Does It Feel Cooler?

Over the weekend the humidity went down and it felt a little more comfortable, but the heat and humidity have been creeping back up again.

This was this morning's sunrise.


The abundance of clouds looked promising and almost as soon as I got the dogs inside, we heard the rumble of thunder. The thunder continued, but no rain fell.



Yesterday the porch thermometer read 96.7 degrees. On our 2 o'clock outing no one wanted to move around very much.


Morgan brought one of her favorite toys outside with her.


It was too hot to play with it, so she just laid down with it securely tucked under her paw so that it wouldn't be stolen.


For some strange reason the dogs think it's cooler under the hammock.


They all look for spots to relax under it.


Tsar doesn't usually go out during the afternoon and he didn't enjoy the heat at all.


I had a little group looking for attention.


I think they are asking to go back into the air conditioning.


I gave them what they wanted and we all trooped back indoors. We're hoping for cooler temps and some rain soon.

Contest Entry

The folks over at Rocky Creek Scottie Adventures are having a contest. Stick out your tongue and let them know. The winners will be announced soon.


Here's Norma Jean sticking out her tongue. If you think she has a big tongue, check out her dad.


This is Fudge enjoying some toast and peanut butter.

If you want to see some funny photos of tongues, go visit them.

Please, Mom, Please

It's still hot but everybody is getting bored, dogs and humans. During the afternoon I just had to get out of the house and walk around so we went to the library. I got to see different walls and move a little and it felt good.

When we got back the dogs were so antsy that I finally relented and we took them into the yard and turned on the hose. I don't like them to get wet late in the day because I don't want them going to sleep for the night while they're still damp. Norma Jean had trouble with hot spots last year and I think being damp contributes to the problem.

They couldn't wait any longer so I made an exception to the rule. Here are three different water play techniques they use.


This is the 'paddle splash' demonstrated by Norma Jean. This is a common technique used by many of them including Fudge and Noah.



Samba demonstrates the 'head fling'. This is a less often used technique but comes in handy for splashing Fudge in the face when he comes too close.



This is a combo of 'paddle splash' and 'full face' techniques. Samba and Tess favor the 'full face' approach, although the others try it occasionally.

Rob sprayed everyone except Bailey and Tsar who were too busy hunting for rabbits at the foot of the hill. They found no rabbits but didn't give up until I herded them inside.

Morgan decided after being sprayed that she should roll. Unfortunately she chose to roll in the dirt instead of the grass and wound up looking like this.

Due to the excessive amount of dirt clinging to her she had to remain behind and have a bath before coming inside with the others.


We drifted off to sleep last night to the aromatic scent of damp dog, but everyone was in much better spirits. There was a thunderstorm overnight, so we're hoping the temperatures come back into the normal range soon.

For Dakota

Dakota
8/15/1997 - 6/24/2009


Dakota crossed the bridge this week and her friends are having a group howl today in her memory. Ours is a silent howl, photo only. Tsar is the spokesman for the entire Legacy pack.


Translation: Rest in peace, Dakota.

Being Lazy

It's still very hot here, high nineties and hitting one hundred occasionally.

This was our sky this morning at sunrise. It was in the mid eighties even then.


The dogs run to the door full of hope that the air will be cooler and we can play outside.


Once outside they are too hot to play.


I start getting these looks.


This looks says, " Why don't you fix it so we can play?"


"Can't you do something about this?"


"It's too hot to even play ball."


So we leave the yard to soak up the heat and go back inside.


The rock garden is still managing to stay green.


It looks hot, doesn't it.


Not a dog in sight. They're all napping in the air conditioning. Last night Fudge started a ball game in the living room throwing the ball around and everyone racing to get it. There was a minor casualty and I had to put a stop to the game. The only injury was an overturned lamp.


It's never too hot to spend time with a best friend.

Recycling Can Be Fun

Recently we found ourselves with a box full of old used manila file folders. They were ones that Rob had used in his work for years. We shredded the contents but saved the folders. We'll reuse most of them for various projects in the office, but some were too worn and beat up to reuse. What should we do with them?


One morning Rob started folding the old raggedy folders into paper airplanes.


We took the dogs into the yard and Rob launched one of the planes into the air.


Everyone was very interested in what he was doing.


Once the planes were aloft the race was on.


Norma Jean caught one in mid air and started running to get ahead of her sisters.


They saw what she had and of course everyone else wanted one.


Tess got hers.


Norma Jean took hers to the trampoline for some privacy while she examined it.


Once they caught a plane they found a spot to lie down and shred it.


Noah was working on his.


Little pieces of airplane were starting to show up all over the yard.


This seemed to be a very popular game.


Oh oh, Lola and Bailey both went after the same airplane.


Neither one wanted to give it up.


This went on for a while and I kept my eye on the situation.


Here they're walking across the yard, but still neither will let go of the airplane.


Finally they each gave a good tug and the plane tore into two pieces.


Bailey ripping up her section.


Lola working on the other part.


Morgan likes to rip hers into very tiny pieces.


This is a great game. I'm glad Rob thought this one up.


There are little piles of torn folder all over the yard. They got mulched the next time Rob mowed. A great new way to recycle and play at the same time.