Summer time........and the livin' is easy...........

Kathy called to join up for a farm walk. That's always a risky proposition with Kathy and George. The day before yesterday the call was....."George just chased a deer and headed your way."...........to which I pack up my three and head out with cell phone and treats. George was caught by Nate, but since we were all out we took a walk with George.......on leash..........that was until the dogs wanted to race around and play. Kathy??? What were you thinking???? George and Colby headed into the rock pile after a chippie. Colby came when called, but George??? Finally Kathy called Nate to come get George. She didn't want to fall trying to navigate the rocks getting George. Back on leash...............that was until the dogs wanted to race around and play. Is this sounding familiar? I quickly saw George looking thirsty and recalled everyone and told Kathy to get him leashed! Phew, crisis averted. Yesterday was another story. Or was it the SAME OLE STORY!!!!

Before we get to the story I will show you how much fun we had. It was hot for the first time since .......last year??? Pretty much, I don't think we have hit 80, yet. With all the rain the farm ponds are pretty clean. Often, since they are pumped out for irrigation, they are slimy and muddy and icky. With 8 inches of rain just the other day (no, I am not exaggerating, I think it was like 10 inches of rain!!!!) the pond is full and the streams are running fast, so it's pretty good swimming for the dogs. Spur is still learning to swim. Roscoe and George help out along the edge. They don't swim, but they can tell Spur where the Charlee Bear is I tossed in. Roscoe, little black and rust furry stomach hates swimming so much he won't even go in for a Charlee Bear!! George would just rather have a ground hog. Charlee Bears are WAY over-rated. You don't see Colby, she has already eaten most of the Charlee Bears, she is a great swimmer, and is busy hunting frogs and rodents along the edge.

Spur still worries some about swimming. Notice the facial expression? Just not totally comfortable, yet. He likes it and wants to do it, but needs to work a little on his form. He's getting it, but needs some more experience/confidence.

So, wanna know how our walk ended up?? Notice George's leash in that photo along the edge of the pond?? Well, the dogs wanted to race around and play after their swim. Oh, heck, I don't need to lead you on, you KNOW what happened......George got thirsty and headed to the stream before we could get him leashed. This time, we were near the very thick brush lined area of the stream. An area where it isn't mowed, the poplars and alders are starting to look like small trees, the raspberries are thriving, it's THICK along that edge. We can't hear him, we can't see him. The other dogs are starting to get tired of hopping through the thicket. We call, we offer treats, we bush wack and get scratched and irritated. I think we were irritated the minute we saw him head off that way, but we are sure irritated now. NO George. Finally, Kathy says she will just go get the golf cart and come back and hope he appears. What else can we do? I leave her and head home with my dogs, even Roscoe. I say that because she offered to trade me and said she would even trade George for Roscoe right now. Oh MY! That's saying a lot! She said she thinks she and Roscoe would get along great, since they both have an "attitude". Yeah, she had an attitude alright. Definitely an attitude right then and there!! You have to have an attitude to want to trade your dog for Roscoe!!! That's some attitude!!

We head home. An hour later she calls to report George, home and safe. He was stuck at the head of a ground hog hole and would not leave it. He was right under our noses all along, but was not going to leave that hole. He's a terrier, what can we say.

Our walk home brought out the deer flies!!!

The dogs do the "deer fly dance". I tried to capture it, but only got the head scratch. Those things BITE!!! Poor Roscoe seems to always have them bite his ass. That's always fun for us, swatting deer flies attached to Roscoe's ass. :O

Today is another hot day. Not my favorite weather, but at least it isn't raining. Seriously, we got like 20 inches of rain the other day!!! In about an hour!! Honestly, it was like 40 inches of rain!

Hey, but I am not complaining, I got 100 bales of hay in the loft!!! Coarse, scratchy first crop, but it's hay and it's dry and I am HAPPY!!!! They made it last week during the "dry spell". Now they can't even think about getting a tractor on the fields. 50 inches of rain takes time to soak in.