Drama in the evening sky

 First the dog news:  

• Olivia got spayed today and she's doing fine this evening. I'm expecting that tomorrow she won't be happy about not being able to go out and play with Odie, but she needs a few days rest whether she thinks so or not.
• Max's blood work came back absolutely normal. The vet called me with the news yesterday and was quite surprised that a dog his age had completely normal values on every test. He did come up Lyme positive this time, and given his age and joint stiffness we are treating him with doxy. I've also started giving him an anti-inflammatory with each meal to ease any discomfort he's probably feeling.
• Paisley is continuing to heal, but it's going to be a long process still. She must be feeling better though, because she's bored with being crated all the time and last night was objecting to it vocally. It might have been due to the thunderstorm as well, but she wouldn't quiet down so I finally let her out of the crate once everyone else was either crated or shut in the bedroom. She had free run of the house overnight again and she liked that. I think I'll need a refill on her antibiotic but it doesn't look infected so I have to hope and assume there's healing going on.
• The English Setters are two happy girls. They learned to use the doggie door in the puppy palace so they can go in and out of the air conditioned space at will. They haven't been really crazy about the dog food I've been offering, which is a little odd for dogs who were strays, but they are beginning to eat it pretty well. 

My back was finally feeling good enough today that I thought I could get out for a walk. Della has been bored with this weather and disappointed in my lack of activity, so she and I took an evening walk up at the park. 

Della is a striking dog. All Danes are, and harlequins especially. Plus, although I may be biased in her favor, I think that Della's alert demeanor together with those soul-penetrating eyes, and that single long black sleeve on her right front leg make her a real diva in the best sense of the word. She's a head turner and she absolutely enjoys the adoration of fans. It's not often that I have a dramatic background worthy of her visage, but we did this evening. 

It's hard to hold her and the camera to get good pictures from a good angle, and I wished several times this evening that someone else had been with us to take the pictures, but we got a few nice ones anyway. More importantly, we had a good walk. It was just what we both needed.

Here's the same cloud a few minutes later when the sun was down.