It's summer in Missouri, hot and dry with occasional thundering cloudbursts. All last week the weatherman promised rain, but it didn't happen.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb90RsgzcyodEaEuRXEeBySOEz-Yr62eeCTnZLXopgnCtBDkn1GgYjZOGUgTpsK0GxFhkxHuFueksN1TITq2frZVpATIF_K_LfkuzNVaWwghUZqoBwrmd1r4qfbY515jFL8zPdKY_Yhw/s400/DSC07608.JPG)
When it's 90+ degrees outside, the dogs don't want to move around much. When I can coax them out they find ways to stay cool. Morgan finds a place under a tree to enjoy a stick.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4uwmdlgJFR38XlXQAppLjfC81n3IL-QW6EFUD13Ca1ChqSWUhpOApmTN4aUz2u4Y-ERxHhNm1sOPbIm_Snwq1gRVYksMp67BBzRoLkVNAdv9RmFTnMcIoCuDnhHAzpUPgriGPDl_jg/s400/DSC07596.JPG)
Bailey takes a stroll in the shade with her favorite toy, her stuffed monkey. She carries it everywhere with her. Usually I don't allow stuffies outdoors, but Bailey always brings hers back inside with her.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguOTHxYfzMj7kl04DhlD7Nth3hRmMt2Z3HEHsTYW4JNunWxdKx-qavd6dWjbWHlpQCAeB-wWneju7RjRN0zVv0sEL2RKMvqFjsl4gyxSu8kAcST3Z3a8udfEviWPMhKdwsKjOhy00fZw/s400/DSC07613.JPG)
Yesterday afternoon the sky got dark and the clouds opened up. It rained so hard that for a few minutes we couldn't see the house across the street. The wildflowers in the yard appreciated the cool rain and presented us with these this morning.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIbiZfR_hWt-nLF51nuAGr4pO1xNVDSJ7STaINaFyixWdMvJTkgYSpiWepvBJEnO4QgKZR5BSpUzNtmv9-itSgo0By1wxUxV5rhsNomuiI4_JoE-OllWqIMlQUtSMrzaZyhXqcaX_xA/s400/DSC07616.JPG)
I like keeping a little piece of the yard wild. It looks like a tiny meadow with lots of different flowers planted by the birds.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgOSX_cub6UZVucROjAjrAwX6fR4ZdoLDFo9DvAGPNnSuD774GljqTStAQ9bXTrFtzQoPyFSujlS4hy_JGxKekRkccDFirgfHo58gde21wSMwbvkikgGw2ptStpNpxQXmhK25MAHI4dQ/s400/DSC07617.JPG)
Nature's colors look so pretty together.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrN4mViLt7i6W_Y9ZVOIdp4LepsJdhzWNLLK0o97UaqT8xQ11NxWOqvUx6HOwDz9kPA1brnG3JT3W5OQ13yZjvdidQNk2WoYpTixPlpfubgOSbULcPiNDxjbV7xu2yoB8n6T2pnTiYxw/s400/DSC07615.JPG)
In Pennsylvania we lived next door to a young lady who was four years old. She and I would take walks down a farm road and she would point out the flowers to me. These she called 'Queens and Lace'.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3ZwA5Ffo7oUgk12SAPxxaglU4FKu5EtBqyrS6ec7EyJDC5i8BiN8OdDdhAa-Gd-r2IQdBSPE6GAQ3TT6h58hmOCag1qIJf0z9Fr68UCA31JZyMa8_OrgSnJSdKGyznK1niPdgVZbuQ/s400/tigerlily.jpg)
When my little friend saw these growing along the road she told me they were 'Tiggey Liggies'. I liked her names for them and always think of them that way.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aQN12S57rcdVbx6ckgM_n1daPImDO_C3CNURKaqJ4FaBqm2MyT4jYUVpQkSU1lyJewCuyAIShLqvmXFcPzljGrBABC8rdKNFkk_qFxxurHTvFbClvuzvIr6i0Y6_-vQXxsVrI5IgXg/s400/DSC07620.jpg)
It seems early, but the farmers have been cutting hay already. The fields around our place have these hay rolls standing in the fields waiting to be carted away.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yBht9j1SKyNRyctgMRFr8dmnfrsQe1Tr2-tUO9_ht8RaW_aenXKBfCOXtSPZPALRFBswuAMWy529scQDsMnMdiwPRKZ3TA3RRKlS0NAhBD_EZseRZLRrVBQ_DH0rLmoZiFJXPrSXQw/s400/DSC07618.JPG)
They go on and on. It should be good eating and nesting this winter for the livestock.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdWSSeQkV4GxQYTnaZ1r4XaCD3XjlZ3qoKMJBnttms0KsIxy69SPiWnvXm_n-zOblv9r5UEAx_Nym0xZF97GGp6L9Ea6NsHSRZE33yR6BMiuBGr7Cr2tDWK8aqQmMIhxvp5i_ljiBSA/s400/Fleur_de_lis.38143437_std.png)
The Fleur-de-Lis is on my family coat of arms and I'm quite fond of it. I have a necklace and bracelet with the symbol. Last night I took the dogs out for their last call around 11 PM. The rain had stopped and it was slightly cooler than it has been. When I opened the back door out of the garage, look what I saw.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFMgv5ujFn8G7QXsKi38P83rt-B2UqXunjMG4dLKYAwwEvVmli_GbVabSqOK-Tt0KupwPk4fl-inh9yoYP8hwJSps7k26n7o3ZOeYIKlXbXQYfRusIfXFx3gdIvaMsFhHO_d45g0ryw/s400/moth.jpg)
This fellow was resting on the door staying out of the rain dripping from the trees. I raced for my camera, but he was quite content to sit there and was still there when I took the dogs back inside and turned off the lights. He's a Clymene Moth aka the Fleur-de-Lis Moth.
Now just in case some of you are also suffering from temperatures in the 90s and above, I thought I'd show you this photo taken by my cousin.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpxruDjc89YaOJSHj_IUgpMnGpD7GVWsVq8Zyn_yYX6o8B0fYoAMyOaQAD4heNDtFEmYyHOUQpjpyzJ98c6ukvtyFFc65-025uQ_r3vtalXbCIEQo6IeY6C-0yphPCFndM-Eh421kIA/s400/19148_101740596527396_100000743674967_45159_2063789_n.jpg)
The house on the right is hers and this is the street where I lived when I was in highschool. We usually had winters like this, though in recent years they've been milder. This was taken in February of 2007. I remember walking to school thru snow tunnels just like this and sometimes higher. Feel cooler now?