The weather outside is frightful...

But the Huskies find it most delightful!The photo above was taken after the snow storm we had last week, not the one we are having today. Apparently it will be a white Christmas for quite a bit of the country. Here in Chicago we are having February winter in December. The hubby just came in holding a broken snow blower belt. Bummer.

The Huskies go outside to lay around and eat the snow. They get really frisky too. They run around like banshees and wrestle more as the weather gets colder. Abbie gets frisky too, but doesn't stay out too long since she has a hard time walking on the snow because of her bad leg. The poor dear face planted in it the other day. Luckily it was soft and powdery at the time.

The picture on the right is Cocobean (now commonly referred to as Beaner). She is a nut! She presses her nose into the sliding door so it's like a piggie. It pulls her lips back so her teeth are showing. Then she just stands there like that! In this one, she'd licking the door. It's -5 degrees out with a -20 windchill and she's licking the door. What a wacko.

Robbie's not so fond of the weather. He has no hair for his hairbrush , so he gets cold when it drops below 40 degrees. We got him a coat a few years ago, but even with that, he still doesn't linger long outside in the winter. If you are wondering why he is tethered, it's because he can, and will, jump our 6ft high fence. He always does it in the worst weather too. He always manages it on either the hottest or coldest days of the year. Knock on wood, but luckily he hasn't managed it for a couple of years now.
Robbie was a stray in our neighborhood about four years ago. He was out wandering the neighborhood literally all winter and had a den by one of the ponds. He would follow people walking their dogs, but never come with in grabbing distance. You could tell he was not aggressive. Animal control couldn't catch him either. Finally the hubby and a neighbor were able to lure him into our backyard with their dogs and some lunch meat. He was so afraid of people that he would curl up into the smallest possible ball, as far away as he could get and tremble violently. You could see him trembling from across the yard. It was extremely obvious that the poor dog had been very, very badly treated. We think he was probably dumped in the corn fields a few miles away. No one ever reported him missing. Since the authorities take strays to a "low kill" shelter, we decided to try and get him a home ourselves. A dog this timid would be deemed unadoptable and put down within a week. A neighbor originally took him, but he didn't adapt to the house. He just hid under a desk all the time. It was too noisy for him.

I took him back and my friend Amy was going to take him, but he became so attached to me that it wouldn't be good for him to go else where. We named him Brave Sir Robin after the Monty Python and the Holy Grail character. Brave Sir Robin bravely runs away. And so does Robbie. It's been about 4 years and he's almost warmed up to the hubby now. He's actually been making great strides this month. Maybe he finally realises that it's much better in our house then outside by the pond in the cold, yucky weather, hiding from coyotes! Possibly the steak and tasty morsels the hubby feeds him all the time may have a wee bit to do with it. The photo on the right is Robbie all snuggled up in a pile of pillows this morning while the wind howled and snow blew horizontal outside.

Daisy isn't so into the cold either, but does enjoy eating the snow. Look at that little face! Doesn't she just emanate the thought "for God's sake woman, pleeeease let me in!" She was kept outside during her first year and half of life, before we got her. She doesn't like to be left outside for very long. She probably thinks she'll never be let in again.

As for me, I like this weather. Well, I like it if I can remain ensconced in my house that is. It's great quilting weather! I've been sewing like a madwoman, but I can't show most of it as they are Christmas presents. I'll post them on Friday once they have all been received.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!