldwell in this tale of treasure and a pair of pirates that crisscrosses centuries and locales from Antigua to Cape Cod.

Nancy uncovers a pirate mystery in the historical fiction, The Old Cape House. Was she lucky or a good detective? Now she returns in The Old Cape Teapot, the second in a series, to follow the trails of two survivors from the wreck of the 1717 pirate ship Whydah. Armed with the knowledge that in pirate culture the looted riches were equally shared, she takes us to the tropical island of Antigua and back to Cape Cod searching for clues to more treasure. Using alternating chapters from the 18th to the 21st century, danger and conspiracy follow her at every turn. What will help her this time?

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This is such a good sale. But Wait! There's more....

A few weeks ago, Tim and I were settling in for a warm cozy night by the fire. I suggested a movie and some popcorn.

"Great idea," said Tim.
   
I got up off the couch for the remote while Tim retreated into the kitchen to make popcorn. That's when I smelled something other than popcorn. "What's that smell?" I asked over the popping noises in the microwave.
   
"What do you mean?" yelled Tim from the other room.
   
I said, "I think I smell skunk!"

   
"Let me check out the back door," I said opening the porch door to hopefully find that the skunk was outside.
   
Tim responded with, "I'll see if I can smell it in the front on the road."
To our dismay, it was only inside. After airing the house out, we spent the night googling how to get rid of skunks.

The next morning we scoured the foundation of the house and gallery for any signs of entry. We first found only one, it was under the lattice work that hides the bottom of the gallery porch. Then we noticed some furious digging near several other sections. After lifting a few porch floorboards we found their entry. They had gone in by the porch, then dug under the old carriage house, that is now the gallery, then crossed over to an opening by our addition and into one of the bays in our basement.

Then we made a plan. We found that they do not like noise and lights because they are nocturnal animals.    

So...we tried to discourage them.

We put spotlights, dirty kitty litter, and ammonia soaked rags to replicate the presence of a different animal around the hole. We did this for at least two days, then we thought talk radio would do the trick for annoying noise and put a radio on in the basement. 24/7!!!  At night we turned it down a little because we had to sleep.
   
On the third day, Tim decided to stay up and see if he could see them leave for the night. He attached heavy roping to the top of the area they dug so we could see if they went in or out. 

That night, we stayed up and finally heard a thud around 2AM in the basement. We quietly went out into the gallery, looked out the door and down to the foundation for any sign of movement. Two ropes were pushed out signaling the skunk left. As Tim grabbed a shovel to begin digging up the dirt to seal off the opening, a second skunk came out! And went right back in! At that point we went to bed. The next morning we called in the Calvary. 

 Perry LePews. Yes, that's the company's name. It caused us to snicker but then they got down to business.

They set one trap at the entrance of the porch to catch them on their way out and another near the second entrance hole.

After two more days they caught them both, using cat food.

So we asked them what they were going to do with our two furry friends. They said they would release them on the property. 

What!?? Yes. It's the humane way and also a law in Massachusetts. They keep them in the traps for two more days with food and water. The methodology is to make the animals uncomfortable so they never come back. It also gives the homeowner a chance to secure their house.

And so while our two uninvited guests were in jail, they secured the house and closed the entry.

Then they released them back in our woods. But the story doesn't end here. Someone came back and tried to get in again. There was one spot way on the other side of the foundation that was missed when they put the heavy gauge wire in and under the dirt closing off the entry. Yes, you guessed it. They returned. We are now waiting to see, via a camera supplied by LaPews,  to see who is visiting us again. Stay tuned for more.

Oh, and don't forget, my historical fiction thriller, mystery, THE OLD CAPE TEAPOT, is on sale for $0.99! 
P.S. You can be sure the skunk scenario will be in my fourth novel.