The Meaning of Dog Days and a Happy Fourth of July

To explain the meaning of the statement of the ‘Dog Days of Summer” — The Old Farmers Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3rd and ending August 11th, coinciding with (at sunrise) the rising of the Dog Star, Sirius.  The days are associated with very hot weather. Sirius is the “Dog Star” because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). Sirius is also the brightest star in the night sky.  I know so little about the stars but I learned this long, long ago from my maternal grandfather, William Hobson Thomas.   He didn’t use the fancy terms naming the constellations, my curiosity lead me to find that out in high school, but he did tell my brother and I about the Dog star.  I could probably do a Google search, but this will have to do.

Corn-is-high

Our corn is more than knee-high (by the Fourth of July) which is always a good sign.  The weeds are growing rapidly also!

Thank-you everyone for the gentle comments about  our story on the back page of the Delta County Independent.  It was a lovely surprise when Pat Sunderland called and asked if she could do a feature about us.

Anyway, here is hoping that everyone has a great Fourth of July!

Sincerely,

Terry and Linda

Fuzzy and Boomer

Sam the cat and Monkey the cat who never goes outside

July 3, 2013

Hummmmm!

Today the Dog Days of summer begin and won’t end until August 11th.  I can’t imagine getting any hotter, but I guess we can.

Hummmm

I also was very mistaken about the Orioles not like the humming bird feeder

Robin

Robins are one of my favorite birds…I rejoice when they return each spring and feel a loss when they leave us in late summer early fall.

Feral-Cat

The night camera caught a feral cat that lives on the farm…he/she is extremely wild, but we do see it here and across the road and down at Misty’s.

Sammmy

Sammy doesn’t much care for this cat so I figure it must be a tom.

Heading out to weed, they are growing faster than my plants.

I hope you have a lovely start of the Dog Days!

Linda