Balmy.

NOT.
I heard this morning that it was -17F below zero locally.
I didn't need to know that.  Altogether TOO much information.
It's cold.  Really cold.  Putting a number to it just adds insult to injury, if you ask me.

Next and Nuff have a big box in the loft of the barn, which L has surrounded with bales of hay.  It has a blanket, and a heated cat pad, to bring their body temp up when they lay on it.  They scoot under the door and up the stairs, where hopefully, they are safe from predators, and reasonably comfy.

They also have the heated water bowl, food all day, canned and dry.
They have their solar house, in front of the barn.

When the sun comes out, they are in it.  Well, they have issues.  If Nuff is in in first, he lets Next in and they lay together, but if Next is in first, even though he is the runt of the two, he will not allow Nuff to come in.  So Nuff sits outside the solar house, looking in.

 

Think we need one more.

And they have a ratty old box on the porch, that they have  claimed as theirs.  We put a blanket in it, and covered it with some old rugs. Even though the sensible thing in weather like this would be to stay upstairs in the loft, on the heated pad, that's not where they want to be in the daytime.
Have you ever tried to reason with a cat???
I tried this morning, and succeeded, in getting them into the inside porch, where it was cold, but not nearly as cold as outside.  I fed them there.  They didn't like it.
When L came a while later, and opened the door, they bolted.
Unbelievable to me, but they do not want to come inside.

So, a trip to the pet store was in order, unless I wanted to keep worrying about it.  And I didn't.

 So.........they're spoiled.
It could be worse.

Here's the box.

 After we put the heating pad in it, we put the sides and the top down the way they were, and plugged it in.

They seem fat and happy.  Their fur is thick and shiny.
I think I am doing all I can do for them, and what's right for them.  I really hope I am.


Sydney says:  (oblivious to anyone else's concerns)

Does this rug make my legs look short????

No, Sydney, your legs ARE short.
But you're a beauty, nonetheless.