Freezing in the hills.

Okay, enough is enough. And to think that we were just complaining about the over 100-degree temperatures of this past summer. I, for one, am ready again for summer. Bring on the heat.

I have let our outside cat, Gatsby, come inside the house. Way too cold for him to be out in this weather. I don't know how the chickens are standing it out in the coop. Gatsby was very happy to come in here for more than just a few minutes, which I had been letting him do from time to time. He found his way into the TV room, and seems to know that is where I would like the cats to stay. And stay he does-- on the sofa, or curled up in a chair, or stretched out on Gracie's blanket.

The Gentleman Cat.... that's what we're calling Gatsby these days. Our inside cats have grown up with a house filled with holiday decorations, and except for Mickey Kitty playing with the sheep in my parents' Nativity set, neither he nor ShadowBaby touch anything else. Gatsby has walked into the living room and dining room, and he has seen all the little table-top trees, as well as the big tree in the dining room. He stood in front of that tree and looked at it from top to bottom, then went back into the TV room. He is probably confused as to why there's a real tree inside the house.

So far so good, with Gatsby. All of the cats are eating together and sleeping together, and yesterday, both Mickey and Gatsby were napping on one of the chairs in the living room. They looked so cozy there that I didn't even shoo them back into the TV room. Wonder of wonders, Gatsby even let me trim his nails without any fuss.

This afternoon, Gatsby followed ShadowBaby up the stairs and he had a look-see at the rooms up here. More Christmas trees..... more decorations. Gatsby looked at everything, didn't touch a thing. He followed me back downstairs, used one of the litter boxes in the "cat's bathroom" (thankfully, no problem there either) and curled up in the TV room next to Gracie for another nap.

I am so glad we decided not to get the miniature horses. With this weather we've been having, I know I would have been out in the pasture trying to put blankets around those cute little horses, or leading them into the barn and out of the wind. We have enough pets as it is. Not enough egg-laying chickens, but I hope to remedy that problem after the holidays. I told my husband that I want Santa to bring me one sweet red hen. Possibly two. Actually, I don't want Santa to bring them.... I want to go back to the chicken farm and pick them out myself.

But not now.... way too cold. And we're too busy right now. No big Christmas Open House party this year, but we've invited some of the neighbors over for dinner, and friends of ours from Clear Lake will be visiting before the month is over. And this month is going to be over in a heartbeat.