Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's my usual hangout. See why I'm extra thankful this year? I've got luxury digs indoors with all the amenities. Plus I'm about a pound lighter without that giant bladder stone I'd been hauling around. And now I have my own radio as music perks me up so I eat better. So far I've been listening to Christmas songs but that might get old pretty soon. I'm not thrilled when dogs or chipmunks sing, but I am happier now that I know the dog barking next door can't get near me. Anyway with the extra heating light and music, I'm really chowing down now. This is good because I have to build up weak muscles in my head and jaw from when I was too weak too eat.

So I'm working on being an eating machine. Hey, a gal needs to have goals! I only eat the greenest part of romaine leaves and leave the ribs. I know what I like! They keep offering me hibiscus flowers but they're a little harder for me to bite right now. I know I need more variety in my diet but I'm working on it.

I've never been awake for the holidays before. This is a lot different than being tucked away in my burrow for the winter, and I have always liked coming indoors. Years ago, at another house, I figured out how to open the sliding patio door with my toenails so I could enjoy the cool tile floor in the kitchen. This surprised my tortoise mom every time I did it. I guess no one expects a tortoise to do this, but you might be amazed at what we can do. Did you know we can walk 7 miles in a day? Not so pokey afterall. And my yard buddy, Tortellini, thinks she's an acrobat. She's pretty good at hanging by her front toenails wherever there's a place she can climb and wedge herself. She's the tortoise equivalent of a mountaineer, but without the technical gear or ego. She's hibernating now and doesn't know what she's missing.

This is Tortellini checking out a temporary barricade last summer. They put it up so we couldn't "help" the a/c repairmen. See what I mean about her climbing ability?

BTW did you know we hibernate according to the amount of daylight, not temperature? That's why we tuck in our burrows even when it's still hot outside. But our body clocks say "it's time" so our metabolism slows way down and in we go. The temperature is pretty constant in the burrow so we can conserve energy while we're hibernating. Dirt is great insulation, one of Nature's amenities.