Too Hot For Pants

Obviously we're not the only ones in the country dealing with hot weather.  
But I am officially declaring July 2012 as Too Hot For Pants. 

We're still hitting the river about every other day. Lazlo is getting better at holding his breath and dredging rocks from the bottom, but for some reason he tries to chew on them so we're discussing what's appropriate behavior with rocks.

We found a tennis ball at the beach last week so I attempted to lure Mia out deeper in the river with it and it worked. Swimming is not her favorite activity, she'd rather scour the beach for treasures, but she is able to make a few doggy paddle strokes when I take her out and throw the ball back to the shore.

Pretty impressive for a dog that survived Hurricane Katrina. We're taking it slow, though.

My potted veggies are growing well, though it still seems unlikely they'll get big enough to produce fruit. 

Mr. Stone Pine has some volunteer clover growing in the pot. 

I have a single corn plant growing (among the bindweed) on the side of the house. Assuming that an unsterilized corn kernel from the bird feeder is the source. It's not going to produce anything since corn needs to be pollinated by other corn plants, but I don't really have the heart to pull it up. Found some sunflowers starting to sprout in my potted veggies, too. Someone at the bird seed factory was napping when this bag went through.

My parents convinced me to buy an air conditioner for the tiny house. I was so reluctant (for four years now) for obvious reasons but with Keith being gone and the dogs spending most of Mon.-Wed. inside while I'm at work, there was no other solution. I didn't feel comfortable putting them in the dog pen during this kind of heat. 

So we have an air conditioner now. Other than using more electricity, the biggest con is that it's in the window above the bed and so in the evenings when I turn off the A/C I don't get a breeze through that window. It's cut down on the air flow considerably and the house tends to stay hotter in the evenings. 

Take the lack of air flow and throw in the sultry, oppressive weather and it's most definitely Too Hot For Pants. 

Keith is on his way to fire camp - finally, after being in Montana over a month. They've been driving back and forth between the co. HQ in Billings and the site of the contract starting point, Cody, Wyo. knowing something would happen soon. And now it finally is.