HELP! HELP! MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE . . .

Sometime after midnight I was awakened by Nellie’s whines. Her kennel with her house, a 50-gallon drum, is located off the end of the modular home where the master bed / bath is situated. [See photo left. Bathroom window is trimmed in green. The gate of Nellie's kennel stands open.] She knows from experience that she can make us hear her. I said nothing to her but tried to go back to sleep. When I heard her again at 1:30, I nudged Mike awake and told him of her cries. He opened the bathroom window and told her to be quiet and go to bed. She was quiet for a little while; Mike and I again dozed off. But soon we heard her cries again. Mike put on his slippers and went out. The next I knew I could hear Nellie making herself comfortable on her living room pillow.

Coming back to bed, Mike explained that the trouble light we use to heat Nellie’s house had somehow fallen into the wood shavings on the floor – her bedding – and were smoldering. In effect, her house was on fire with considerable smelly smoke damage. The look on her face this morning said it all: “You are the densest people I know!”