Whether the weather

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not, 

Whether the weather be cold, 

Or whether the weather be hot.

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather

Whether you like it or not!

Do that one five times fast.

It's been all about the weather around here.  It's July, so we are getting ready for satan's blast furnace to open up.  We got a really, really good rain Saturday night and today, I'm going to put up the umbrellas so I can keep as much of it in the ground as possible...you may not remember the umbrellas and I can't find a picture, but I have a bunch of broken and cheap umbrellas that I can put in the garden to provide some removable shade.  They just have to be picked up on watering day and then put back.  They did a great job last year of taking the stress off of some of the plants that bloomed so well this year.  Not sure those two things are related, but not willing to test it.  

I've also spent the weekend tracking hurricane beryl.  And, unfortunately, it looks like it might be a strong storm year for us.  We were so sure Beryl was coming in south of us, which would have meant we'd get a lot of rain.  But, it came in east of us and we aren't forecast to get anything.  We could have used it.  

How about some puppy pictures.  We got Dottie when she was 8 weeks old and now she's about to be 6 months.  

And, no, that terrified look on her face isn't because she was being held against her will.  It's because Rob started talking and she thought there might be a treat in it for her.

She is a handful!  We're pretty sure she's got a good bit of Jack Russell Terrier in her and she's smarter than both of us.  She wants to be good, but for heaven's sake, don't let her get bored.  To tire her, Rob walks her a mile, then I walk her a mile and then we walk both dogs several blocks.  And, then she runs around the back yard at full tilt for a while.  And, then she's ready for a nap.  And, then she does it all again.  

Random photo of our 4th of July cake.   I used the same butter and powdered sugar frosting I use all the time, but it was so sweet it made our teeth tingle and kept Rob awake part of the night.  But, damn was it good!  Orange with orange curd filling and a little orange curd cut into the frosting.  Mmmmm!

Random picture of the neighborhood hawk.  I know, I know what she's hunting.  But, she's magnificent.  This photo makes her look small, but she's about 15" from tip to tail.  (at least I think this is the female.  the male is much bigger.)

Rob heard me practice the ukulele yesterday and complimented me on my progress.  I practice every day.  I'm taking a '10-day' class, but I'm only progressing about a class per week.  At the end of lesson 4, the instructor said I needed to have 4-5 songs down and able to play them without looking at my hands.  I'm working on that now.  First I had to find 5 songs I knew all the words to.  It's been a while since I tried to learn more than the chorus of anything.  

I saw this the other day and it cracked me up!  This truly is what being gay is like anymore.  

Okay, that's about it for me today.  I want to make sure I didn't give anyone the wrong impression last week.  I don't believe President Biden should be running for a second term.  But, if he's the candidate, he'll definitely get my vote.  No offense against the president, but I'd vote for a small dog's turd before I'd vote for trump.  There's more than one kind of strong.

Everybody have a great week!  I'll be out of town.  I'm headed to Dallas for business, then tagging a trip to my Dad's at the end of that.  Drive safely!

Lane