Hot Days in Boulder County

I thought I could feel my skin sizzle yesterday, walking from the Niwot Park-n-Ride to Spike's house, even though I was wearing SPF 45 sunblock. It was 93 degrees and the humidity was 11% - so the air was sucking the moisture out of your body, or so it seemed. My kits are out lolling in the shade and watching a young male squirrel - it's 10 a.m. and in the low 80s already. There were 14 reported wildfires in Colorado yesterday; the one nearest here was a 2,000 acre grassland/pasture fire that started beside one of the Interstate highways....

Spike has been an absolute sweetheart; this morning he was a little perturbed with me for watering the flowers while he was outside, but he didn't get wet. Tomorrow I'll spend the morning with Spike, from noon until 2 with DeJa, and then head over to take care of Brandi for a week; after Brandi I'm booked for another week out in North Niwot with Lucy and Pepper. In August I'll be with Hila and the chicken flock, then in September I'm with Spike-Meister again for the first half (with visits to Suki and Boo), and then (possibly) with Nikki, Abby, Shadow, Boris and Natasha for the last week - if Kohlbie makes it to the Nationals and if Jane is feeling well enough to continue to show him.

A blue jay yelled at me this morning while I was watering the flowers in Niwot. When I first visited Colorado in the mid-70s, blue jays were not a part of the local bird scene - nor were cardinals. Now both are seen with increasing frequency in the eastern part of the state. Seeing the jay pant reminded me to fill the bird bath and bird feeders - so Spike would be entertained if he deigned to monitor the yard during the day. I'll be busy working with pets and homes through the first half of this month, then I'll head back into the trails of genealogy for the last part of the month.