Micia’s adventures in the vegetable garden, the hayloft and the farmhouse attic.

• 18 October 2026 #8 The Mystery of the Lid After their peach snack, Micia returned the empty crate to Grandpa. She found him in the tool shed, adjusting a hinge on the little door. A spade and a rake hung on the wall. On the workbench were pincers, string, old bolts and a box of iron offcuts in all sorts of shapes. Pucci sniffed the air and curled up near the doorway. Nico, the blackbird, settled on the windowsill. “I’m missing a washer,” Grandpa said. “A little iron disc with a hole in the middle. It was in this jar.” Micia peered inside. There were two nuts, a screw and a button that certainly didn’t belong there. “Perhaps the washer has gone for a walk.” She tipped the contents into a little dish and moved the jar. Somewhere, something made a tiny tick. Pucci raised one ear without getting up. Micia checked beneath the crate. Nothing. Nico tilted his head towards the workbench. “I heard the sound when you moved the lid.” Micia lifted it and heard another tick. Inside, beneath a small magnet Grandpa had attached, the washer gleamed. “It was hiding on the ceiling!” Grandpa smiled. He used that magnet to keep little parts handy while making repairs. He had closed the jar and forgotten that particular one. Micia handed him the lid, and he took off the washer. Soon the little door was swinging smoothly without wobbling. “Mystery solved,” Nico announced. Pucci stretched and settled down again. He had followed the whole investigation with just one ear. Back in the house, Micia put the button in Grandma’s little sewing box. “You, on the other hand, had chosen the wrong jar.” Read the tale →

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