Keepin' Cool in Summer Topic #2

This week I'm asked to share what makes me feel like summer has really arrived. Well, just like the kids, since I'm in school nine months of the year, I do feel like summer is here when school lets out. However, we do get out quite early in these parts (May 23 this year), so sometimes the weather is summery then, but often times it's not. This year we had a few nice days sprinkled here and there, but mostly we've had a long, cold, and lately very rainy, spring. Last week I actually ran the heater in my car a couple of times because my toes were so cold!

Another thing that makes me have that summer kind of feeling is when I've got my planters filled and looking purdy out on my patio. I try to wait until most danger of frost is passed, which they "say" is the end of May. Who knows??

Even when it's cold out, if the sun pounds through my south sunroom window, my doggies think it's got to be warm and inviting outside. I tell them it's cold, but they're not satisfied until I let them out to discover for themselves that they indeed cannot lay on the cold, frozen brick. After about thirty seconds, they're woofing to come back in. However. . . .

When I see THIS. . . .

. . . I KNOW it's summer, cause this is no cold-weather doggie I have here. When my hounds lay down on the warm patio brick and bask, I know it's time to grab my knitting and a cup of coffee and join them.

And this big guy may LOOK tough and vicious (yeah, right!!), but he's a big baby that cries to be in the sun. (And to sit on his mommy's lap--all 78 pounds of him.) He finds even the smallest sunbeam shining through a window unto the carpet and lays himself down in it.
As you can see, it's a tough job being the family dogs, but it's gotta be done!!