Doggy Beach Party
Last night some of the dogs from doggy school got together at Lake Michigan. Their humans had a picnic, the dogs had a swim.

Up in the picnic area Gail started the fire for the brats, we set out our dishes to pass, and everyone went down many stairs to the sandy beach.

It was breezy, which translates into waves. Several of the larger dogs had a great time fetching frisbees or balls in the rough water.

Hagar Shores is a bit of a drive, 35 to 40 miles for most of us, but is the only Lake Michigan beach we know of that allows dogs.

This picture was posed during the last trip down to the beach. Not all the dogs stayed for the second round of swimming, so this is a partial group of doggy beach party friends.

Behind the driftwood from left to right:

• Layla, the Australian Shepherd
  
• Favor, the Blue Heeler/Cattledog (also in the top picture)
  
• Brianna, the white German Shepherd
  
• Penny, the Springer Spaniel
  
• Molly, the Sheep Dog Mix
  
• Jazz, the Maltese
  
• Sis, the Toy Poodle

In front of the driftwood from left to right:

• Merlin, the Australian Shepherd
  
• Sunny, my Second Generation Designer Dog
  
• Effie, the Corgi
  
• Casper, the Corgi

Sunny was my companion for the evening. At last year's doggy beach party the water was calm and she did some swimming. This year she decided sensible little dogs did not belong in those waves.

I honored her reasonable request to stay on the sand.

She appeared to have a good time in her own Sunny way, but when she was ready to go, she was ready to go. She didn't waste any time beating me up the stairs to the picnic area where we watched the sunset and then headed for home,

Next doggy beach party is August 17 and I'm bringing Pappy. I have no idea if he can swim or what he'll think of the water, but I know he'll have a great time with his doggy friends.

Things to Smile About
Happy Baby
Here is Granddaughter Sydney after a stroller ride with DS Dad.

This is my new desktop photo.

Just a little over a week before Granddaughter Kimmy and I get on a plane and head out to Idaho to see some of these smiles in person.

Bluebird Eggs
Sunday evening in the triple digit heat, I noticed Mom Bluebird peeking out of the nest box. Thought it was rather strange, especially in the heat.

Early Monday morning when the dogs and I walked by, she was still peeking out of the nest box. When I said "Good morning" to her, she flew out so I looked in to see what was going on.

A third brood! I didn't know they ever did three broods in a year and I didn't think they would do one this late in the season.

Certainly something to smile about.

Colorful Flowers
Black-eyed Susans, one of my favorite wildflowers, are blooming in the field where we walk the dogs.

They're such a happy flower. They make me smile.

The Heat Wave is Almost Over
The thunderstorms blowing into the area are bringing a cold front. Temps in the mid 70s tomorrow.

Sunny and I are going to a doggy school picnic at Lake Michigan to celebrate. We're hanging around to watch the sun set over the lake - and I'm bringing a sweater.

Weather Whine, Part II
The National Weather Service gives the most pessimistic and depressing forecasts. I guess that's their job, to warn us of the worse that can happen.

Yesterday's weather was much better than predicted.

Yes, there were thunderstorms Saturday night and Sunday morning, but we didn't get the high winds, hail, and flooding.

Yes, it was very hot (temp hit 96, heat index hit 110) and humid Sunday, but there was a little breeze and we were comfortable reading in front of the fan with nice cold drinks and some ice cream.

In the early evening, just as we were thinking the weather wasn't so bad after all, everything got very quiet as the power grid went out. The fans stopped spinning, the refrigerator stopped cooling, and (we have well water) the faucets stopped working, and the toilet stopped flushing. It was immediately miserable.

We were toward the east edge of the outage which extended to Lake Michigan, about 40 miles west of us, and lasted 5 hours.

We were just complaining commenting about the slow response of the power company when things started humming again. We immediately stopped talking and jumped in front of a fan.

Enough weather whining. I'm all done weather whining as long as the power stays on and my flight out of here (August 3) doesn't get cancelled. Before I stop, though, I have to say: July has not been a pleasant month this year. Is it August yet?

Weather Whine
Where we live in SW Michigan, the weather is normally very variable. If something ugly happens, like a heat wave or a super cold spell, we deal with it and expect the weather to change in a few days.

When we have temperatures in the 90s, a thunderstorm normally brings in cooler air. After a thunderstorm we expect to be back to pleasant temperatures. Maybe even chilly temperatures.

If you've been following my weather whinings, you know that things have not been normal this July. We've had temperatures in the "hot", "hotter", or "way too hot" range every day and thunderstorms almost every evening. With very high humidity.

Today was only "hot". It stayed in the mid 80s and was comfortable outside as long as we weren't being active. And now, because I couldn't say it better, here is the National Weather Service forecast for this evening:

A STRONG WARM FRONT WILL PUSH TOWARD LOWER MICHIGAN TONIGHT. AHEAD OF THAT WARM FRONT...A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM WISCONSIN AND WESTERN UPPER MICHIGAN WILL BE MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 50 MPH TOWARD LOWER MICHIGAN AROUND SUNSET.

DAMAGING WINDS UP TO 70 MPH AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM THE STRONGEST OF THESE STORMS. IN ADDITION...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTING WILL ACCOMPANY THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

ALSO...LOCALLY TORRENTIAL RAIN...PERHAPS IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES COULD LEAD TO SOME URBAN AND POOR DRAINAGE FLOODING ALONG WITH RAPID RISES ON SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS.

So, what does it mean when it's 85 degrees and a warm front moves in?

THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE OUT OF THE AREA BY 9 OR 10 AM ON SUNDAY. THEN POSSIBLY THE HOTTEST AIR SINCE JULY 29TH OF 1999 MAY OVERSPREAD THE AREA.

... COULD RESULT IN HEAT INDEX VALUES NEAR 105 DEGREES. A HEAT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED.

I'm starting to hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. Time to unplug my laptop again.

Humidity Looks Like This
After taking the dogs for their morning walk, I grabbed the camera and went back out by myself to take some pictures of the humidity. You know it's humid when you can actually see the moisture in the air.

The sun is trying to shine through (upper left), but the air is so full of moisture that it appears we're living in a cloud.

Late yesterday afternoon we had a thunderstorm. Again. This weather pattern has been going on for weeks now. Hot and humid in the daytime and thunderstorms late in the day.

The power usually goes out for some people in the area. We've had our turn. Yesterday was something a little different, though. There was a flash of lightening, the phone rang very strangely to accompany the thunder, and that was the end of our phone service for the rest of the day.

Storm Damage
Since we live in a very wooded area, it's best to be inside when the storms blow in.

Branches blow down, power lines go down, and lightening hits where ever it pleases.

This large willow branch fell right across the creek. It's almost big enough to use for a bridge.

The soft willow wood is not good for much except a nice outdoor bonfire. Fortunately we live in an area where it's OK to burn, except on rare occasions when there hasn't been enough rain and the township puts out a fire ban. At the moment we have the opposite conditions. Everything is too wet to burn.

House Built of Sticks
About three weeks ago when I went to clean out the nest box used by the tree swallows, I found it full of sticks. A wren nest.

Male wrens put sticks in multiple nesting sites and let the female choose the one she likes best. I've had the sticks before, but never had a nest box be the chosen place.

Usually I make a note on what date I found the sticks. Then, after a few weeks of no activity, I empty the box out.

This time, however, there was activity. Wrens sitting on the box and wrens going in and out of the box.

This misty morning, I was able to catch a picture of one of the parents sitting on the roof with hatching food in its mouth.

How pleased I am to provide a nest box for the chattery little wrens. Sure wish I could look inside.

It's not possible to open the front flap to monitor the nest without destroying the structure of the nest, so I'm just watching from afar.

First, The Weather
It's hot, muggy, lazy weather with thunderstorms in the evening. That has been the weather since Monday, that is the weather for today, and that is the forecast for the next five days.

It works as the perfect rationalization for getting on line early in the day instead of doing housework. After all, the past two evenings have resulted in lightening and loss of power. It could happen again. Better to have posted than to have vacuumed. Don't you agree?

New Sock Pattern
This sock pattern has been in my head for months. It's a pleasure to get it on the needles and have it turn out even better than I'd hoped.

I'm calling it More Fun than Cables, which describes the knitting process.

The picture is on Seasons of Violet because I need a family member to like these socks so I know how long to make the foot.

The socks are being knit for normal width feet because I'm going to publish the pattern. They're NOT going to fit my narrow feet or I'd be happy to keep them for myself.

First come gets um! email me.

For more details on the knitting and yarn, visit Stitches of Violet.

Harry Potter
In preparation for the Saturday arrival of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, I've started reading the two previous Harry Potter books.

I had forgotten how enjoyable the Harry Potter books are to read. I refuse to rush through them, so I'm not going to be ready to start the new book on Saturday unless I do a reading marathon between now and then. Unlikely.

If I was still working full time, reading the HP books would have been carefully scheduled and I would be finishing them just as the new book arrived.

Life is less planned now. I think it's a good thing. But sometimes I wonder.

July 10th!
Yikes! Where is this month going? Where ever it's headed, it's one third of the way there already. Yikes!

Comments
Haloscan, the commenting software used on this blog, has been having server problems for the past month or so.

The comment counter at the end of each post is not accurate. There are more comments than the counter indicates.

They say they're going to have this problem fixed soon. Evidently "soon" means weeks or even months, obviously not hours.

Halascan is free with ads. I pay a small fee to have comments without ads. I'd be willing to pay a little more for a reliable service. Here's hoping the comments are tallying up correctly soon.

Greenfield Village Pictures
The selected pictures from our day at Greenfield Village are here.

Beep Beep! Splash Splash!
Granddaughter Kimmy and I have been having summer fun this week. The weather has been perfect, not too hot and not too cool. Things have pretty much gone as planned on both our trips. We didn't forget anything important, and we enjoyed our destinations and each other's company. It's been great.

Early Wednesday morning we climbed on a tour bus for Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.

There was way too much to see and do in one day, so we did what we wanted. We spent the entire day in Greenfield Village and never made it to the museum.

We're sorry we missed the museum, but we wouldn't have wanted to miss anything that we did see and do, so no regrets.

Just a few of the things we did:

• Took a ride around the village in a Model T. That's us, sitting in the back seat.
  
• Cruised around a scenic lagoon in the paddle wheel steamboat Suwanee.
  
• Hopped rides on the 1930 Model AA shuttle bus.
  
• Rode on horse drawn carriages as we went from place to place in the village.
  
• Rode a train pulled by a historic steam engine. What a "blast".

Kimmy's favorite ride was the 1913 Herschell-Spillman restored carousel.

We came back to this one over and over again.

Once I get them uploaded, there will be pictures of more of the carousel detail in a Picturetrail album.. Lord willing, the pictures will be online this weekend. (I have dialup and it's painfully slow.)

There will also be other Greenfield Village pictures in the album. I'll post a link for anyone who wants to look.

Thursday we sent to the Lake Michigan beach at South Haven. Kimmy spent three hours in the water swimming, playing, and doing handstands.

I sat on the beach, rubbed on sun screen, and occasionally handed out money for a drink or some ice cream. So why am I so exhausted today?

Heading Out of Town
Today I drove to Battle Creek and picked up Granddaughter Kimmy.

Early, way too early, tomorrow morning we're getting on a bus for a day trip to Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, about a two and a half hour drive across the state.

As I kissed her good night, she warned me that sometimes she's grumpy when someone tries to wake her up so early in the morning. But she's going to try not to be. I understand.

Thursday morning we're going to sleep in, get up and lounge around, and eventually pack up and head for Lake Michigan. And in the evening, we'll dine somewhere she can get chicken nuggets and I'll take her home.

It's unlikely there will be another post before Friday.