Autumn gold

Before picking up groceries, I stopped at Bath and Body Works.  Two of my scent experiments have worked well.  The other one is a lost cause so I've terminated it.  I picked up two types of scents.   A few bottles of  'Fresh Laundry' for the utility room.  I've got a scent dispenser in there that lights up.  It works as a night-light for the cats to see their way to food bowls and litter boxes.  'Fresh Laundry' seemed the most innocuous and mild of the scents offered so hopefully it won't bother the cats.  Most of the bottles I purchased were 'Eucalyptus & Spearmint.'  The store, as it almost always does, was offering a sale if you bought at least 5 bottles.  For once I actually could use a lot.  The two experiments were to see if (1) 'Eucalyptus & Spearmint' would keep mice out of the garage over winter and (2) it would cut down on the number of flies in the apartment.  Last year was the first year w/ no mice in the garage and the number of flies is a tenth of what I had last fall.  While I can't prove yet how much of a factor scent was in those outcomes, I'm keeping the dispensers filled.  At checkout, the saleslady, making small talk, remarked at how many I'd picked up.  Figuring the store didn't want their product associated w/ pest control, in sotto voce I said, "It keeps the mice out of the garage."   She brightened up.  "Oh, I've heard that many times before."  Guess the store doesn't care - a sale is a sale.