It’s COLD here!!! We haven’t seen an above zero temp since the wee hours of Saturday morning until today. Right now it’s 3 above — and feels pretty darn nice! Tomorrow we may be around 15, but with wind and snow, so it will likely feel colder than today’s calm and sunshine. Then back to the deep freeze on Friday.
For those who are astounded by this kind of cold and wonder how we cope, it’s all relative… I’m a cold weather person. I LIKE snow. It has to be either windy or below 20 before I’ll put on a real coat — I prefer to just wear a fleece hoodie or jacket most of the time. My “real” coat is a Columbia hip-length ski jacket. It has a liner that zips out, leaving just the shell for warmer days. (Again, warmer being a relative term.) Even with the below zero temps, I have not put the liner back in my coat, content to wear just the shell. I generally wear gloves, but only because holding on to the steering wheel in a vehicle that has been parked outside in below zero temps makes my hands really, really cold. I don’t wear long underwear, just jeans and usually a sweater. Sometimes I wear a t-shirt under the sweater… if it’s wool and itchy. 
I don’t wear a hat. However, if I had to be outside for an extended period, I would put on more winter wear.
Me, I can’t imagine living somewhere that 90s and 100s are the temps for weeks on end. And humidity!!! I’m miserable in Kansas City and St Louis, and they don’t have the humidity that the East Coast and Gulf Coast have. But plenty of people enjoy living in hot and/or humid locations. It’s all in what you are used to and like. Me, I like cold and dry, with snow thrown in for fun. LOL! Of course, I do like beautiful 75 degree summer days. And sun… Sunshine is VERY important, whether it’s 5 below or 70. I think I’d be truly unhappy somewhere that we didn’t get a lot of sunshine. Sorry, Heather, I won’t be moving to Oregon any time soon!
Our garage (not the stud room) has been down to almost zero as well for the past few days. Shira and Rand love to run out in the garage when the door opens to the cat room, but even they aren’t interested in staying out there. Last night I got home from the store and Shira dashed out the door to the garage as I was carrying in my bags. But she was more than happy to come right back in when I went back out to get the crock pot of chili (leftover from a potluck earlier in the day at work) from the car. Thank goodness we finally got doors between the garage and stud room as it’s been pretty easy to keep the stud room at a normal 55 or so.
Other than that, the cats don’t really seem to notice the cold much. After all, they live in the warm house with us. Colter, on the other hand, has been spending a lot more time in the house and loves it. However, Jeremy was going to let Colter sleep in the bedroom with him and Colter didn’t want to. He went outside one last time before bedtime and when Jeremy went to let him back in the house, Colter ran to the shop door so he could go inside his kennel (next to the stud area) in the shop. Colter’s only problem with being in the house so much is the cats are always checking out his toys and pig ears (dog snacks, commonly called “ear pigs” at our house after Jeremy accidently called them that one day and made me laugh) and Colter does NOT want to share his ear pigs with the cats. And several of the cats would rather like to have an ear pig of their own. Colter doesn’t snap or bite at them, but he does growl if he thinks they might be plotting to take his ear pigs.
The Christmas trees still fascinate Dawnflower, especially. Kefira hasn’t been spending much time in the trees — compared to last year — but Dawn is more than making up for it. We’re having Ken’s cousins and their families over on Saturday afternoon and evening. I will be redecorating the upstairs and the living room trees on Saturday morning again to put back all the ornaments that cats have knocked down as well as putting back the bead garland that always seems to be a casualty of wild tree climbs.
Other than getting ready for Christmas, things have been pretty slow. Kali is still killing my socks — although not at quite the rate she was last week. Most days I only have to pick up three or four pairs. Rand is doing fine, with us having plans to take him to the surgeon the middle of next month. Galia and Charlie are still looking for homes, but I’ve gotten several inquiries lately that I’m following up on. Nobody is demanding a man come visit to make babies — good thing, because I’d be telling them no. We do have plans to have McCoy come up in late January to visit with Basia and probably Kefira.
That’s it for now. I think my brain must be frozen, too, as I’m very low on thoughts!
