This has been the summer that wasn't around these parts. I don't think we had more than a few days in the 90's, and even days in the mid-to-upper 80's were scarce. Mid 70's? Plenty of those. Great for working outside, but not so much fun for swimming. This year (as most), we have an Intex inflatable ring pool. We didn't get a ton of swimming in because it's been so cool. And the water cools off quickly in this weather---we had lows in the lower 40's last night, and the high wasn't above 65. So, on this last day of summer vacation---Noah, Max and I put our suits on and jumped in for a (very) brief swim.

It was freezing!!! But fun! Never give up...

Our oriental shorthair, Ping, is back home after going on an outside jaunt---for a month! He was found by a woman who lives a few miles north of us. Thankfully this woman is a vet, and she took Ping into the office and scanned him for a microchip. He came up on the registry, and now is happily home with his family. Everyone is thrilled, especially Max and Noah!

There's no way that Ping would have been returned to us without having been microchipped---so think about that for all your animals. Ping was a strictly indoor cat too (no claws), but he figured out a way to get outside and have an adventure. He came back skinny and somewhat dehydrated, but it's a miracle that he came back at all!