There was rain, ice, sleet and snow. And Christmas.

This holiday was nothing, if not eventful on the weather front (pun intended).  Friday there was snow and wind.  Saturday there was rain, sleet, ice, wind.  Sunday there was ice and...nothing.  Monday there was a snow storm with gale force wind gusts.  Hoo-ee.
Saturday morning, early, Mr. Butters and I had a vet appointment in the city.  It was a long and dicey trip over the mountain and into the icy streets of the city.  In my underlying state of eternal optimism, I had envisioned salted streets and cleared sidewalks.  In reality, it was a skating rink because, apparently, the roads department figured no one had to drive anywhere on a Saturday before Christmas.  It was a real challenge, negotiating the sheet ice on the sidewalks, while hefting a tweenie weenie.  We inched our way to the vet's doorstep and arrived unscathed.  The vet techs have formed a Mr. Butters fan club - in spite of the carrying-on that erupts during each and every visit.  This was his final laser treatment and I hit them up for another nail trim - we need to do small bits at a time - which resulted in much screaming, yelping and general tumult that had the other patients and their people glancing nervously at each other.  So much drama.  We have moved from laser treatments which, although therapeutic, were not making much headway, to prednisone.  He has an appointment to be microchipped (that should be good for some high drama, as it will also involve nail trimming) at the end of January, and then we are on our own.


Mr. Butters has been enjoying more time out of the crate, as we try mightily to keep him from bouncing.

There is no bouncing while begging.

He got a lovely quilted jacket from his Auntie for Christmas - to get the right length, we have to adjust the belly strap (which still needs to be done - it's on The List).

OMG, my dirty dishwasher!  That has to be
moved to the top of The List

His quilted jacket came in very handy this morning, as the temp when I got up at 4A was a cheery -6*.   Two hours later, it had dropped to -9*.  Wrong direction!!!


We had a lovely and low-key Christmas - Auntie Baby was up from the City for Christmas Eve.  We had our standard lobster and champagne and a fire in the fireplace.  The dogs got their presents, Slimbo got his (which already needs triage) and we were yawning and in bed by 8:30!  Christmas morning dawned with almost 8" of snow, so I was very glad to have 4 wheel drive on the Hyundai.  I inched my way to the dairy farm and dropped off a warm mound of monkey bread - half of which disappeared in the 10 minutes I was there.  Auntie B shoveled while I slogged through the morning chores.  Everyone got Christmas treats, thanks to their Auntie Santa Jane!

Treats!

The sheep and llamas got graham crackers, the pups got salmon treats, Slimbo got freeze-dried minnows (he may never be the same), hens and ducks got corn/herb/mealworm treats, and the parental unit got a....Leather(wo)man!  That has been on my wish list for YEARS, but I refused to spend the money.  I spent a good half hour pulling out and examining all of the 14 tools!  OMG.  I am so ready for anything...Zombies?  Bring them ON!


Here's what else I got -- are you ready?

My favorite kind of goat!  On a pillow!

Marianne saw this and figured it was the perfect goat for me - no feeding or clean-up required and no fences destroyed!  I LOVE it!  It was made by a local artist.  Did I mention that I love it?


Auntie B and I made our way - carefully - up to Vermont and had a lovely dinner.  The family unit was fully intact - something not achieved for ages.  I had an uneventful trip home and my personal family unit tucked in for a cosy night of ginger tea (me) and a DVD.  It was my kind of holiday.