The DOOM Spaniels

"Soooo... hooooot... too hot to pose... too hot to look up... melting..."

*administer one (1) carrot each*

"Oh, okay, everything is perfectly all right now. We're all fine here. How are you?"

Knee high by the 4th of July!

It was very hot. We were all tired and ready to go inside. We were *going* inside.

But then! A big delivery truck drove past the perimeter fence! Tristan doesn't like big trucks! Tristan had to go yell at the big delivery truck. It was Very Important.

Yvaine and I went on into the air conditioning, and Yvaine got a carrot.

Tristan came to the pasture gate a few minutes later. Tristan had Regrets.

~Snippets from Around the Farm~

I have been seeing these blue and green dragonflies recently; before that, it was mostly the green dragonflies. I love to see the tiny dragons near the house. They defend us from the nasty biting insects.

The skink was a tiny little brightly colored thing. That's a typical 2x4 it's on. (Actual size 3.5" across, or 8.9cm.) I don't think I've ever seen one so young before. And by the irregularity in his tail, I wonder if he's already sacrificed his tail once in his short little life.

It is so hot out there, I was fatigue-clumsy while hosing the Big Doggies and filled my shoes with water, and I didn't bother to stop and dump them out.

*slosh slosh slosh* all the way to the house

It's the hot season! That means I can occasionally catch Yvaine off guard and panting--instead of posing in a somber, focused "stay"--so she looks in photos like the happy little munchkin that she truly is.

Occasionally.

As it's hot weather again, but the Big Doggies are still fuzzy, they're getting nice cool hose baths. [first photo: two soggy dripping horses]

Naturally, the first thing a wet horse does is to roll and cover herself in dirt or sand. Tristan found this a bit startling, the first time one of the wet Big Doggies suddenly flopped down on the ground and wriggled fairly close to him. [second photo: Tristan crouching, braced to bolt or pounce as a grey horse rolls]

But he just backed away a bit and watched with big round eyes as those legs flailed around in the air, then Firefly stood up and shook herself off. [third photo: Tristan a little further away, standing more calmly, grey horse in the middle of a good body shake]

The next day, when wet Big Doggies went to roll, Tris just moved out of the way and kept sniffing elsewhere. It's boring now.

Welp, summer has officially returned to Florida. It's brought with it the bugs, and in turn the tree frogs that lurk around the porch light and eat the bugs.

I was *really* hoping that by the time they returned, Tristan would have matured past his obsession with the little hoppy wall clingers. No, Tris, when we go outside at night, you still need to leave the porch--leaving the porch does involve walking away, yes--and do your Important Puppy Business out in the yard. Please.

Please don't eat Kermit. We like Kermit. 

... we may need to put in a baby gate at the bottom of the ramp...

This is really good to see. After Helping to Feed the Big Doggies, Yvaine is usually hot and tired, and prefers to lay on the cool tile for a while. After Tristan joined us, he was always very hyped when Yv would lay on the floor. She could tell him to back off, but she was *tired*, so it was less effort to go lay on the bed instead. It looks like Tristan has learned the difference between "resting" and "inviting play" at these times, and Yvaine can rest & relax on the cool floor again.

The Spaniel On the Grassy Roll

Where are you going? "We're coming with you!" [Image Description: two cocker spaniels run ahead of me in the grass, but glance back to make sure I'm still coming.]

Since Merlin has expressed an interest in ice, I’ve been giving him some crushed ice after we come in out of the heat. (And some ice cubes in their water.)

Yvaine assumes this is an opportunity for more carrots, but she feels that way about *everything*. Yvaine is the very Embodiment of Optimism.

[Image Description: Yvaine, a white and red cocker spaniel, faces the camera wagging. Merlin, a buff cocker spaniel, eats crushed ice from a red plate. Featuring, in the background, Merlin’s Grody Ball, which he set down when he came into the kitchen.]

It is SO HOT out there... *pause for effect* (Lone voice from the audience: "HOW HOT IS IT?" ) It is SO HOT out there, that when we go back to the Inside from the barn, Yvaine doesn't make a huge detour in order to get as many last-minute sniffs as possible. Instead, she runs ahead in the pasture and waits in the shade, until Merlin and I get to the gate, and runs to catch up. Then she runs ahead and waits in different shade, until we get to the house. She can't just *walk*, of course, and get there at the same time we do. Because she's Yvaine. [Image Description: Yvaine, a white and red cocker spaniel, has run ahead and stands under a small group of trees by the pasture gate.]

You guys, you guys, you have NO IDEA …

You know what, it *is* pretty rough to be a Florida farm dog in August.

[Image Description: two cocker spaniels sit and lay in a kitchen, panting. They’re still cheerful, but the heat is really taking it out of them.]