s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

So, I think it is safe to say winter is officially here. Last week was lovely. Clear blue skies, temperatures in the mid-teens (C) each day, very little wind. I took the opportunity and did lots of gorse-burning around the farm. But by late in the week we were getting warnings from the Met service about a big low brewing out in the Tasman Sea. Sunday it arrived. Wind and rain, howling in. Monday the low passed over and the northly wind turned into a really cold southerly. Over the next 48 hours it blew all the heat away from the country. Brrrrrr. Down south they had some pretty serious snow (half a meter near sea level), which was really unusual for this early in winter.

When we get the fire going it warms the house up nicely. The problem is that many evenings we are out, so I don’t bother to start a fire. The house slowly gets colder and colder. This morning we set a new record- when we got up it was 5C (40F) in the bedroom! Aaaaah! Hard to get out of bed under those conditions. As I may not start a fire until Friday, I can only hope the sun comes out today and warms the house up a bit, I know the cats would appreciate it, too!

Speaking of cats, Jake has a hurt leg and paw. Probaby got into a fight with another cat, as there were multiple bit marks on his right foreleg. His paw got quite swollen. We brought him indoors, and let him sleep on the couch in a nest of sheep and alpaca fur, which he was quite content to do. Three days later and the swelling has mostly receeded, and he has his apetite back. He is still favoring the leg, though, so we will give him time to heal fully.

Amaya and Azami are dealing better with Jake now, probably because after the trauma of the dogs, Jake doesn’t seem so bad.

Speaking of the dog, Casey is off to a new foster home. They will try to work on the separation anxiety. Casey was a really lovely dog otherwise. She was quite cat safe (when we were home we had her walking around with the cats, un-muzzeled), and Slow Top was cool with her. Azami was getting better about the dog. Amaya and Rasputin were still highly dubious about the invading canine. Though she was technically not allowed on the couch, she really loved it. One day I caught her asleep there. Luxury!

Last night I had my Civil Defense orientation. Quite interesting. I found out about the power of names. Back 15 years ago Civil Defense had 3500 Volunteers in the Wellington region. Then they changed their name to “Emergency Management.” Nobody knew what that was about, and within a year the volunteer staff had dropped to 350. They are now down to 150-200, and are trying to fight back up. They figure they will need at least 500 to staff the CD centers around the city in the case of a major emergency. Right now I think I am the only person for my center. The commitment is about 2 hour a month of training, which is fine by me. I will get training first aid, raido operations, and all sorts of other useful skills.