I had seen the forecast yesterday, which showed an 80% chance of rain for today, so I was surprised by a beautiful morning. Rain chance was reduced to 20%, when I checked. Jane and I tacked up and rode. The ring was already getting dusty again. I jumped a little bit, and Bart was great. Jane and Derry took a day off jumping and just had a light hack. The trails were delightful.
We checked in with Jack. It’s been eight days since he was viciously attacked by Mistletoe. He reported that his leg has healed well…
Unfortunately, some dreadful toxin seems to have migrated up his body, and slightly disfigured his usually handsome face…
I worked in the garden, under rather hot and muggy conditions. Roscoe was cool as ever, though.
Roscoe 
A new daylily blooming
An auspicious two turtle day! One behind the studio, and one on the gravel road, about a mile away later in the day. They are similar females, but definitely two different turtles. It has been a lean year for turtle sightings, so this was good.
I needed to venture out to the UPS store to send my most treasured Swiss Army watch (a 50th birthday present from Jane) off for repair. There had been a brief shower of rain, which I figured fell into the 20% prediction. As I drove to Wentzville, the skies became quite ominous, and then they opened up. I got drenched, and elected to drive home on the outer road, since Interstate 70 was slowed to a crawl by the rain. Honestly, it was the heaviest rain I have ever driven in, and the flooding of the roads was unbelievable. I crept home and arrived safely just before Harry was thinking about going out to look for me! I had my phone volume turned off, so hadn’t heard his calls.
So much for the slight chance of rain! It poured for over an hour, and we had three inches before I stopped taking pictures.
Two inches in one hour 
Another inch! 
Gutters working hard 
Flooded front yard 
Wet!!
So, bird pictures…
An immature cardinal on the left, with his parents and a stray woodpecker 
A pileated woodpecker with Mrs. Cardinal and a goldfinch 
Almost got the perfect shot! Very exciting…
Harry, meanwhile, worked hard in the studio, did his exercises, and took a rest with Weedy, who was not happy about the thunder rumbles during the rain.
Horses went out during a lull, but the rain returned. They didn’t care. It was a lovely, cool, wet evening.
Wet Bart 
Wet Stone 
Wet Oisin
Jane took a great picture of the sky at her house…
And finally, in Montana, Rainy says she needs more feed to grow big and strong enough to haul hay into the mountains…
Stay safe, stay well, stay dry, stay nourished.
Oh wow good job with the woodpecker! Jack looks a little grumpy, hope he gets over it.
Peace
I LOVE Turtles………thanks for that update! I was hoping you would let people know what happened to my face and head. I don’t believe that is a result of a “dog bite”, but the DIRECT result of being bitten by a beastie with such a vicious name—–MISTLETOE!!!!!