I know, I know. I’m ashamed of myself. I knew I wouldn’t be able to blog for a couple weeks, but that turned into many weeks. 😦
But I have good reason for my absence – besides my regular work, I was finishing a book I started writing some time ago! It’s a cozy mystery with a twist – it’s got a special appeal for dog lovers. I’ll reveal more as soon as it’s published, hopefully this fall. (Emphasis on “hopefully”!) 🙂 I’m going through my second round of edits, then I’ll send it off to my editor in August.
We’ve only been able to visit a few blogs here and there, but we’ve missed everyone tremendously. We haven’t gone on vacation, but we’ve been busy with lots of things.
I haven’t done too much outdoorsy stuff – it’s been way too hot and humid. Summer is my least favorite time of year and my countdown to fall is well underway! (You can throw tomatoes at me for disliking summer – I’ll just put them into a salad LOL)
It’s so hot, this squirrel flattened himself out under our patio table!
He can’t get any flatter than that! LOL
But at least we’ve gotten some wonderful rainbow chard from our garden:
Fresh rainbow chard! Garden to table in half an hour. 🙂
And our flowers are blooming beautifully as long as I water them twice a day:
summer flowers
And we’ve had a steady stream of flying visitors:
Hummingbirds!
A rare instance where one hummingbird actually stopped flitting at warp speed!
Daisy’s been pretty patient, though she does want to know how her blog buddies are. She doesn’t like the hot weather at all and wants to come in as soon as she takes care of business outside.
I’m so DONE with this heat! I’m pooped!
We’re part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop!
Everyday Adventures in Havachon Heaven 
Welcome back, we missed you! Happy to hear the book is done – an awesome reason for time off.
Thank you – on both counts! 🙂
That squirrel is a crack up! Glad you’re back and I am so intrigued by the book.
Thank you Mary! Isn’t he a riot? I’ve never seen another squirrel do that – he reminded me of one of those awful old bear rugs some people used to have!
Glad to see you guys back, if a bit melted 😉 Congrats on finishing up the book, that’s no easy feat.
Thanks Will! The writing part was fun (once I dedicated more time to it), but the editing and re-editing and re-re-re…well, you get the idea…that’s the tough part!
Glad to see you back, and congrats on the book! It sounds intriguing. Our summer hasn’t really been very hot here in NH, so you’d probably like it here (I’d like it hotter). We have a few hot days and then it feels like fall again!
Oh that’s ideal for us! I’ve always wanted to move farther north, deeper into the New England states. Maybe one day! 🙂
Hi Daisy & Co, glad to see you back although having some time off to finish your book is as good a reason as any. How exciting…hopefully it will be published soon so I can get my hands on it!
That squirrel’s pose cracked me up!
Thank you Barb! The squirrel had me laughing too – surprisingly, he stayed there quite a while!
It’s so nice to see you back again. I did check from time to time to be sure I hadn’t just overlooked you. You have a very good excuse for not “making the rounds” too often. Congratulations on getting your book to this point, and I love mysteries. I’ll be excited to read it. With Daisy and her penchant for mischief, I wonder if she was an inspiration. 🙂
Great photos. And when heat can flatten a squirrel, we know you’ve had a time of it! So nice to see Miss Daisy!
Debra, that’s so sweet of you to have checked for new blog posts from me! I’m truly touched. It was fun writing the book, but the editing and re-editing is another story (no pun intended!). I’m so glad to have a true editor I can give it to for the final polish! Daisy was definitely an inspiration for the dog-centric part of the book, but most of the mischief comes from humans. 😉
Your phrase “when heat can flatten a squirrel” has me laughing – I love it! Now I picture him being force-flattened by the heaviness of the weather. 😀
Glad to have you back. No tomato throwing here, I’m a big fan of fall myself. In fact, with all this yucky humidity I’m considering changing my favorite season to winter. LOL
Thanks for joining the blog hop.
LOL I hear ya, Jodi! 🙂
Don’t worry, summer isn’t our favourite time of year either! I must say, that squirrel cracked me up – too funny!
I saw your comment on a post on the blog, We Live in a Flat. I’m looking forward to reading more and getting to know you and Daisy!
It’s so nice to meet you! That squirrel really was funny, and he stayed there quite a long time too. 🙂
Congrats on almost finishing your book. That is exciting. Love the squirrel, what a character.
Thank you! He was a riot, I’ve never seen anything quite like that. 🙂
That is so cool that you finished your book! Congrats!
Thank you! It was fun and one of those “bucket list” things. 🙂
Welcome back 🙂
I know how it feel to be busy…not away but still has no time to blog.
Congrats and good luck with your book 🙂
Wow…Daisy hates both cold and heat, she is a true house dog.
Thank you Novroz! Yes she is definitely a house dog. She enjoys being out in fall weather most, but she’s always happiest to come back home again. 🙂
Maybe she needs to meet a farm dog so she can learn to love the outdoor life 😉
Haha That would be interesting! 😀
Nice to see you again – great pictures of the hummingbird too! I’ll be glad when it starts to cool off too… 🙂
Thanks Meg! It’s so hard to catch one of the hummingbirds in action, they flit away so quickly! And so far this is the only time I’ve seen one actually land.
Glad you’re back! I missed the Princess of Curls very much!
We had an extremely hot week – I hate summer weather, too! Do you think I should try to become 2-dimensional on the floor tiles? Or move into my fridge?
Haha I love “Princess of Curls”!!! Yes I think we’d all stay cooler if we could do the 2-dimensional squirrel thing! 😀
Welcome back! I’ve been the worst at blogging this summer – there’s always something else to do (and like you, that often involves writing!). Beautiful flowers – and nice job getting the hummingbird on film. I don’t think I’ve ever succeeded in that!
Thanks Sarah! I really didn’t realize how much time had slipped by since my last blog post until a couple of my blogging buddies mentioned it. But I did miss reading everyone else’s blogs, it’s so nice to catch up again. 🙂
I am with you. I hate the hot weather. Thanks for joining the hop. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Linda!
Your place looks like mine with the flattened out squirrels. I feel sorry for all of the wildlife in the heat. The birds here are standing with their mouths open and flapping their wings. Squirrels are flattened out on the porch and under the carport. Your chard and flowers are beautiful and so are the hummingbirds I love those little birds they are so cute. And of course sweet little Daisy is looking most precious at the end of the post. Hope you are all doing well and staying cool on the hot summer days. Love, hugs and nose kisses
Thanks so much for stopping by, Maggie! I know how precious your time is and I’m honored that you spent some of it with us. xoxo 🙂