Hot Summer Days

IT'S TOO HOT !!!


The temperatures are hanging in the high nineties with humidity to match. It's too hot to do much of anything. So How are we dealing with the heat?

First, I have to spend a few minutes on my soapbox. Bear with me, please.

We're all aware of people who have no respect for animals. To them a dog or cat is just a disposable item, something to play with while it's little and cute, then abandon or worse when they get tired of it.

When I see someone teaching their child a love and respect for animals, I take notice. In this case my friend Vivian is encouraging her young son Henry to get involved in helping homeless animals. Vivian and Henry recently said goodbye to their beloved dog, Trinket. In the month of August, Henry is collecting 40 blankets to give to the Humane Society.


I feel strongly that we need to encourage young people who are helping animals and I'm sending Henry a couple blankets for his project. If you would like to help, you can contact him here. He's accepting any type of blanket as long as it's machine washable and dryable. They can be any size, remember dogs and cats come in all sizes. This is a good stay inside in the air conditioning project that can help you thin out your fabric or yarn stash. Dogs don't care what color you use, so get rid of those yarns you bought that turned out to be the wrong color when you got them home.


This is how I help endure the heat.


What are they waiting for?


Something must be happening inside the garage.


Why's it taking so long?


The line is growing. Isn't he ever coming out here?


Even big Tsar is waiting to see what's coming.


He has a treat in the dishes.


Rob cut up pieces of cold watermelon and baby carrots in each bowl.


The grass is high in the yard because it's been too hot and dry to mow, but that doesn't bother the dogs. They dig into the bowls.


Don't they look like a flock of mini-sheep?


The fast eaters are already looking for more.


Noah's a slow eater, so he gets a little help.


Tsar has decided that he doesn't like watermelon, but he does enjoy carrots, so he was happy with this snack.


When the bowls were empty everyone had to sniff around in the grass to see if any pieces were dropped and overlooked.

Morgan thought it would be nice to bring a stick into the house to amuse herself.


Unfortunately she chose a stick she couldn't even carry. She pushed it toward the door, but I wasn't allowing it inside. You can see where she's started chewing on one end. That girl has big goals.

Dudley

On Friday we had to say goodbye to another friend.


Our friend Dudley has been sick for a while and his family has been trying to keep him comfortable.


He had a rough night on Thursday and in the morning he let them know that he was ready to cross the bridge.


He'll be missed by his canine family, Beau, Lucy and especially Abby. We will miss him, too. Goodbye dear Dudley, we're all glad we met you.

Hug Week

July 15 thru July 21 is Hug Week.

I didn't grow up in a huggy family. Some of my friends did and they hugged everyone, friends, family and strangers. My sister used to be a huggy person, but I like my personal space.


As I've grown older, I've become more comfortable with hugs, but I still don't embrace everyone I meet.


My dogs with their hot Portuguese blood are big huggers.


They think any occasion is a good time for a hug.


Group hugs are fine with them.


Some hugs provide security.


Some hugs provide reassurance.


Some hugs are just to say hello.










Some hugs are just because...


Some hugs come as a surprise.


Some hugs are just spur of the moment.


Some hugs say "I love you and I hope you feel better soon."

Have you hugged someone today?

Clean Up Your Mess

Morgan is our official squirrel watcher. She spends hours on the window seat looking for any sign of the little pests. When she sees one, she alerts the others with an excited bark, then everyone runs barking to the window to see for themselves.

Just say the word squirrel and Morgan races to the window, followed by Samba and Noah. Rob and I have started calling them 'sq' so that she won't notice and start barking, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time till she figures out what we're talking about.

We have this fairly large plum tree in our front yard. For the last couple years it's had a handful of tiny plums that didn't amount to much.

This year it's loaded. We had a nice, rainy summer last year and a mild winter, so the tree is producing a record crop of plums.

The plums are falling off the tree and the whole yard smells sweet from them. The squirrels are climbing the tree and tasting the plums. Many of them have a bite taken .

One squirrel has been bringing his lunch of plums onto the deck to enjoy them in comfort. The trouble is, he leaves a mess behind.

He's leaving pieces of plum and seeds all along the deck rail and on my bench on the porch.


Here he is, full of plums, taking a nap on the deck rail only a couple feet from the window where Morgan is watching. He's free to eat as many plums as he can hold, but don't leave your mess for me to clean up.

Unusual Domesticity

I used to love to bake. I made cakes and brownies from scratch. I made pies and bread and my favorites were fussy Danish pastries and bear claws. Then I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands , followed by a couple of wrist fractures and tendonitis. That put an end to kneading dough.


My solution was to buy a bread machine. It does the hard work for me, but I can still be creative. When we were first married I made all our bread. Once we moved here I guess I got lazy. Rob's schedule was rough for many years. He was gone for days at a time and I was here with just the dogs for company. I stopped baking.

Yesterday I woke up with the urge to bake. Sky was my constant companion during my time in the kitchen, though the others weren't far away.


I've been so very hungry for raspberry pie lately. We used to buy baskets of raspberries when I lived in New York. We could bake with them and still have plenty to eat as is. Here we can only find tiny boxes, 1/8 of a pint and they are extremely expensive. Last week I actually called several restaurants in the area to see if any of them had raspberry pie on the menu. None did. I finally resorted to using frozen berries. They didn't smell as nice, but I'm sure they'll taste just as good.


While the pie was in the oven I started making some bread. This is a quick bread, no yeast involved. I wanted something fruity and light, so I made what I call Hawaiian bread. I used a basic recipe and made additions as I went along.


Isn't it pretty? And the smell.......


It has bananas, pineapple, cherries, coconut and walnuts. I would have used macadamia nuts, but I didn't have any in the house. The smell while it was cooking was heavenly and the smell when sliced is almost too good to eat. It tastes just as good as it looks.


Fudge watched the bread for me, but when I had to leave the house for an appointment, both the bread and the pie went up on a high shelf. No sense putting too much temptation in their way.

If anyone would like the bread recipe, e-mail me and I'll send it to you.