The weather outside is terrible. What we had for Spring turned out to be almost all rain. April dropped 14 inches and May had 22 days of solid rain. The last two days the afternoon temperature climbed into the low 90's and summer isn't supposed to be here yet. So we all stayed inside and enjoyed the company of our Rottweilers.
After a one-day heat wave, when yesterday's temperature went to 90-degrees, Friday the weather was more like Spring than mid-Summer. After dinner we all went for a walk down to the back of our property and the boys, Ruff and Axl, got to run around. Mom and Sassy came with us, too. Here are some more pictures, including a nice group shot.
Click the pictures for a larger view.
Of course, Ruff got there first and waited for everyone to catch up.
Then Axl decided to show Ruff how fast he could run. Axl is 9 1/2 years old and he still runs faster than our Ruff who is 5 years younger than him.
We have waited to see the Sun for several weeks so the saturated ground could dry out from the near record rainfall we have had. Tuesday was a gorgeous day, temp was in the mid-70's. I managed to do a quick mowing of the grass in spite of the soggy ground. Wednesday started out nice but the temperature climbed to 90 degrees by mid--afternoon and the weatherman said it was like mid-July instead of mid-May. One good thing is we have been able to get the Rottweilers out of the house to play in the backyard. I got some new pictures, too.
Here is a picture of Ruff in front of the Fir trees I planted four years ago. The rain has been very good for them and you can see the abundant new growth on the branches. I took this picture after dinner, about two hours before sunset.
Click the photos for a larger view.
This next picture shows the mud tracks from my lawn tractor after I managed to cut the foot-tall grass a few days ago. That is our boy Axl checking it out.
And here is a very goofy looking picture of Ruff. He decided to shake his head just as I was taking his picture and he turned his face into a rubber mask that just flopped all around. I know this effect can be done in the computer but this is not a photo-shoped image. This is how it looked when I unloaded the camera,
When we came back in the house Ruff climbed up in my lap for a belly rub. I just realized this is the second picture of me in less than a week. I guess my wife got tired of being the only human to be photographed with the three Rottweilers.
Last night we all sat in the living room watching a movie we rented from Blockbuster video. My wife sat on one couch with Ruff laying next to her and I sat on the other couch with Axl. I should mention that we always watch the TV with the lights out so the room was fairly dark. After the movie ended and the credits were playing I got up and left to get something. When I came back I sat down on top of a Rottweiler. I didn't know who it was until I turned on the light and saw that Ruff had climbed on my couch and was laying next to Axl. I quietly left to get the camera and to my amazement they were still in the same place. I have never seen two male Rotts laying next to each other this way before.
Happy Mother's Day to mom's everywhere but especially to the wives and mom's of our brave American soldiers. Mom's are very special people. They fill our lives with love and help to guide us on the right path of life. Of all the mom's in the world, the one's I hold dearest are those who serve in our military. I purchased this poster to remind me of this every day. It was an illustration on Reader's Digest cover a few years ago
Rottie Mom's are no different even though their "kids" walk on four legs instead of two. Our three Rottweilers appreciate their mom every day. They follow her around the house like a shadow, they worry about her and keep her company and protect her even when they are asleep. Even though the attention they give their mom is no different today than any other day a few pictures are still appropriate.
Well, April is gone and we actually missed the all-time historical record for rain in that month by .16 inch, slightly less than 1/5 of an inch. Besides, we are now more than 12-inches of rain above normal for the first four months of the year. Can't complain too much because last year we had a drought along with a non-stop heat wave of 90+ degrees all Summer long. The drought last year was so bad we all worried how many trees wouldn't survive but we kept the hoses running on as many as we could and it looks like we didn't loose any of them.
I managed to cut the grass with the tractor last week on a rare day we had some sunshine. The grass was over a foot tall and the tractor was leaving mud trails wherever I drove it. The same day we had the Rotts out for a walk and everything including the tractor and the dogs needed a bath when we got back.
This year we have had lots of severe storms along with the rain but thankfully nothing like they had further South. We had one scare during the last storm when the sirens went off and the weather man showed us some rotation in the upper atmosphere almost directly over our house. I took this picture off the TV from the Channel 9 weather report. You can see the circle in the middle that represented the rotation.
Click the pictures for a larger view.
Our friend Lucy moved into her new apartment and our Rottweilers are already beginning to miss her little Dachshund Tinker. In other words, things are getting back to our normal level of quiet around here. Because of the rain it is difficult to take the Rotts for walks in the back yard every day so all they have to do is take naps around the house. I love to take pictures of our Rottweilers running and playing in the back yard but taking pictures indoors is fun, too. Here are a few taken within the last few days, including one of yours truly, me.
Jackie and I celebrated our 51st anniversary on April 29th, the same day those other two people decided to get married in England. Hey, we picked that day first. We had a quiet stay at home celebration without the TV cameras and reporters bothering us. We like it better this way.
