Ah well the battle lines are drawn, and I have looked my foe in the eye.  The fortification of the pea rows will recommence after the winter armistice next spring, because I really do prefer to plant peas direct, and found the guttering pretty inconvenient when trying to sweep the kitchen floor.  I also found in spite of  TV demonstrations of the technique of sliding guttering contents out into the row, that it didn't work for me.  Bet the blackbirds found that a real gas.

you could also try old plastic coffee cups if you work in an office, i found the toilet rolls to get soggy and nasty really quickly.

i sown mypeas in and outside, close to an erected net the should climb on and they haven't touched these, maybe cos they don;t like to fly close to the net? i dunnoalso they were kinda camouflaged by the fivespot and chicory plants. i use really sturdy (about 5mm thick) garden wire, which is green coated like the fence stuff and made semi circles of them, planted those across my strawberries in stead of a net and they were untouched too and much easier for me to pick and eat ;-)

Bean...  It really is a battle of wits isn't it.   Don't be so sure that the mice won't come that close to the housewall.  We have a field vole and we swear he must be blind and deaf because when we're sat out on the patio chatting away, he blatantly runs back and forth along the base of the house wall and stock wall.  

I believe that peas and sweet peas have a long tap root and they like to grow in tall tubes.  Perhaps you could get your friends and family to save their kitchen roll tubes and cut those in half and plant them in those in your 'potting shed' before putting them outside.  Or you can buy plastic moduals from the garden centre that are designed especially for peas.  Not mouse-proof though !

This reminds me of the battle of wits I had this year with two determined blackbirds who discovered a liking for germinating peas.  I planted these normally out in the garden, and was confused to discover a fortnight later, a closely spaced series of holes in the row, with one lone pea emerging.  "Mice" I thought, replanting more seed in a long length of guttering, which I wrapped in horticultural fleece, and placed on a bench along the back house wall. "They won't touch that so near the house", I thought.  A few days later, I noticed that there were holes in the fleece which I had possibly overlooked, so I re-wrapped the guttering, so that there were no holes over the seeds, and went out shopping.  When I returned an hour later there were 4 new holes in the fleece, and two blackbirds watching me from a nearby tree.  Humiliated at being unable to outwit two bird-brained pea lovers, I brought the guttering into the kitchen which doubles as a potting shed, sowed the peas for the third time, and kept the 12 foot length of guttering on the kitchen floor until they had germinated.  Next year I will sow them under plastic bottle cut-offs, sunk into the soil along the row, and covered with netting.  But I'm not taking bets on the outcome.

Isn't it so frustrating... I love to see the chicory growing on the grass verges in France.   Aren't the mice hungry in France?

Lovely observation, Maaike!  It's a bit of blow after putting in the hard work not to see the fruits of your labour.  The trouble is, it's difficult to get too angry with a creature as cute as a mouse.  Hope you have better luck this season.