Dog Days of Summer...

Today is a stormy day in da UP.

Yesterday, Ike and Bear and I headed with my walking stick to the Grizzly Den to check on hubby. He was going to cut the log siding with his chainsaw to make an opening for a small window in the bathroom he's working on this week. Now, I'm not a fan of chainsaws. Our youngest son almost lost his leg from the shin down due to an accident with a chainsaw, oh, I think its been 5 years now. But these days he's participating in Iron Man Triathlons and Marathons! I'll post some pics of that soon.

To my relief, upon arriving at the Grizzly Den, hubby had the cutting part done and I didn't have to watch and fret. He was also safe and sound and announced the next hole would be much easier now that he knew what he was doing. Next hole?

Work in progress...

I titled this post "Dog Days of Summer" for a reason. Yesterday was either exhausting for Ike and Bear, or the best summer day they've had yet. For some reason within the past two weeks, the red squirrel population in the neighborhood of The Grizzly Den has exploded. Their shrills and clucks and screeching was all the taunting the dogs could take. Bear decided she was going to cross the river and get her one. Ike? Well...he doesn't think things through first...

Now how to get back...

Ike is on the left and Bear is on the right. Remember I told you Ike can't swim? It gets pretty deep in front of him and he wouldn't budge from his spot. Bear is going to check out the little island before she crosses.

(That is an excellent spot to catch trout by the way.)

Ike followed as Bear tried to find the perfect spot for Ike to cross, but he

wasn't having any of it. So Bear swam across, and Ike, well, he stayed put.

He barked and cried, we coaxed and coaxed.

Finally, he got his feet wet again.

See him there in the weeds? 

Then he went for it...

When he got to shore, he ran around barking, tail wagging in jubilee

like he thought he was never going to see us again.

All in all, a productive day for Hubby,

a fun-filled day for Bear, and an exhausting one for Ike.