Happy New Year

I wish all a year full of comfort and joy.

It's COLD here today, and it's supposed to get down to 19 BELOW 0 (which temperature converters tell me is 28 below in Celsius, which is worse!), and we had more snow last night. In fact, I think it's still snowing a bit now. I'm wearing silk longjohns (top and bottom), wool leg warmers, wool socks, ankle-high sheepskin slippers, a 2-layer henley top, a cheap silk-cashmere turtleneck, and a big Lopi sweater. I wish I could take a break from sock-knitting long enough to whip up some handwarmers. I'll have to draw all the drapes tonight to try to keep some of the heat in the house and some of the cold air out.

The Ts, of course, have cabin fever. I intend to go out only to feed the cat, and to bring the bottled water in from the van so the water doesn't freeze and split the bottles. I do not intend to shovel snow or stand outside turning into an icicle while the Ts frolic in the snow and 22 mph wind. I've become such a wuss--when I had Stella, I used to bundle up and take her out in all sorts of weather. Course, I *had* to take Stella out because I didn't have the puppy pen, and I *could* take Stella out because they hadn't banned dogs from the (mostly unused) football and baseball fields at the park, and because she wasn't the athlete Ms. Taenzer is--a leash walk often worked fine for her, on her flexi when she was younger and a regular leash when she got older. Now, all I have to do is hear the words "wind chill" and I start burrowing into blankets and heating water for tea. "No. We're not going out. Deal with it." Poor Ts. Maybe this year I can get us moved to a house with a real yard so I can let them out and watch them from through the patio doors while they enjoy the elements.

The wind is from the north, so I've left the insulated drapes in the bedroom closed. I hope Timber won't spend the entire day back there in the dark, like a furry mushroom. I wish I had a really good chewie to entice him out here.

Yesterday I got out some of their special occasion toys--saved for snow days and the like. Taenzer's is a Holee-Roller with a tennis ball inside it. She likes it because it's soft and easy on her teeth (easy to chew through--I have to watch that she doesn't start chewing it), and since I got the big size, it's great for shaking. Timber's is this incredible ball--it has like tires, or something made to look like tires, criss-crossed over each other, protecting inside them a hard plastic ball. If you pull the tab out of the plastic ball, it starts making these incredibly obnoxious electronic animal noises--elephants, dogs, horses, chickens, cats, lions--all sorts. And it completely drives Timber wild, and he does his best to kill it. I *hope* he's having fun and it's not actually hurting his ears--at least he always seems pleasantly excited when I get it down. Below the results:

You can sort of see his ball here:

And his determined, slightly wild-eyed expression here:

Here's Taenzer's ball (and a great Taenzer smile):

Shake shake shake! Aren't the feathers on her forelegs pretty? And I've always loved how she shines blue-black. Timber's a warmer black, lots of red in it.

Okay, shaking doesn't work, so how about rolling it? (Btw, isn't this a cool picture? Her left hind foot and right front foot are solid and clear, and her right hind foot and left front foot are blurs, and the whole gesture and stance are so dynamic.)

More shaking, and a dancer's pose:

The Diva shows her obnoxious self, and Timber does a very exaggerated "look away" ("I don't want your stupid ball, I'm just trying to get into the kitchen to get a drink, okay? M-o-m!") He's got the cutest fluffy britches. They're hell to comb out, but they're still cute. :)

I spent some time fighting with the camera--I still don't have it all figured out. First it wanted to do flash photos, which mean it was taking about 5 or 6 seconds--or, okay, maybe 2 or 3--but way too long to reset itself. I got that taken care of, but was getting really blurry pictures. I checked and it wasn't on the kids/pets setting, and then I couldn't remember how to set it, so I had to find the users manuals--it can't be just one manual with everything in it, no, there's a Basic User's Guide and an Advanced User's Guide, so you have to figure out which one has the information about what it is you're trying to do. My definition of basic and advanced often differs from theirs. Still, I love my camera. It's one of those things I wish I could take back in time, to photograph the pets who didn't get their due.