The Texas Trio

Just over a year ago, when I was living and working in Texas, I got in touch with the Warm and Fuzzy Ferret Rescue and ended up adopting this wonderful trio of ferrets. Tata, the big boy, is somewhere around three to three and a half years old. The two girls, Izzie (standard sable in the picture) will be three in April. Liira (chocolate sable) is two and a half. They are absolutely delightful ferrets. Izzie and Liira are mostly high energy while Tata is my new Mr. Cuddle Weasel. Oh, he runs and plays like crazy too, but he's the one who climbs up on the couch and goes to sleep curled up against me.

I thought this was an ideal time to relaunch this blog and introduce the new business since tonight, once again, it was time for ferrets and figure skating. As I explained during the 2006 Olympics every four years I turn into a couch potato for two weeks and catch all the Olympic figure skating I can. It's one sport I absolutely love to watch.

When I watch the Olympics I also play with ferrets. After all, there is no reason for them to be caged if I'm in the living room, is there? Eight years ago, thanks to Nyssa, Chin Soon, Ella and Zephyr we had evenings of ice dancing and weasel war dancing. Four years later Nyssa was gone but Ella, Zephyr and Chin Soon were helping me enjoy ferrets and figure skating again. My three little weasels played and I watched skiers go "low in the weasel". Now, eight years after my original post and 12 years after my first night of ferrets and figure skating a new trio is helping me have a wonderful evening.

Yes, I miss the ferrets who have gone but with Tata, Izzie and Liira I can still enjoy my own special favorite way to spend an evening, with snow falling outside, weasels dancing and playing inside, and the beauty and grace of figure skating drastically increasing my time with the TV turned on.

Four Years Later It's Ferrets and Figure Skating Again

Four years ago I wrote about watching the Winter Olympics and playing with my ferrets. This year I actually received an e-mail from the U.S. Olympic Committee which asked me if I'd be willing to blog about Team USA here on the ferrets' blog again this year. They actually noticed my three posts four years ago. Amazing! Anyway, I won't disappoint them.

Three of the four ferrets who were there for the Olympics in 2006 are back. Nyssa, of course, lost her battle with lymphoma at the ripe old age of eight in July, 2006. Ella, Zephyr and Chin Soon are now all older ferrets but don't tell them that when they are in high energy play mode.

So, will Chin Soon take the gold again as my non-stop weasel? So far, no, that honor goes to the always playful Zephyr. As I wrote four years ago Zephyr and all the ferrets love the Olympics because while I watch they are free to run around and during long commercial breaks they get lots of attention. Oh, and yeah, I love the Winter Olympics too. I went to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and I've been addicted to the quadrennial games ever since.

What about Team USA? Skaters Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig turned in a beautiful performance this evening in the pairs short program. They aren't expected to contend for a medal but their skating was still fantastic to watch.

Ella's eye seems to be improving slowly. Earlier it was fully open but at medication time this evening it didn't look too good. I hope to have results from her lab work in the next day or two. Zephyr seems fine. She's growing a summer coat in midwinter. Her seasons have always been way off and she's been healthy all her life. Anything resembling adrenal symptoms have disappeared, at least for now.

Anyway, I'll be blogging about Olympic ferret playtime again over the next two weeks. I can't disappoint the USOC, can I?