Ferret playground

Oh, I'm still tired. Guess I didn't get caught up on my sleep with son asking to borrow the car after I was in bed and had finally (barely) gotten to sleep. Then I lay awake for a long time but finally got back to sleep but am still groggy now. I've already made the bed, started coffee and got the bathroom ready for the ferrets.

I ferret-proof the bathroom every day before I shower, go and grab them from their cage in the basement. It's easier to let them have some unconfined time every day in the bathroom with me (with the door shut!) while I shower than to let them roam the house. Nebby, in particular, is very difficult to catch and return to the cage when I have to go to work--if he's loose in the house.

I have two sets of "ferret playgrounds" which are a mixture of various sized boxes into boxes for them to play in. They love boxes and blankets the best, just like little kids. I don't use a blanket in the bathroom for them, but two "dog" towels draped over the boxes. I have the drain plugged when I shower, so after I'm done with my shower and out of the tub/shower, the ferrets go into the bathtub for a swim. They're sweet but stinky little animals and much of their daily care consists of trying to tame the smell!

They love their playtime in the bathroom while I'm showering and then getting ready for work. Yesterday I had to re-do the polish on my toenails. They would come over close and then sneeze and leave. Yet they would come back again, because they're so friendly and curious of everything I'm doing. In fact, when I'm getting out of the shower, I have to dry off and apply "ferret-proofing" before putting my foot out of the tub! People always ask if they bite, and no, they're the most gentle animals, so much so that if our dog attacked them, they wouldn't fight back (it's never happened because we're careful to not leave them alone, unchaperoned) but they, for some reason, love to nip at freshly showered warm and puffy feet. They pretty much just touch their teeth to my foot, yet it is unpleasant, so I put lotion on each foot before stepping out of the shower/bathtub. It's the only time they nip or bite. I think freshly showered feet are more spongy and soft/slippery and the texture intrigues them. Some Bath and Body Works lotion on each foot deters them to a safe distance, though. They will rush up and pretend that they're going to bite me, just to get me to react. The ferrets whole life is all about play and playing.

Someday I'd like to make a video of the ferrets playing in the bathroom. But the room would look a mess with a stack of soda boxes stuffed into a beer box and a round oatmeal container sticking out of that, partially covered by two clean but stained "dog" towels. Not a pretty sight to anyone but the ferrets! Have a good day!

Monday is here

We had a very warm weekend, up into the 40's and the snow piles are melting. I can hear the water dripping in the "pit" in the basement and the sump pump has been running. So far so good and it's worked well.

I had quite a restless night. The time just doesn't feel right. I woke up a lot, the last being at 3:00 AM--and I didn't get back to sleep. Now, Monday is here, the coffee is on and I'm going to collect the two ferrets to bring them into the bathroom while I shower. Have a good Monday and start to your week!

Ditched

Well, here I am on the new blogger. It's an hour and a half before I have to get up and get ready for work, and I've been awake for hours. Not a good time to deal with the changing of the blog. Since I was lacking sleep from the night before, I had decided to go to bed relatively early last night. But that didn't last for long. Son came home from work before I fell asleep. He was getting ready to drive to his girlfriend's place, a two and a half hour drive under winter advisory conditions. He was rummaging around to get ready, plus I really did want to talk to him before he left, since he'd be gone for a couple of days. The weather was concerning me, but he thought he'd beat it, and then wait it out down there until the weather turned better again.

I did manage to fall asleep after he left, but was awakened by a 1:00 A.M. telephone call. He had gone into the ditch only about an hour's drive out. Guess the weather beat him, instead. So after all of that, I just couldn't get back to sleep, so got up and then the new blogger thingy struck!

So I've had like two hours of sleep, tops, and now am going to try for the remaining hour and a half!

LATER: OK, I actually got another hour of sleep. I don't know how, as I was waiting for son to call me back. He finally did, ten minutes after he arrived at his girlfriend's apartment. And I got to hear the story. He was traveling at 70 MPH (on the freeway), lost control and went into the ditch, blowing out a huge area of snow that even came back on to the freeway. He was lucky that he was not hurt, and me that it was him calling and not a State Trooper.

The roads had received a freezing drizzle in that area right before he passed through. After flying into the ditch, he had to get out of the car and walk back to an exit. Then walk to a gas station, which luckily was open at that hour. The local firechief, who is also the towing guy, pulled him out. Son was wanting to just stay but it was too cold to sit in the car and there weren't any hotels or motels nearby in the area. So he pressed on, at half the speed, and after several hours, finally made it there. Whew! And yes, I'm so tired and exhausted that I wish I could just wait this day out, and go back to bed.