A Cold & Snowy Day & Meet the Chinchilla

This little hummer is one tough fellow! Day after day he has braved the snow showers & bitter cold temps.

Both feeders were frozen when we awakened yesterday morning. Wayne brought the feeders in and defrosted them. We put one out at a time and once the feeder started freezing solid again--it was brought inside & a defrosted feeder replaced it. We repeated this cycle over and over again throughout the day.

When we first replaced the frozen solid feeders, this little guy sat and drank for about 7 minutes straight. Poor little fellow! I still want to knit him a scarf, hat & sweater...

Wayne refilled the other bird feeders. I think every bird from a 2 mile radius showed up in the backyard after he came back inside. They were entertaining to watch. Later, Mr. Gray squirrel showed up and started hogging all of the food--the big pig!

Millie maintained her post at the back door in hopes that someone would take pity upon her and let her out. No one took pity upon her. We love her too much to let her do something as foolish as traipsing in the snow on a very cold day.

Sam's iglave...cavgloo... mancave.... repurposed snow fort-- stood strong and lonely as the snow piled up against it. As you can see, Sam marked his territory with blue food coloring. The "traditional" way was not an option. We're not backwoods people...

24.9 was the daytime high and our house averaged a temp. of 68ish. Brrr...Looking at this reminds me of how cold I am right now. I'll be right back.... Okay, I just cranked the heat to 74 degrees. I'm sure I'll strongly regret doing this when I open the next heat bill.

Millie continued to ply me with pleading looks....They were not effective.

This here is our sweet chinchilla "Geni." (Sounds like Jenny only it's pronounced with a hard "g.") We adopted him from my younger brother who named him after his favorite hockey player. Geni is the most entertaining animal we've ever owned. He's easy to care for and uber soft! He's had no problem keeping warm the past week.

He looks like a cross between a bunny, a guinea pig & a squirrel. He's very quiet but will bark when he's feeling unsure about something and he'll whine like a dog if he's wanting attention. Otherwise, he emits tiny little squeaks when he runs around. You have to listen carefully to hear his little squeaks.

Can you see the frozen portion in the feeder?

Sam found himself an icicle--an icicle that had quite the gnarly looking point on it. It was all I could do to refrain from saying "Don't poke your eye out kid!"

In Sam's opinion, it looked like a Jedi sword. He rattled on an on about Star Wars related battles that this swordcicle could fight--and win. I pretended to be greatly interested.

Once he came to the end of regaling me with his imaginary Star Wars battles he went back to licking the swordcicle. I almost told him not to lick it because it had come off of our trailer. If you knew how dirty it is on the top of the trailer--you'd understand my concern. In the end, I let him be a kid and enjoy his dirtcicle. Later, after I settled into my comfy chair with a heavy blanket to watch a show I had TiVoed, the back door burst open and there stood Samuel with 3 of his friends. "Hey mom! We're cold and we need some hot chocolate! Can you make some for us?"  I sat there as if I'd been struck mute. "Uhhh....Uhhmmm.....I don't know if we have any....I'll have to look." Then I was hit with a blast of  the icy cold air that was quickly invading the entire room. As rapidly as the cold air came in--all the expensive hot air flew out. I was hoping they wouldn't ask to come in. (When did I become such an old hermit?) I told Sam I'd look for some hot chocolate & they headed back out to the snow--PTL! I quickly searched the cabinets and found just enough to make 4 mugs of hot chocolate. I didn't have any mini marshmallows, however, I did have the ones that looked like they were on steroids and was able to (barely) squeeze those into each mug. While I waited for the water to boil, I quickly swept the kitchen. I didn't want the neighbor kids to go home and tell their parents how filthy my kitchen floor was--I mean, I'm not typically a lazy person/housekeeper. It's simply that when it's a snow day--I want the day(s) off too--ya' know? As soon as the hot chocolate was ready--I stood at the door and let them each take a mug. They drank part of it outside and then they headed over to the neighbor's house (yes!) to finish it off.  I'm not a grumpy recluse--truly. I just wanted some quiet time to myself. Was that wrong? Hmmm...

I bought Geni a tent the other day while I was out  preparing for snowmageddon. One of the stops I made that day was to our local pet store. I needed just two items. I walked out with 6--one of which was this cute little tent. I couldn't resist--and I'm glad I didn't because this thing is so stinkin' adorable! Geni LOVES it! In this picture, he's rather annoyed with me (you noticed his annoyed look too?). I kept trying to take a cute picture of him sleeping inside of his little pup tent. Every time I pushed the camera button--he'd come flying out of his tent looking quite perturbed. I guess I can't blame him

Annoyed again....My apologies Geni. I'll make it up to you somehow....Perhaps with an extra raisin tomorrow?

We ended our last snowy day with a game of "Sorry" ( I won!) and then we watched a couple of hours worth of t.v.. As I prepared to take a shower before bed--I popped a rib out of place. It hurts. It hurts real bad. How did I do this? I simply raised my arms above my head while taking off my shirt. *Pop!* It still hurts to breathe. This has been an ongoing battle. I was supposed to see the chiropractor on Wednesday & start physical therapy this week as well. Snowmageddon cancelled these appointments and now I have to wait until Monday to call for new appointments with both. Why must I live by Murphy's Law??? Getting older has its pros and cons. This is definitely one of the cons. Ah well, this too shall pass. I just have to remember to breathe shallow....and pray for the strength to endure...

"Within the Scripture there is a balm for every wound, a salve for every sore." ~Spurgeon


GOD
~He heals (Ps. 30:2)
~He brings UP the soul (Ps. 30:3)
~He gives joy in the morning (Ps. 30 5)
~He sits as King forever (Ps. 29:10)
~He gives strength to His people.
~He blesses with peace.