7 years ago...

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary - 7 years have flown by.  I was thinking about how much has changed in critter land since our wedding day....

I guess the biggest change is the loss of our sweet Isabel kitty.  I can't believe she has been gone for 2+ years.  We have also had some additions to the zoo since then - Clooney, Nigel and Madison all came to us after our wedding.

Agatha was 7 when we got married, Zoey and Oliver were 5 and  Miss Phoebe just a year old.  Emma pup was was just 2.  Wow - we are all getting old.

In other news - the blowers are finally gone and the house is dry.  Now onto the reconstruction in the next couple of days.  Ready for this to be over.....

Toy Roundup

Nigel the hedgehog is still residing in the master bedroom closet due to his room being way too cold.  All this equipment to dry out the house is causing temperature havoc.  He seems quite content in there.  One funny thing he is doing is seeking out all of the toys that the ferrets have hidden in the closet.  He drags them out into the middle of the closet.  He has amassed quite a large pile of them over the last few days.

Clooney has climbed the gate a couple of times and taken his favorites out of the pile.  Phoebe has done the same.  Hopefully today or tomorrow will be the end of the drying phase and the equipment will go away....its noisy and hot.  Then Mr Hedgehog will be able to go back to his cage where he will definitely be more comfortable.

In Honor of the Olympics....

Baby Gates....

Its funny to watch how differently Clooney and Madison think.  We currently have the master bedroom closet blocked off with the baby gate as it is serving as a temporary home for Mr Hedgehog.

Both ferrets spend a reasonable amount of time in the closet, sleeping and playing each day.  They are not loving that it's access is blocked.  The entertaining thing is the different way each of them approach the gate.

Clooney - aka Hercules - takes the manly approach and uses his heft and might to scale the gate and climb down the other side.  He enters and exits whenever he wants, pesters Nigel and munches on his food.  He also did a sacred cow check to ensure his favorite toy had not been disturbed.

Then there is Miss Madison.  Cute, sweet, pink nosed Madison.  She uses the cute, charming, ferret eyelash batting approach to get you to lift her over the gate.  She plays, visits Nigel, snoozes and has a nibble of food and then wants out so she stands on her back feet and looks pitiful til you pick her up and lift her over.  She has watched Clooney climb over but won't do it herself.

They are too cute...

And the Flood Continues....

So - we still have blowers blowing everywhere in the house and today they had to rip out the shower.  Not sure if its the fact they arrived late afternoon or just that the critters are getting accustomed to having folks in the house doing strange things.  Whatever the case may be - they are pretty uninterested.  Ferrets didn't even get out of bed to explore the commotion.  Emma is just laying around watching and the kitties are snoozing.  Only Zoey has come out to say hello.

Nigel is still sleeping in the closet as his room is still too cold.  Neither of the humans in the house are sleeping at all - perhaps I can talk the hubs into a hotel - Emma could go out right before we leave and we could come home early to let her out.....not sure I really want to do that but blower-less places are rather blissful these days.  We have a few days of drying out - then reconstruction - UGH - probably 2 more weeks of this fun and excitement....

Frozen or Steamy - those are your choices

With all of the drying equipment in our house the temperature is whacky.  In the rooms with the equipment its too warm - in the rooms without its way too cold as the air conditioner is working overtime.  I checked in on Nigel last night and he was cold in his room which is no good as hedgehogs will hibernate if they get too cold.  He got cuddle times and I used my hot cocoa cup up against his sides to warm him up.

No worries, I thought to myself, I can have him sleep in the bonus room.  Headed in there - it's like a meat locker its so cold.  UGH.  He can't sleep downstairs - there is tons of equipment and its cold.  So - out comes the baby gate and into the master bedroom closet goes Nigel.  It's warm in our room because of the equipment in our bathroom and its a contained space for him.  He seemed perfectly content - had some water and food and found a place to curl up and snooze.  I am thinking he will sleep in there until the equipment is removed - most like Monday of next week.

I am glad I checked in on him and that he is okay.  Love that little guy...

The Flood

Oh joy - the flood has happened.  Over the weekend the shower had a pipe break and water went behind the wall.  We were able to turn off the water fairly quickly but 8 - 10 gallons of water gets EVERYWHERE and causes all sorts of problems.  Of course it happens on a Saturday so we filed our online claims and waited to hear back.  We coordinated with the plumber and contractor to descend upon the house on Tuesday.  The critters were hilarious.  First the water damage assessor from the restoration company came to take pictures and moisture readings.  Madison was so curious as to what this new person was doing.  Emma was all over him.  Kitties were only mildly interested - mainly Oliver who deems himself the center of the universe every day.

He wrapped up pulling together the information he needed and departed and the plumber came.  Clooney was a riot - he helped the plumbers - 2 huge guys and a ferret standing in the shower.  Emma wanted their attention as well.  Maddie was sleeping and kitties were fairly uninterested.

That brings us to today - demolition day to get to the wet parts for drying.  The restoration company came this morning and both ferrets were so engaged.  Grateful that both the guys were very critter friendly and patient with the little ones.  They hung plastic sheets from the ceiling to control the dust from removing the drywall.  Madison was fascinated with the plastic and was very cute as she jumped around trying to attack it.  She was also investigating the bags of tools and tried a couple of times to steal the little blue screwdriver.  Emma got lots of attention.  Zoey got in to the action - she was a fan of the plastic as well.  Nigel even got in on the action both days and was introduced to lots of new people.

Now we have blowers and dehumidifiers blowing all over the house.  Kitties are a bit unsure, ferrets are curious as hell and Emma is under the bed....

I will say that perhaps the most interesting development for today was Aggie and Phoebe - arch enemies - both were so afraid of the the strangers and the strange noises that they actually spent the day together huddled in the master bedroom closet about a foot apart from each other.  I guess they hate each other but they hate the flood repair even more.

Should be an interesting couple of weeks while we dry out and return things to their original condition.