Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This big ole ball of fluff thinks he is now a house cat. NOT an outdoor cat. NOT even the garage cat that he had established himself as previously... Nope. Since he has had to share the garage with the dogs for an entire night, he has now declared himself a house cat. Good luck convincing him otherwise. If the door is open, he will be running in it and plopping down in the middle of the floor where he will then roll onto his back and show everyone his big fluffy belly in an effort to seduce them into believing he is all that is wonderful and good and the humans simply must leave this adorable monstrous ball of flufferpants indoor....Until he scratches the couch. Then I scoop him up and toss him outside...Where he sits at the door and complains very loudly that he is cold and unhappy. Because, obviously, he is lacking in insulation... So, I relent and pick him up and take him to the garage...Where he positions himself at the garage and continues to voice his complaints....
I can't say as I blame the poor fella...He has to endure this ball of energy in the garage. Holly is bad enough outside where she will park her tail wagging self under his chair and bark and nip relentlessly until he gets VERY angry and swats her nose. Then, she trots away, happy as a lark because her game worked...She got a rise out of His Royal Highness, Lord Fluffy...

Guess what else? Near disaster was diverted with this pesky pooch last night. I opened the door to the garage to let the dogs do their business at about 7pm. I figured, it's cold, the wind is blowing 40 mph and it's snowing. They'll dart out of the garage maybe 4 feet, do their business and come back in. WRONG. Holly ran outside and literally disappeared in the snow. I called her. She did not come back. Holly has many, many flaws, but she comes when called (confession: unlike my own dog who pretends she can't hear me.) I went out in search of her. After about 15 minutes in the cold, blinding snow, I came in to confess my error to Studmuffin. He put on his winter gear and joined me. We walked the entire length of our neighborhood, (okay that's only 7 houses, but did I mention it was cold?) and there was no sign of Holly. The wind was blowing so hard, I couldn't even find her tracks where she ran out of the garage, they had already drifted in... We were unable to take the truck out to look for her because a drift had formed across our drive and into the street. I went into the house to begin supper, sick at my stomach, and feeling guilty. Studmuffin said, "Well, I would have done the same thing. Who would think the dumb dog would run off and disappear?" Obviously, he is way nicer than me, and the word "idiot," never passed his lips. Thankfully, she finally came home after about 30 minutes, completely white with snow and shaking all over. Her little pink sweater was a big clump of ice. Yes. She has a sweater. I buy them for her because she shivers when it's cold. I buy pink ones because it annoys Studmuffin. She is supposedly his dog, and apparently hot pink is not close enough to blaze orange for a hunting dog...I have yet to see her hunt, so I figure hot pink is pretty cute!

This child barely had time to glance at her presents from Santa. Yes, she was up before dawn, so in reality, she probably studied them more than I realize, as she checked everything out before waking me up...




But still, as you can see from the pictures, they were both bundled up and playing in the white Christmas snow as soon as it was light enough....Even before they dined on their highly nutritious breakfast of ginger and sugar cookies! I had baked all of those darn cookies to share with my family, and there was no way I was cooking breakfast when I had a perfectly wonderful cop out... Also, if I don't cram them down the girls every chance I get they will be eaten by yours truly, and frankly, my thighs really don't want that.


While they played in the snow, I turned a blind eye to the toy explosion on my living room floor. It is Christmas, and other than cleaning the kitchen between meals, I refuse to clean up. No company is coming. We are not going anywhere. The floors will be trashed nonstop by the endless trekking of kids, dogs, and a very large cat in and out of my house. I hate pointless endeavors, so I've decided to endeavor not to see the giant puddles at my front and garage doors. I will simply ignore the piles of coats and hats and gloves and socks, except to toss them in the dryer in anticipation of the next venture into the winter wonderland...After all, after living in South Texas, this is indeed a wonderful gift for them.... Yep, I ignored the entire glorious mess and ate cookies and drank coffee and watched them out the window from the warmth of my kitchen.


Oh, I ventured out eventually. After I was more perked up. I felt the need to check on Studmuffin. You notice there is no brace on...Apparently, he is now a super man and will not fall on the ice. I will refrain from mentioning who I saw bust it twice on the ice this morning. No, the man I observed did not have on a brace. He did, however perform an amazing tuck and roll to his left shoulder, in what appeared to be an attempt to protect his right. Nope. I'm not pointing fingers or naming names.... I'm just reporting an event that I happened to see...

By the way, it is at this point that I simply must say, that Studmuffin fully approved yesterday's post on his Man Moment. He read it before posting, and we both laughed so hard we had tears running down our faces. I have promised to never post anything that portrays him negatively, but that day was just to priceless and blogworthy, so we both agreed it had to be shared....

Returning to subject:

Now, this precious pooch did not think the snow was so wonderful. Have I ever told you that Kelsey is a dingo? I got her at a shelter near San Antonio. If you ever travel to Mexico, you will see a million stray dogs...And they all look just like Kelsey. Of course, they have all nursed a million litters of pups, so they have one slight anatomical difference from her! Anyway, she hates cold weather...And since her recent head injury I have not made her stay outside much. She has turned into my shadow. Her current goal in life is to sit at my feet at all times. She did this when I first rescued her, but now it is 20 times worse than ever before. Also, you may notice some scars on her snout. She and Holly had a HUGE battle after she was injured. I'm talking horrific, blood everywhere, horror movie fight. Apparently, some dominance issues came up after Kelsey became the weaker dog. She still is weaker physically, but I'm not sure who's dominant. I do know she doesn't like Holly to get near me. She tolerates it, but she doesn't trust her. I will say they seem to have worked out their differences for the most part. They are actually sleeping on top of each other again, so that is a good sign. Many people ask if she's the same dog. I don't really know. She is the same with our family, only she is just really tired. I don't know if she still hasn't fully recovered, or if she will no longer be a rambunctious, full of life dog again...Time will tell. Unfortunately, the best test I can think of for her involves hunting, and I don't know how to suddenly find a rodent to sick her on...

Anyway, there is picture diary/glimpse of our Christmas. Bookworm and I also worked on doll house furniture. I think she's thanked me at least 20 times for it, so I guess she likes it okay.... I will post pictures of our handiwork later...

Hope everyone's Christmas was full of cheer and fun!