21° on September 21st

It took longer than usual, but we finally had our first "real" frost last night, and woke up to 21° (-6° C) this morning.  In the past couple of weeks we've had some 25° and 28° mornings, but without any white stuff on the ground, so we are officially logging this as the first real one.  Usually we get them in the last week of August, or at the latest by the end of the first week in September, so this is definitely late for us.  Alayne got these shots while I was over at Widget's House scooping the yards on morning poop patrol.  That's blind Austin in the photo above, wondering what happened to the warm summer mornings he's been used to enjoying.  You can see the sun had started burning through the light frosty fog we woke up to.

Here's another shot of the fog drifting through the cottonwoods in the distance:

And finally, here's Charlie-the-conehead exploring the front yard this morning:

It's nothing short of a miracle:  He finally figured out that if he just raised his head up an inch or two, he wouldn't catch the bottom of the cone on the ground, and could move about at will!  That took only about 72 hours of continual "teachable moments" to grasp.  But now he zooms around at a very fast clip, still very excited about all the new sights in his world.  When Alayne lets him out of Kelly's Cottage in the morning, he literally races out the door to run around exploring.  Since he's supposed to be on "quiet time," we have to pull him back inside long before he's ready to go in.  But within minutes, he's asleep on a bed in the living room.  (In case you don't know, Beagles are binary.  On or off.  That's it.)

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Wow -- still No. 2!

Please vote for us every day in The Animal Rescue Site/PetFinder's Shelter Challenge.  Thanks to your votes, we won $3,000 for the animals in the previous contest and would like to repeat that win -- or do even better -- in this one!  Enter "Rolling Dog Ranch" and our state postal code, MT for Montana, and it will bring up our listing so you can cast your vote.  Thank you!

Comments

[Rich Y.]

We didn't get quite as cold as that here in Colorado... BUT we did get a few inches of snow! Yikes. We went right from summer to winter & skipped fall, I guess.

[Ev]

I am so thrilled for the little guy. Now his eyes can coordinate with his beagle nose. He must be in heaven. Again, you'll are awesome!

[NinjaPonyDad]

Looks like we beat you on the snow this year, about an inch at NinjaPonyRanch and Dream Valley!
Looks like winter cane before fall this time. Way to go Charlie! In only 72. hours...... you guys have the patience of saints. Thanks for getting Charlie excited about life.
NPD

[Debbie]

Frost already???? Amazing...we are still waiting to drop below the mid-70's at night....*sigh*...I do envy your morning view of the fog through the trees. Such a serene setting...until the barking starts, of course!

[Lynne Parker]

"In case you don't know, Beagles are binary. On or off. That's it."

That's too funny and explains my beagle/schnauzer's ability to fall asleep instantly. I envy your cold weather. Here in South Carolina we are expecting 88 muggy degrees today.

[jude]

They started putting "the shelter you voted for last time" right below the search--very handy!

Or.... have I just never noticed that option before?

[Darcie]

Beagles are Binary - ROTFL!!!!

[Michele]

I still can't find my beagle's off switch -- 8 years later!! I'm so happy for Charlie!

[Leila from Washington]

Wow! I can't believe it's so cold there already! I have been shivering cause we are down in the 40's & 50's at night here in Belfair area! Loved the "Charlie-the-Conehead" comment -- he's such a cutie! How exciting for him to have a new world to explore. Blessings to all of you!