There always seems to be a rainbow..........

..arching it's way over the grounds after a welcoming rain.

It all starts with an intense hot and muggy day......clouds that look like meringue on a pie

start gathering

some look as soft and cotton candy

and some start growling and begin to look menacing 

Some look like a cave man drawing........don't you think??

and some have the most amazing color

and then............they break and the ground opens it arms to the moisture.

After the rain is gone.........wild birds of every color

and shape come to quench their thirst

and to romp around in the cool wet grass.

From the Road Runner

to the groups of quail

and even the often reclusive badger comes for refreshment.

And the rainbow lingers a little while longer.

How about you? How has the weather been treating you this season?

Have you been too close to the terrible fires that are raging?

or are you getting too much rain?........to much heat?
Or is there a rainbow to lift your spirits?
I would love to hear!

The words " I think a skunk might have sprayed Sophie"

jolted me out of my sleepiness in the early morning hours.

How I wish I was just dreaming ..........

but no.........

 before I could force my eyes open to see my husband standing over me........

I could smell that horrible smell drifting in from the open back door.  

I hurriedly dress and rush outside to find a very sad and heavily slobbering Sophie,,,,,,

sitting on the patio.....head down........eyes blinking......and tail thumping .........

as if to say "  I know I was not supposed to chase that thing!"

This has been the one major worry I have out here.............SKUNK SPRAY

I have seen this skunk on the patio at night and I have constantly warned my husband and son to "watch out for that skunk" and

 "don't let Sophie out until you make sure the skunk is not there"

well........it happened..........

I  have always heard..........tomato juice is the remedy.........

I am 30 minutes away from any store and all I had on hand were two small cans of tomato sauce.

Nothing is more yucky than to be out on a still darkened patio.......in hot, humid weather..........

not even having time to brush my teeth........or my hair.........standing there with a really stinky dog........rubbing tomato sauce into it's fur.......yuck, yuck, yuck.........

while my husband......hurries.........and I do mean hurries off to work.........

leaving me ........to deal with this.............mess.

And just for your notes...........TOMATO SAUCE DOES NOT WORK!

My son researches for me and finds that hydrogen peroxide,  baking soda, and dish soap does the best.

Luckily.........I keep a lot of that on hand. The baking soda/peroxide  mixture I use on my vintage linens to get stains out.

And  I am forever washing dishes. 

So

If your dog gets sprayed.........dump the baking soda all over and then pour the peroxide all over that, then the dish soap......... and work into the hair. Rinse and repeat. Then bathe the dog in dog shampoo and 

you have a very squeaky, odor free, and stain free pooch!

And .........no ..........Sophie is not blonde from it all

After all of the drama, I came out of the bath to find Sophie......

barking in her sleep..........

chasing that skunk in her dreams no doubt .

The very next morning I found this young owl sitting on the floor of the garden well house.

 If you remember, I had posted earlier that the owls have made the old weathered well house a nesting place.

This is the second or third batch of owls that have hatched this year............ It had fallen from the hole in the ceiling . It had pin feathers all over it.........not quite ready to fly and unable to get back up into it's nest. 

I needed to get a step ladder from the house to be able to reach the nest.......and I did not want to leave the owl just sitting there..........I knew that it would go hide behind all of the junk in there ..............and I did not want to dig through it all to find it. So I scooped the owl up and brought it into the house with me......to find the ladder

It remained calm and just kept looking up at me with those big dark eyes, while it's foot had a tight clutch on my fingers. 

back into the well house, I stepped up to place the owl back into the rafters. I could hear the mother owl thumping around up there and I was worried she was going to get me.

I placed the young owl onto the top of the sheet rock and it let go of it's grip  on my fingers and walked into the darkness of the hole

I could not get high enough to poke my head in to take a look at the mother, so I just put my camera up through the hole and snapped this photo.

Since then, I have seen the young owl......peering at me through the hole , but ducking away when I say hello. A wildlife rehabilitator told me that the the owl should stop hatching out young by late fall......so hopefully, at that time,  we will be able to repair the well house and keep the wild life out.

To say the least........it has been a very exciting week........

whether I wanted it to be or not!