Dogs and Halos

 You say tomato, I say tomahto.  Some call this a sun halo, others a sun dog.  You just never know what you are going to see from my back yard.    Wasn't I surprised when I went outside yesterday to hang out in the hot sun, hoping to pass over Hump Day WITHOUT working.  

When I sat down on my lounge chair with my cold drink, book in hand, and looked up, THIS is what I saw.  Not in all of my many years have I seen this here.  It's supposed to be good luck, but really, it's just ice crystals forming in the air which is supposed to let you know there is a big rain storm on the way in the next 24 hours.  

Well that's weird because the weather guessers say we'll have sun for ten days in a row.  It's a sign .... of what, I'm not sure, but it's a sign.  Over an hour later, it looked like this.  Again, those clouds are a distinct sign of rain ... or so the Indians of old say.  It lasted for quite some time before disappearing into the blue sky.

Maybe it was a sign I'm going to get my side yard fixed.  Since no one bothered to contact me, I called them.  I explained to the gal that this was not just a minor little spill and that I needed to talk to the owner. She was pretty shocked when I told her it was 15-20 (or more) gallons of product that soaked into the ground.  I even mentioned the 150 square feet of sod that had to be replaced.

I knew they thought the kid was exaggerating ... but he wasn't.   They are supposed to stop by tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say.  It's going to take them awhile to dig out all that stuff that soaked in before it hit the fence line.  

I took one short sunning break since I needed to hit the store for some Jonathan food.  Cole law .... he gets lots of Cole slaw.  The last time I was there, I picked up a roasted chicken ... mostly for Cooper.  I know, nowhere near as good as Costco.  This time it was terrible, so I mentioned it to the cashier.  

She said to write down my name and phone number.  Back home on the lounge chair, I was pretty surprised when they actually called me back.  I didn't want anything from it, I just wanted to tell them their chickens tasted terrible.  She immediately offered free chicken, or chicken with a lot more seasoning.  

No thank you ... I just want a chicken that tastes good.  My spidey senses kicked in.  You are buying grass fed chickens, yes?  It's the same bad taste that comes from grass fed beef.  Are you buying Foster Farms chickens?  Because they are the biggest producer around here with millions of birds being processed just down the highway.  

No she said ... they come from Tyson.  That answered my question.  Tyson doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to chicken.  She offered TWO free chickens this time.  No thanks ... I'm not into eating bad tasting chicken.  I guess Costco, though farther away in another town, will be my go-to.

I laid out a little longer and admired my roses.  These are the only thing I've ever been able to grow with some success.  

And looky here ... yet another gorgeous flower from the cuttings chopped off in Sacramento.  I discovered the whole 5 foot square area is covered with flower buds.  It seems however that they will only bloom one at a time.  That's weird.  I don't even know what it is called, but the colors are amazing.

Sufficiently cooked and now sweating up a hot storm, I gave up on sun sitting and went back inside.  More rodeo ensued because you know, watching cowboy butts is not a bad pastime.  I'm just thankful none of my horses ever bucked like the ones they ride nowadays.  Good grief those horses are WILD and CRAZY, mostly the new crop of young ones coming up in the rodeo circuit.

There was a little sewing going on, but not much.  That center block that looks a bit darker, is MUCH darker in person.  I've only got five big squares to go, but have lost a bit of momentum when it comes to sewing.  This is the busiest month of the year for the Lodge, so maybe things will slow down now.

Dinner was short and simple.  I discovered these individual sized pie shells a while back, making it SO much easier not to cut a wide swath in a big pie.  This is key line pie ... one of my summer favorites.  I know it's not summer yet, but it sure tasted wonderful.

It's lodge night once again ... with an initiation of another 30 people into the club.  We used to have maybe 30 people in an entire year join up, but now we are having 30 people every single month.  Yessirree that means another penguin suit night.  It's always a black tie affair.  

To make it even MORE fun, it's going to be the first of many safety inspections to be done.  Hopefully my LAST since all I have to do is show the new victim ... I mean recruit ... what HE has to do.  I should be home free after that.  It's all good because he's a VERY good looking cowboy who looks GREAT in those Levis!!