First Snow Flurries, Dead Hedgehog

Last night and this morning I saw the first snow flurries of the season. Nothing stayed on the ground—yet!—but I might get snow after dark today that is heavy enough to do that. Finally, the weather is starting to feel season appropriate. It was 25ºF this morning, the coldest morning so far.

Last week before I left for New Hampshire, I got out the down coverlet and flannel sheets. Last night I had 3 cats and Dog cuddling with me on the bed, and I couldn’t turn over without disrupting the entire household. It was a little like what it must be like to sleep in a strait-jacket.
Baby Dog, who’s now in her chewing phase, sleeps in a crate next to the bed. Her crate is outfitted with an old flannel sheet and her toys. Her current favorite toy is a stuffed hedgehog that she has to “kill” each night. The crate will shake and she makes ferocious puppy noises. The first time she did this I thought she was trying to escape the crate. But when I looked inside she had hold of the hedgehog and was shaking it the way Dog shakes a groundhog. After she kills the hedgehog, she settles down and goes to sleep.