Rain, Rain and More Rain

Rain on the back patio.

As I'm writing this post there's a deluge of rain just outside my door. I'm talking lots and lots of rain, gully washer rain, monsoon rain. Here on the Florida Gulf Coast, this is the season for warm tropical rains accompanied by lightning and booming, rolling thunder.

Rain in the backyard.

This July has been nothing but rain, rain and more rain. The beach tourists have been greatly disappointed in day after day of rain and very little bright summer sun. This isn't good beach weather. Just sayin' ...

I've lived in Florida off and on for over thirty-one years. Some summers are scorching hot with very little rain. Some summers are almost nothing but torrential downpours of warm tropical rain. Well, this is one of those rainy summers for the Florida Panhandle.

Rain pouring through the patio trellis.

I couldn't resist snapping a few rain photos to add to this post.

It's a good thing I love rain. I love the sound of the rain, love watching the deluge of raindrops, love the fresh, clean smell of rain.

Rain outside the front door.

I lived in Las Vegas for eleven years where it rained only a couple times a year. Then I lived in the Texas Hill Country where it only rained twice in sixteen months. So given the choice, I'd rather live where it rains a lot.

On the other hand, my dogs Dude and Shani would rather live where it rarely rains. These two are not rain dogs. On days like this they go to the back door and look out at the rain, then go to the front door to see if it's raining out there too.

Rain in the front yard.

Rainy days are a great time to read. So what am I reading today? Some days I'm bouncing around between books, a little of this and a little of that. So here are today's books: Midnight on Julia Street by Ciji Ware (on my Kindle Fire) and  A Deadly Shade of Gold by John D. MacDonald (paperback). Both books are great reads.

Have a Beachin' 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from a stormy Pensacola Beach.

Normally a 4th of July on Pensacola Beach is hot, hot, HOT. However, it seems this year is going to be a bit different with dark cloudy skies and intermittent rains. Instead of a temp in the 90s, this 4th of July is supposed to linger in the high-70s to low-80s.

Well, considering we've had weeks of extremely hot and humid weather here, this is a welcome reprieve. On the other hand, holiday beach goers might have preferred our usual hot beachy weather.

Today was stormy on Pensacola Beach (facing east).

I couldn't resist taking an assortment of beach pics today. The dark storm clouds were gorgeous. While I was snapping pics the rain started to fall. No lightning or thunder to accompany the rain, so the beach goers didn't seem to mind. The rain was light, so I didn't mind it either.

A few beach goers enjoying the rough surf.

The surf was pretty choppy, which meant a Yellow Flag Warning (rough surf and rip tides). A few hardy beach goers were playing in the surf, though most seemed to prefer sitting on the sand and just gazing at the water.







Darker storm clouds facing west on Pensacola Beach.

No, I didn't venture into the water today. I prefer those ultra-calm days with little or no waves. Way, way, way-back-when I would have enjoyed body surfing, but now I just walk along the edge of the surf on rough days.



Looking north on Pensacola Beach from the edge of the surf.

For those heading to Pensacola Beach for the long holiday weekend, well, you'll still have a great time if you don't mind a little rain. The fireworks on the sound side of Pensacola Beach should be great. Expect a crowded beach on the 4th and some pretty heavy traffic.

My favorite part of Pensacola Beach (the far west end).

As for me, I preferred today's less crowded beach. Most beach goers were sticking pretty close to the beach in front of the pavilion and in sight of the pier.

A lone bird on the far west end of Pensacola Beach.

Me? I prefer the far west end of Pensacola Beach where there was hardly a person in sight. It was pretty much just me and a few birds. Ahhh, just the way I like the beach.

I hope y'all have a wonderful, fun-filled, Happy 4th of July!

Sitting, reading, dreaming and gazing out at the world ...

Shoreline Park, a perfect place to gaze at the world.

Some days all I want to do is find the perfect place to sit, read, dream and gaze out at the world.

Lucky for me that I happen to live on the Florida Panhandle and close to the beautiful beaches of the the Gulf of Mexico. This is the land of water, water, everywhere. So almost anywhere that I can sit and look at the water is the perfect place to read, dream and gaze at the world.

Since I'm also a writer, it should be the perfect place to sit and write too. But some days it's best to leave the writing to those voices in my head. Some days it's best to just sit and maybe think about writing.

Shoreline Park is one of those places where I can sit in the shade of a gazebo and gaze out at the world. Hmm! Is that where the word "gazebo" came from? Just wondering.

Well, last night was a rip-roaring storm that brought an abundance of lightning, thunder and rain. The temp yesterday reached the mid-90s, but the much needed rain dropped it back down to the low 80s. Ahhh, a temporary reprieve from those hot, hot, HOT days of summer.

The air today is humid, thick, heavy, almost dripping. The rain could start again any minute. But then the sun breaks through the clouds for a moment or two. Then it's cloudy once again.

This is one of those days where I don't feel like doing much of anything.

May Day Flowers

A floral assortment in one of my many flowerpots.

For me, May Day has always meant flowers. As a kid, I used to pick flowers from my neighbors' yards all the way home from school. Then I'd give the bright colored bouquet to my mom. She never said, "You shouldn't pick the neighbors' flowers." And the neighbors never stopped me from doing just that. I guess because I only did it once a year that little harm was done?

I have lots of pretty potted flowers.

Well, this morning, in honor of May Day, I took a bunch of photos of the flowers blooming in our yard. So here are some of those photos.

I have flowerpots everywhere filled with an assortment of flowers, but I've long since forgotten the names of many of those flowers.









Dude wanting to be included in my photos.

My dog, Dude, wanted to get in the pictures and so he plopped down in the middle of a flower bed. No, he doesn't have a missing paw. He just likes to tuck one paw under him when he's laying down. My other dog, Shani, followed us around the yard, but she didn't want to be in any of the photos.

The blue flowers are on a huge bush full of blooms.

It rained all last night. Torrential rains and lots of wind. The yard is covered with leaves fallen from all the oak trees: Naval Live Oaks, Pin Oaks, White Oaks, and others I can't even name.

Oak trees here lose their leaves in the spring instead of the fall. So it's Leaves-R-Us in our yard at this time of year.






Mandevilla growing next to the backyard patio.

There were still raindrops on some of the flower petals and occasional drops/plops of rain falling from the trees overhead. Guess I don't need to point out that I love flowers, trees and anything green and growing.

I love the heady smell of Jasmine.

My grandson told some of his school friends, "My Nana lives in the woods." Considering all the trees in our yard, it kind of looks like the woods. Plus, our yard has bunches of flowers scattered here, there and everywhere.

Florida is, after all, the land of flowers. Just take a drive through any Florida neighborhood and you'll see a rainbow assortment of flowers.

As a kid, Lantana was one of my favorites.

Before I forget, we have lots of wildflowers blooming in our yard. Some are a pretty lavender/blue that look like some kind of Iris. There are some white ones that look like miniature daisies. The yellow ones are so small I didn't even try to take photos of those.





Some of the wildflowers in our yard.

I hope you stop by now and then to see my latest posts and photos. I'll be doing several Texas posts over the next week or two due to our mini-vacation to East Texas last month. I took so many cool photos on our trip that I have to share them with you.

If you love wildflowers, be sure to check out my previous post, "Wild About Texas Wildflowers," which includes lots of photos of gorgeous Texas wildflowers.

Daisy-like wildflowers in our yard.

I hope you love flowers as much as I do.

A Happy May Day to y'all.


After-Easter Lilies and more April Showers

After-Easter Lilies in my backyard this morning.

This week my backyard Easter Lilies started blooming. Obviously they didn't make it in time for Easter. My front yard Easter Lilies are still a week or two away from blooming. Hmm! Apparently there's something different about my front and backyards. My After-Easter Lilies looked so pretty in the rain this morning.

Rain? Yesiree! The latest round of April Showers began in the wee hours with an accompaniment of lightning and thunder. My dog, Dude, who is usually a bit stressed over lightning and thunder, slept through the whole wild night. I suppose Dude was worn out from yesterday afternoon's romp at the dog park.

April Showers on our patio.

This morning it's still raining, drizzling. According to the TV, another line of thunder showers is heading our way.

This morning, while the rain was at the drizzle stage, my dog Shani and I went outside to take photos. Wildflowers are blooming all over our backyard. Beautiful purples, lavender, yellow and white. The Wisteria growing on our patio trellis is blooming too. The Wisteria has delicate white blooms.

Here on the Florida Panhandle, close to the Gulf Coast, it's definitely a day of April Showers. The air smells so fresh and clean. Windows are open and I'm listening to the musical sound of rain. This is a perfect day to sip coffee and read.

Wisteria that bloomed in this morning's rain.

I'm always reading an assortment of books at any given time, depending on my mood at the moment. So here's a list of my current reads:

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory (from the library)
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (on my Kindle)
The Abilene Trail a Ralph Compton Novel by Dusty Richards (paperback)
The Chisholm Trail by Wayne Gard (a history book from my bookshelves)

A perfect morning to sip coffee and read.

I'm researching Texas history for a western romance series I'll be writing, which is why I'm reading the last two books listed above. My husband and I are planning a Texas vacation soon so I can further my research. Hey, that's a good excuse for some much needed time off to sight-see.

I can't wait to walk along the Brazos River, which was a crossing point for the Chisholm Trail (also known as the Abilene Trail) and the Shawnee Trail. So please check back for upcoming Texas posts with lots of photos. I happen to love Longhorn cattle, so rest assured I'll have photos of Longhorns too.

Shani checking out this morning's April Showers.

As I'm writing this, Dude and my husband are off on a car ride in the rain. Shani, on the other hand, is curled up next to my recliner. She doesn't care for car rides.

Today I'll be enjoying the lovely April Showers and reading one book or another. Thanks again for stopping by.

April Showers Bring May Flowers?

This morning's April Showers in our backyard.

I woke up this morning to the drip-drop, plip-plop, split-splat of April Showers. Hours later the sky is darker and the rain is still coming down. Off in the distance is rolling thunder with the occasional bright flash of lightning and booming thunder almost overhead.

My dog, Dude, is curled up in one of his favorite "safe spots" next to the couch and my bookshelves. Dude, as a pup, eagerly jumped into a neighbor's pool, but now as a two year old "mature dog" he avoids water in most every form, including rain.




Dude waiting for the April Showers to end.

My other dog, Shani, is older and wiser and doesn't mind the rain all that much. She's already ventured outside and then came back inside to shake off all that rain. Ahh, the smell of wet dog.

Dude, on the other hand, will wait all day before he risks the onslaught of those chilly raindrops. He doesn't seem to mind the lightning or thunder today, but the rain, well, that's just not his thing.





Some of my potted flowers soaking up the rain.



My potted flowers are happily soaking up all that nourishing rain. The grass, under a blanket of fallen oak leaves, should be happy too. And then there are all those giant oak trees that need lots and lots of rain.

Now the tourists on the beach, those Spring Breakers who came here for all that Florida sunshine, well, they won't find any sun today. A few hardy souls will venture out in rain gear to walk along the beach, but the rest will sit in hotel rooms and condos watching their vacation time drip away.

Shani showing little concern for the April Showers.

I thought about going over the bridge to take a few photos of the rain-drenched beach, but then decided Dude has the right idea about staying warm and dry inside. This is a perfect day to curl up with a good book and listen to the rain.

Hmm! So what am I going to read today? I'll probably alternate between Bernard Cornwell's 1356 that I checked out from my local library and Susanna Kearsley's The Shadowy Horses which I'm reading on my Kindle Fire. I'm almost always reading more than one book.


If you want to see the books I've been reading lately, mostly historical fiction these past few months, check out my Goodreads page: Teri Heyer on Goodreads

I checked Amazon/Kindle this morning to see if there were any April Showers books and found the three listed below. All three are romances (in no particular order):

April Showers by Ann LeValley
April Showers (HQ, A Valley Ridge Wedding) by Holly Jacobs
April Showers (Twelve Months of Romance - April) by Margaret Lake *

*Just added to my Kindle

Well, the rain has been going on for hours and hours with no end in sight. I guess it's time to settle into my recliner and read for a while. Here in Florida, these April Showers are sure to bring a riot of May Flowers.

Rain, It's About Time!

View from my patio on this rainy day.

We have not had rain here on the Florida Panhandle in quite a long time. This year, for some odd reason, rain has been pretty scarce. Thank goodness we have well water for our yard or our water bill would be outrageously high.

Just yesterday our yard was tinder dry. When my dog, Dude, ran around in the backyard puffs of dirt billowed into the air. For Florida, that is really dry. Today is altogether different. We woke up to torrential rain and it's still coming down hard. My dogs would just love to go outside to "do their thing." But it's too wet out there even for them.

So this much needed rain got me to thinking, which may or may not be a good thing. First off, I quickly snapped some rain pics so I'd have some for this post. Then I thought about the book I was reading all day yesterday and until the wee hours this morning, Mariana by Susanna Kearsley. This awesome novel is a time-travel, sort of in the style of Daphne Du Maurier's  Rebecca.

There are several wet and rainy scenes in Mariana and so I've been concentrating a lot on rain. Maybe that's what brought on this sudden rainstorm? Not likely, but definitely worth the thought.

My patio in the rain.

Now I haven't read a time-travel romance in ever so long. But I happen to love them ever since I read A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveroux. This is a must-read-keeper. Of course, I should give credit to H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, which I read as a child and first led me to dreaming about the concept of time-travel.

Well, this got me to thinking some more. Oh no, thinking? What next? I've read some wonderful time-travels. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander is top on my list. Then there are all those wonderful time-travel romances by Lynn Kurland. So far I've only read five of them and all are fabulous: This is All I Ask, A Garden in the Rain, Much Ado in the Moonlight, Dreams of Stardust and If I Had You. Lynn Kurland's books are all keepers and have a place on my bookshelves. The rest of them are on my TBR list, which I must say is much too long these days.

Shani, a bit wet after venturing out in the rain.

Another awesome time-travel romance is Deb Stover's Some Like It Hotter. Yes, that one is a keeper too. I've just added Deb Stover's A Moment in Time to my TBR list.  I don't want to forget Ciji Ware's A Cottage by the Sea which is another awesome time-travel romance. This one is definitely a keeper too.

I have to admit that I've been remiss and still haven't read The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and Beyond the Highland Mist (Highland Series) by Karen Marie Moning. OMG, how did I miss those? So they're now on my TBR list too. Ohhhhh, that list is getting soooooo long.

Dude finally went out into the drizzle.

For those who follow my blog, I'm almost always adding a list of books. So this time it's a list of time-travel romances. I'm absolutely certain this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to time-travel romances, but all these happened to catch my eye. In fact, some of them are already on my Kindles (my old Kindle Keyboard and my new Kindle Fire). So the (*) in this case denotes time-travel romances TBR on my Kindles. I hope you all find some books you want to read. (Note, all of these books are available in eBook format.)


Time-Travel Romances (in no particular order):

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley*
A Knight in Central Park by Theresa Ragan*
Return of the Rose by Theresa Ragan*
Taken by the Cowboy by Julianne MacLean*
Daughter of Time (After Climeri Series) by Sarah Woodbury*
The Bride Price (Civil War Brides) by Tracey Jane Jackson*
The Long Way Home by Andrea Stark*
Out of Time by Deborah Truscott*
Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance) by Peggy L. Henderson*
Come Home to Me (Second Chances Time Travel Romance) by Peggy L. Henderson
Tear in Time by Christopher David Petersen
A Love Through Time (MacKendimen Trilogy) by Terri Brisbin
Everything In It's Time (Time Travel Trilogy) by Dee Davis
My Honorable Highlander (Highland Games Through Time) by Nancy Lee Badger
Timeless (Stolen Brides) by Shelly Thacker
The Last Highlander by Claire Delacroix
Until Forever by Johanna Lindsey
Viking Unchained (Viking Time Travel) by Sandra Hill
A Little Time in Texas by Joan Johnston
Lord of the Black Isle by Elaine Coffman
A Laird for All Time by Angeline Fortin
Kiss Me, I'm Irish (Tennessee Waltz) by Bella Street
A Slip in Time by Kathleen Kirkwood
When Lightning Strikes by Cynthia Lucas
A Rip in the Veil by Anna Belfrage
Going Back For Romeo by L. L. Muir
Christmas Kiss (A Christmas Time-Travel) by L. L. Muir
Time's Arrow (Christmas Holiday Extravaganza) by Clare Revell
The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance ed. by Trisha Telep

For Outlander fans, A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows (An Outlander Novella) by Diana Gabaldon will be released December 3rd.  Yes, I'll be adding it to my Kindles.

Please add your favorite time-travel romances in the comments below. If you write time-travel romances, be sure to mention your books too. Thanks so much for stopping by.

A Rainy Day in Florida

My patio on this rainy day.

I woke up this morning to the wonderful sound of rain. Lots of rain. Torrential rain. Typical Florida gully-washer rain. Our zillions of little frogs are happy campers. Our trees, shrubs, grass and flowers are happy, happy, happy. My dogs, Shani and Dude, are not so happy. They love playing in water, pretty much any water, but not rain. Go figure.

Well, this is our first rainy day since Hurricane Isaac deluged the Gulf Coast a few weeks back. So we really needed this rain. Now the air smells squeaky clean. I'm lovin' it. According to the meteorologists, we're supposed to have rain all day today and tomorrow too. Yea! Yes, I'm definitely smiling.

This is a great day to sit inside and watch the rain. A great day to read. A great day to write another blog post. So here goes, this is my post about rain.

A few years back my husband and I and our three dogs (Maggie, Nikki and Shani) lived in the Texas Hill Country. We had a house on the top of a hill with a gorgeous view of more hills. Also, we had a whole family of deer who visited us daily for a breakfast, lunch and dinner of feed corn. Our dogs loved it there. They'd stretch out on the patio and watch the deer. Our dog, Nikki, would go wander among the deer and then settle down with them for an afternoon nap. The one thing we didn't have in those Texas hills was rain. In the year and a half we lived there, we only had three days of rain.

Dude getting out of the rain.

The thing I remember about that Hill Country rain is the temporary little stream that crossed our driveway. Tiny frogs would jump into the water and be whooshed downstream. What a ride! I have to admit that it looked like fun.

I was born and raised in southern California where rainy days were few and far between. A rainy day meant my best childhood friend, Debbie, and I would wade/walk home through the water racing down the gutters. We'd arrive home in wet shoes, soggy clothes and big smiles. Rainy days were the best of all.

These days, older and a bit wiser, I hope, I still love the rain. I can happily sit and watch the rain for hours on end. This is the kind of day where it's fun to sit and do nothing at all.

In honor of a rainy day, check out the cool rain books listed below. As anyone who follows my blog knows, I love to make lists of cool books to read. So hopefully you'll all find some great rainy day books that you'll want to read.

Rain Fiction (in no particular order):

Hot Rain by Kat Martin*
A Garden in the Rain (MacLeod Family) by Lynn Kurland*
Texas Rain (Whispering Mountains) by Jodi Thomas*
The Lonely Silver Rain (Travis McGee) by John D. MacDonald*
Rain and Other South Seas Stories by W. Somerset Maugham*
Desert Rain by Elizabeth Lowell
Rainshadow Road (Friday Harbor) by Lisa Kleypas
Barefoot in the Rain (Barefoot Bay) by Roxanne St. Clair
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard
Rain by Leigh K. Cunningham
The Art of Dancing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Fire and Rain by Diane Chamberlain
Drink the Rain by Cynthia Davis
Cry of the Rain Bird by Patricia Shaw
Where the Rain is Made by Keta Diablo
Rain Song by Alice B. Wisler
After the Rain by Nicola Thorn
In the Midnight Rain by Barbara Samuels
A Gentle Rain by Deborah Smith
Bittersweet Rain by Sandra Brown
Tears Like Rain by Connie Mason
Falling for Rain by Janice Kirk
Rain by Kieran Nicolas
Keeper of the Rain by J. P. York
Listen for the Rain by Heather Atkinson
And the Rain Came Down by Terrie B. Cambridge
Dancing in the Rain by Kathryn Woodhill
Rainy Days by Lory Lilian
Winter Rain (Jonas Hook) by Terry C. Johnston
Caribbean Rain (Manny Williams, Bk4) by Rick Murcer
Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin
The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton

*Rain Fiction I've read and loved.

I'm sure I've missed a lot of great rain fiction. So please feel free to add your favorites in the comments below. This is also an opportunity to list any rain fiction that you've written.

Note: All of the books above are available in eBook format.

The Dog Days of Summer

My dog, Dude, on a hot summer day.

We have reached the middle of summer and it is hot, hot, HOT. On the weekend, the temp hit 101, which is unusually hot for the Florida Gulf Coast. Yesterday topped out at 97 degrees and then took a dive to 76 after hours of much needed rain. Ahhh! A temporary reprieve from scorching hot temps.

I grew up referring to this time of year as "the dog days of summer." Is that term still used? Or am I horribly out of date? Well, ask my dogs, Dude and Shani, and they'll tell you this truly is the dog days of summer.

As I write it's clouding up for another afternoon thunderstorm, hopefully with more of that much needed rain. Funny thing, thunderstorms here don't always bring rain. Sometimes it's hours of lightning and thunder and nary a drop of rain. Go figure. Weather never fails to amaze me.

For those of you who have been following my blog, I'm notorious for lists of great books to read. So this post is no exception. My dogs, Dude in particular, says "Ahh-rooooooo!" Dude is part Golden Retriever and part hound (???), so he "talks" like a southern hound dog. Picture Scooby Doo in a real live dog. That's Dude.

Shani enjoying the dog days of summer.

Shani, on the other hand, is an "old" lady at ten and a half. She's a Collie/Chow mix with a  heart of gold.  She half-heartedly raised Dude from the moment I brought home a wiggly, noisy, nineteen pound, three month old pup a year and a half ago. Shani did a great job of teaching Dude proper dog manners. So Dude is a well-behaved, but goofy one hundred pound dog. Oh, Shani doesn't like me to give out her weight, but she's a solid eighty-five pounds.

Okay, now back to my book list thingy that I often include in my posts. This being "dog days" and all, well, I figured I'd better list some books about dogs. Or at least some books that have great dog characters as part of the cast. Which means I'm going  to shamelessly promo my books for just a moment.

Outback Love has a lovable "ugly" dog named Elliot who enters into the novel when Priscilla and Ian reach the Outback. I'm not going to give away Elliot's part of the story, but he certainly tries to steal the show.

Moon Over Madness has a hundred pound pup named Jake who is a central character in my paranormal romantic comedy. Jake has the uncanny ability of being able to "talk" to children. Nope, he doesn't talk to adults. Imagine that!

"Old Dogs Need Love Too" is one of my short stories in Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows. It's the story of two "old" souls, a widow and an old throw-away dog, who find each other.

Now that I've plugged my books, it's time to list some other great dog reads.

My love of dog stories began before I could read. My favorite bedtime stories were those by Albert Payson Terhune. I had a collection of his dog stories and that's what I insisted my mom read to me, over and over again. He's probably best known for Lad: A Dog. I think the book I had as a child was Best Loved Dog Stores of Albert Payson Terhune, which is virtually impossible to find these days, but some libraries might still have a copy. I did notice that Amazon has three copies at an incredibly high price.

My favorite child/YA dog stories (or books with great dog characters) were:

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
Savage Sam by Fred Gipson
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

As an adult, I've come across several authors (some of my favs) who include great dog characters in their books. Of course, my favorite of those is Bob, the dog in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series. Who wouldn't fall for lovable ol' Bob? Jennifer Crusie has some cool dogs in some of her books. Emily Carmichael also has some great books with dogs as the central characters: Finding Mr. Right, Diamond in the Rough and Gone to the Dogs (I've read and loved these).

I have three dog books on my Kindle which I'm hoping to read soon:

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook
An Angel With Fur by Russell Blake

In looking for dog books this morning I came across a treasure trove of dog mysteries. So here are some of the ones I found. I haven't read any of these, but most certainly plan to do so.

The Kingdom of Dog (Golden Retriever Mysteries) by Neil S. Plakcy
Smokey Mountain Tracks (Rainy Stockton Dog Mysteries) by Donna Ball
Gone to the Dogs (Dog Lover's Mystery Series) by Susan Conant
A Shot in the Bark (A Dog Park Mystery) by Carol Ann Newsome
Never Con a Corgi (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series) by Edie Claire
Play Dead (An Allie Babcock Mystery) by Leslie O'Kane
Hounding the Pavement (A Dog Walker Mystery) by Judi McCoy
Bark M for Murder by J. A. Jance, et.al. (a collection of dog mysteries)
Magic (Dog Mysteries) by Edmund Humm
Ten Little Bloodhounds by Virginia Lanier
Pekinese Premonition by Jacqueline Vick

In my search I also came across the following dog books that look interesting:

A Dog Story (A Short Tale of Kedge) by Nancy L. Silk
Jack by Ray Braswell
One Good Dog by Susan Wilson
Rottweiller Rescue by Ellen O'Connell
The Woof in the Wedding Plans by Regina Duke
Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service by Beth Kendrick
Dog Nanny by Ann Whitaker
It's a Dog's Life by Dale Mayer
The Story of Rose: A Man and His Dog by Jon Katz

This is by no means a complete list of the great dog books out there. So here's my request to all you dog lovers. Please add your favorite dog books in the comments below. Also, don't hesitate to add dog books that you've written.

Dude says, "Ahh-rooo-rooo-rooooooo!" Shani says, "RAH!"  And I say, "Thank you!"

Pensacola Beach Waves Goodbye to Tropical Storm Debby

Pensacola Beach, June 25th

I ventured out to Pensacola Beach today to take some "day after" photos of Tropical Storm Debby.

The beach was beautiful. Huge white and gray clouds interspersed with cerulean blue skies. The surf was quite calm compared to yesterday. The winds came in gusts. It was obvious that Tropical Storm Debby is still out there in the Gulf, way off in the distance, sucking moisture from our part of Florida and dumping rains in the rest of the state. But here on the western end of the Panhandle the storm is pretty much over, at least for today.

The west end of Pensacola Beach.

I love watching storms, so I must say I was a bit disappointed that our tropical storm is already winding down. On the other hand, I think it's best for the storm to fizzle out to nothing and go on it's way without causing any more damage.

The Florida Gulf Coast suffered pounding surf, flooding rains and waterspouts. The rest of the state suffered a deluge of rains, tornadoes, damaging winds and power outages. Well, that's quite enough from one storm, thank you very much.

The clouds are still pretty dark to the SE.

Listening to the weather reports, the center of Debby is still stalled out in the Gulf, south of Apalachicola and west of Tampa/St.Pete. Though it's possible the storm can wind back up and take off like a top to a landfall anywhere along the Gulf Coast, it will hopefully die out and go away.

Since this is Hurricane Season, I imagine we'll have more tropical storms heading our way in short order. For now, it's the perfect time to enjoy the beach.

The pier at Pensacola Beach.

Just before posting this I listened to the latest weather report. The Florida Gulf Coast, from Destin east and south is still under a Tropical Storm Warning. So even though our part of Florida is in the clear for now, the rest of the state is still being effected by this storm.

I'll venture back to the beach tomorrow for more pics if there are any changes. In the meantime, check out my next post, "Hunks of Pensacola Beach" for the cute/hunky guys I met on the beach today. Girls, you won't want to miss that post. Just sayin'...

The Pensacola Beach water tower.

Looking at these pics as I'm putting together this post, I can see the sky was still pretty stormy this morning. Obviously, the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby are still out there.

Pensacola Beach and Tropical Storm Debby

Tropical Storm Debby, Pensacola Beach, June 24th

Most of my posts have to do with books, but this one is all about Pensacola Beach and Tropical Storm Debby. For several days now we've been watching Debby forming in the Gulf of Mexico. Would the storm actually reach tropical storm force? Well, yesterday it finally became the named Tropical Storm Debby. Now we're all waiting to see if it becomes Hurricane Debby.

Like many others living along the Gulf Coast, my TV is tuned to The Weather Channel. Those spaghetti lines, or spider lines, depicting the possible path of Debby holds us enthrall.

It's a love/hate thing. Storms are exciting and awesome, but also destructive. So on the one hand we'd love to see the mighty power of a hurricane and yet we want to avoid all the bad, dangerous things that come with a storm of that magnitude.

I woke up this morning to a phone call from my mother, who lives in the Atlanta area of Georgia. She wanted to make sure I knew that The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore was at Pensacola Beach this morning. Well, I'd heard last night that Jim had arrived and was already reporting on the storm. For those in "the know" about bad weather, Jim Cantore gravitates to the bad stuff to report on the worst of the weather. So having Jim arrive on our beach, Pensacola Beach, with a tropical storm and possible hurricane heading our way, well, that's not a good sign.


Let me back up to yesterday. It was a sunny, hot, humid 90 degrees. At midnight it was still 90 degrees. When I went outside with my dogs, Shani and Dude, at close to midnight, the air was fragrant with the smell of salt spray and flowers. The air was beginning to stir and there was the prickly feel of an impending storm.

Watching Tropical Storm Debby from the Dock

Now flash forward to this morning. The sky was painted in various shades of gray depending on whether you gazed north, south, east or west. Clouds raced past at breakneck speed, some clouds heading NW and others SW. These are the feeder bands for Debby which is slowly building out in the Gulf.

After a late breakfast, my husband and I drove to the beach, only a couple miles from our house. Just a hop, skip and a jump over the bridge and we were there facing the building force of this Hurricane Season's first Gulf storm.

I must say the waves were awesome. Now by southern California standards, where I grew up and learned to surf, these waves are nothing. But considering Pensacola Beach rarely has waves more than a couple feet in height, these are awesome waves for this beach.

Now, my surfing days ended decades ago, but I still love watching the waves. There should have been surfers out there, but a Red Flag Warning was posted and no one, not even surfers, were allowed out there. I guess the lifeguards didn't want to be forced to make any rescues today.

There were a fair number of lookiloos out on the beach. Some, like me, ventured to the edge of the surf. Most stood way back and just watched. This being a Sunday and all, it was obvious that many locals left church and drove straight to the beach. Even for people who have lived here all their lives, and seen many a tropical storm and hurricane, seeing the beach under storm conditions is a big draw.

We looked for Jim Cantore, but didn't find him anywhere. I imagine he was taking a break when we were walking the beach. Too bad, because I would have liked to meet him. Maybe tomorrow if he's still here? On the other hand, if Jim stays at our beach then that may not be a good omen.

I took a few dozen photos of the beach. In person, the surf was choppy and awesome. Unfortunately, the pictures I took don't do it justice. My husband took some clips with his movie camera, so I'm hoping he got some good footage to post on youtube.



Tropical Storm Debby, west end of Pensacola Beach.

We'll probably venture back to the beach tomorrow to take some more pictures, assuming Debby increases in force and is still close by. She'll most likely be a hurricane by then. Like I said, I'm awed by the power of a hurricane, but don't really want it to make landfall anywhere. I'm sure we can use the rain all around the Gulf Coast, well, maybe not in Pensacola, but so far no rain for our part of the Florida Panhandle. 

Stormy greetings from Pensacola Beach.

In reality, it's too bad we can't send the tropical rains to Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico to put out their fires. But nature doesn't work that way. One part of our country burns while another part get deluged with rains and another part gets torn apart by winds. Go figure.

As I'm writing this, The Weather Channel just reported that the projected landfall is Apalachicola, Florida, to the east of us. Debby is supposedly only moving at 6 mph, so still a long way out.