Flickr photo via Moffet

It's summer. And that means one thing -- all of the venture capitalists have retreated to their lake houses, right?

Well, based on recent deal activity, it certainly doesn't seem that way this year. I've been covering the venture business for more than a decade now, and I don't remember July and August being this busy in years. And it is not just the dreaded down rounds.

In fact, some deals -- including the recent financings of Apptio and ClearAccess -- have been completed at significant positive valuations. It got me wondering if Seattle's heat wave is thawing the venture capital ice block from that didn't seem to be budging last winter?

Of course, venture totals will certainly be down in the state overall compared to last year. But there appears to be a new found confidence which is driving some deal activity -- keeping VCs busy.

OVP Venture Partners, for example, has invested in two companies so far this month: Boston-based Novomer and Oregon chip testing firm Advanced Inquiry Systems.

Madrona Venture Group also has announced two deals, the $14 million whopper at Apptio and a smaller $3 million round at mobile gaming startup Z2Live.

In fact, by my count for the months of July and August, there have been 12 venture deals involving Washington companies. That compares to 22 deals tracked during the first quarter of this year, according to MoneyTree.

Of course, there's still more than a month left in this summer quarter, and if the trend lines hold there's a chance deal activity could pick up after what is traditionally the VC's summer break.

But I am curious what you are seeing: Is the venture capital market heating up?

[Flickr photo via Muffet]