Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Chess the purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with even though I’m totally traumatized by the weather, and here to bring you the latest thundery news from our garden. You may remember me from such posts as “Stormy Weather”, and “The Weather, Again”, among so many, many other such posts.
Here I am in a characteristic, but rare, pose. I know, “How can a pose be both characteristic and rare at the same time?” Well, it can be. “Characteristic” considering my life in general, but “rare” for this summer. I’m sitting out on the patio rug, in the sun (believe it or not), though the rug is soaking wet from yesterday’s rain. We purebred border collies are used to roughing it. This is me roughing it. 
Even though it looked like this at about two in the afternoon,
it was still a beautiful day. This is a picture of part of the garden in the sun. The yellow deal is a bag for thistle seed, for the goldfinches. I think they think it’s weird, and we haven’t seen many hanging from it. Usually there are dozens of goldfinches, so maybe the old one should be fixed, if it can be fixed. 
About seven in the evening the light got all weird, because a storm was coming. You know those people who talk about the same thing over and over again, and you have a conversation with them, desperately hoping that their favorite subject won’t be brought up again, but it always is, no matter how much you try to avoid it; well, that’s what this summer has been like for me. Beautiful day, but not for the whole day. Someone just had to bring up that subject again. 
The guy I live with took some pictures in the weird light. We could hear thunder up in the mountains, so I sensibly stayed in my fort. They say you can get hit by lightning if you hear thunder, even though this was way up in the mountains, and echoed down the slopes and canyons. My fort was the best place to be.
the trough patio, kind of overgrown with catmint. seed frame in the middle.
sedum ‘Matrona’
the north border in the “way back”
The light got weirder.
looking toward the shed; the garden isn’t as messy as it looks
path in the rock garden
The guy I live with said rain was coming. See the streaks? 
I know where to be, in case that happens. 
The weird light went away, of course, and then this happened. For once, it didn’t matter that things didn’t look in focus. As you can see, I have a movie for you. If this were longer, it would definitely need popcorn. White cheddar popcorn for me, please. But served in my fort. There’s plenty of room for both me and a pile of white cheddar popcorn in my fort. I even get my dinner served to me there.
Anyway, the movie. I do know this is kind of weird, in keeping with today’s theme, but it wasn’t my idea.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
Hi Chess,
We grow Maximillian’s sunflowers for the lesser goldfinches around here. A few years ago the population of these birds really grew rapidly in central NM. The flowers are a lot prettier than an old sock, I think.
I agree, the sock is pretty gross, though it’s a new nylon thing, made expressly for goldfinches. The old one is steel but got knocked down by the wind, and Leonardo here has to figure out how to fix it. (My mommy would have fixed it in no time.) We have Maximilian’s here, too, but they need more rain than we’ve gotten. The guy I live with planted some across the street, and next door, too. We got about a tenth of an inch of rain last night, and it looks like more today, or at least a thunderstorm. There’s a dwarf variety of Maximilian’s that does better on just the rain here; the bigger ones need some irrigation.
I too would be exhausted if I had to watch out for all that weather day after day. I hope pure bred border collies have an equivalent to a cat’s purr, which you know they use to manufacture alpha waves that loosen up atoms so they can find a comfy spot for a good nap in the imaginary fabric of “reality”.The garden looks very artistic in any light. The only food I put out for birds is dry cat food. The blue jays love it.
Thanks; well, I have my fort. My morning walk today was spoiled by thunder, and I had to go home. The guy I live with was surprised at how quickly a person with iffy hind legs could walk….. He claims he only spends about $10,000 a year feeding the birds, during the winter.