A Cold Snap

After the last rain ended Christmas Eve, the temperatures dropped.  And stayed dropped.  Friday evening I had the privilege (choke) of spending the night in a sleep center.  Brett has woken a few times during the night and been alarmed by the fact that I'm holding my breath.  I mentioned it to my doctor and she sent me to sleep center to see if I'm suffering from sleep apnea.  Brett went with me and watched them glue sensors all over my scalp, my face, my chest and my legs.  He headed back home and just before lights out, they stuck sensors in my nose and over my mouth.  Then I was supposed to sleep.  HAH!  With wires going every which way?  I don't think so.  I did doze but it was cold in the room and I had trouble getting comfortable.  Twice, the tech brought me additional blankets and commented on how cold my room was.  Finally, at 4am I was warm and slept.  At 6am sharp, the tech flipped on the light and had me sit up so he could take off the sensors.  I held a towel over my face while he squirted acetone in my hair to loosen the glue.  At 6:07 I was free to go.  I never get up that fast; I'm a leisurely stretch and come to life morning person.  I need at least fifteen minutes to become oriented to life.  I left, feeling a bit dazed and tired.  It was 32F at the sleep center, in Sacramento, when I left and 23F when I pulled in the driveway at home.  Brett said he hadn't slept at all; he was freezing despite the heavy down duvet on our bed.  We do not have central heat in the house.  We have a wood stove.  Since he was at the sleep center with me in the evening, the house was already cold when he got home.  When I walked in the door in the morning with my overnight bag, it was 49F in the house.  Brrrrr.   I jumped in the shower in an attempt to get the glue and acetone out of my hair.  I'm still finding bits of it stuck here and there.  Ugh.  And, of course, the sleep study showed nothing out of the ordinary.  (For which I'm thankful, of course).

I cranked up the wood stove and we spent the day inside, getting warm.  We were both too tired to do much of anything else.

Last night was another cold one.  We are hitting highs in the mid 40s with the frozen puddles and frost in the shade never thaw.  We did manage to get more than basic chores accomplished today.

I put a layer of fresh straw in the goat area.  The cold weather will continue this coming week and I wanted them to be able to burrow in and stay warm.  Bear checked out the inside of one of the igloos.

And one of the African Pygmy goats checked out the other.  I can't tell from the rear which is Whiskey and which is Cowboy.

Meanwhile, I took Lucy and Pistol out to the grass by the dressage court to graze.

Jackson and the donkeys were not impressed.

And, later, the mares made their way to the gelding pasture and started squealing at Flash and Mufasa.  I put them back in their pasture.  Flash and Mufasa were not pleased.  They both galloped the length of their pasture, with Flash squealing as he went.  I haven't seen him so animated in quite a while.

Brett tossed all the horses extra hay tonight to stay warm.  We'll keep the wood stove cranked.  Winter is definitely here.