Saturday, November 5, 2011

Learned Something New

I learned something new about Iris this past week. I guess after 4 years of living with the red dog, I thought I knew her pretty well. But I suppose there's always something new to learn!

Last Saturday, New England got hit with a very early snow storm.  We lost power on Saturday night and didn't get it back until Wednesday. The combination of a wet snow and most of the trees still having leaves meant A LOT of downed trees and branches.  Most of this area was without power.  For me, four days without power meant the house got down to about 50 degrees (I actually started opening the windows in the afternoons to heat the house up a few degrees).

Iris sitting on a snow pile with the brightly colored fall leaves in the background.
October Snow - 37/52

So what does this have to do with Iris? Apparently, Iris hates being cold. I just assumed that with her coat, she wouldn't be bothered by it. Not my princess! She likes her comforts. I supposed I should have guessed. I mean, this is the dog who sleeps on the couch with her head on a pillow.

Iris asleep on the couch with her head on the red pillow
Red Pillow - 27/52

I love showing off how well trained my dog is.  She's really not supposed to be sleeping on the red pillows.  Any other pillow in the house is ok, but since the red ones are definitely the most comfortable, they're supposed to be for humans.  Iris knows as long as she looks really, really cute while she's doing it, she can get away with quite a lot. Spoiled much?

Now, there are 13 reptiles currently living in my house and I have to say, losing power for four days with that many herps is really pretty stressful.  Luckily, we have a gas stove so we were still able to use the stove-top for heating water.  All 11 of the Crested Geckos were moved into shoebox size enclosures, the ball python was moved into a pillowcase (which she loved!), and the Bearded Dragon was moved into a smaller enclosure too (he was ultimately taken to my roommate's office, which had heat).  I kept all of the enclosures under a pile of blankets and heated them with hot water bottles.  Actually, I was really impressed with how well the hot water bottles held their heat.  As long as I was reheating the water about every 4 hours, I was able to keep everyone at the correct temperature.  Really tired after waking up every 4 hours to reheat, but worth it to have everyone safe and happy.

While I was very worried about the herps, I wasn't too concerned with keeping Iris warm.  I figured as long as the temperature was tolerable for me, the red dog would be fine too.  Iris really did not agree.

Portrait of Iris in front of the bright yellow fall leaves
Focus - 38/52

She was miserable.  I was sleeping on the couch to take care of the reptiles, and Iris needed to sleep curled up with me.  This is the dog who will jump off the bed if I'm moving around too much.  Not while it was cold!  She curled herself up as tightly as possible, snuggled up with me under the blankets and was happy to stay there all night.  When I'd get up to reheat the hot water bottles, I'd move Iris off the couch to rearrange the blankets.  Then she'd stand there staring intently at the blankets until I'd invite her back up.  I didn't know this before, but if it's chilly out, Iris really likes sleeping under the blankets.  So much for being a working dog.  She'd rather sleep under the blankets with her head on the pillow.

Iris' front paws on the snow and ice surrounded by fall leaves.
October Paws - 39/52

All of the reptiles survived the power outage just fine.  So did Iris, although I think next time, she'd really like to have her own hot water bottle.  Or at the very least, an extra blanket.  Yup, she's a diva all right.

4 comments:

Jules said...

That is very funny about Iris! Ike is the same way, but I have known this about him forever.

I am so glad your reptiles are okay. We also lost power and had to evacuate my birds to my in-laws', who had power. I can't imagine how stressed you were - I was super stressed until we moved them. We are thinking about a generator as our next big purchase. We really don't want to risk going through that with the birds again.

Anyway, I am so glad the reptiles are okay and I hope you can catch up on your rest!

Blue said...

I was lucky that only one who needed to be evacuated was the Bearded Dragon. Moving that many reptiles isn't easy! The Cresteds only need to be kept at about 70 degrees, so they're not terrible to heat (the challenge is heating them without over-heating them. They actually tolerate cold better than heat).

Power outages are stressful enough without having to worry about the pets too! A generator would be so worth it, even just for your own peace of mind!

Mary Lou said...

Blue.... I have been visiting your blog for SEVERAL MONTHS now. I find it heartfelt, plus QUITE EDUCATIONAL!! :-D
I am DISAPPOINTED, however that you do not POST very often!! :-(
Keep writing. And your pictures are WONDERFUL!! ;op

Blue said...

Aw, thank you Raelyn!!! It's so nice to hear that you enjoy reading my blog. I guess I will have to try to post more often! :-)