The Rain Halts Stella's Enthusiasm

We woke up to the sound of hard rain this morning. By the way things looked it had been raining all night. Checking the weather app on my phone and then Wunderground I was seeing 100% chance of rain every hour until tomorrow around noon. Stella doesn't like the rain so it should be an interesting 24 hours to get her out in the yard or field to relieve herself. She will eventually go but on her terms.

As I lifted the Nikon D3200 to my eye to take that first photograph I found out the battery needed charging for it to work. I didn't want to miss all of the early morning excitement, already past 10am, so I grabbed the iPhone. As you can see or will see, I did not finished my carport concrete floor project this fall. The cracks were sealed but not sanded. I also didn't get the new concrete put down to fill in the chipped out low spots. Once that is finished next spring I plant to coat the entire floor with some textured gray paint.

When Stella came back inside early this morning for breakfast ... Heidi's back was wet, even while she was under the roof overhang to pee. Stella's was not ... dry as a bone. A few hours later she wasn't going out in the yard no matter what. That is her "I'm not moving look."

I tried looking in a different direction and still saw rain as far as I could see. That is looking Southwest, where most of our storms and winds come from. With a day like today I have declared it 'laundry day' and I might put a page together for Sadie that I will insert at the top of the blog.

As you see, Stella wasn't moving until I opened the door to go back inside. Anytime I hear the rain stop I will take her outside and coax her into the yard. By noon I may have to bribe her with food to get her to do that.

Last night while Heidi had moved off the couch to do a full body shake, Stella in her sleep stretched out her right leg to the end blocking the space that Heidi occupied. That didn't matter to Heidi as she laid her nose on the couch surveying a possible spot to jump in. She quietly climbed up on the couch in that small space in front of Stella's leg ... stepped over it ... then did a slow left hand curl and plopped down in that corner.

Stella only moved her head and decided that Heidi might be a good pillow. The didn't move for the next two hours. In the meantime I barely had a seat left on the short couch, which is somewhere between a love seat and a long couch in length. I decided to move my book reading to the big leather chair that Sadie use to occupy on a nightly basis.

With lunch kibble just served and eaten in less than a minute by each hound, the rain had let up but was still raining lightly with huge drops of rain. Heidi planned her path to the front yard for a quick dumping of tanks. She was not out there much longer than that and then did her daily lap around the house.

By the time I looked in back Stella was in the position I wanted to see. It had been almost 15 hours since she peed last. As soon as she finished he took about three steps toward the field but decided it was raining to hard and came back inside.

Heidi has never minded the rain and snow as long as she can stay dry under the roof overhang, which has always looked wider to me than one on a newer house.

For those of you that read the blog on a computer instead of a smart phone, on the left sidebar below the archives I have added around 160 labels (subjects). I know when I look at the blog on my iPhone I don't see the sidebars, so no blog list and no archives are seen.

I was going to wait to post this but the fact is with today's weather the afternoon will not turn out blog worthy and not much to photograph. The laundry is started and I am into my second book of three that I picked up at the library. Nothing like a John Grisham novel for a change of pace.

It's overcast, dark, gloomy and non-stop rain here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

I'm Stuck In The Land Of Laziness

With a forecast of a possible high of 70° today, Heidi was thinking it might have to hurry up to get that high by the way it felt a little after 10am. It was the coldest 58° she had felt and she wasn't sure what she was doing outside when the only reason she was barking nonstop inside was for lunch to be served. Lunch kibble at 10:15am is just a little too early. She stayed and explored the yard while Stella and I did our morning walk.

Stella was all over the field this morning, hopping in the air when she wanted to change direction. I took a lot of photos to capture that and only one of them barely caught her with her rear feet raised off the ground.

I saw this morning that Dog Food Advisor had the Sportmix Wholesomes food I have been feeding the hounds rated as a 4-star food. (chicken meal & rice) It was the food that cleared up Heidi's skin issues in February 2017 and put weight back on Heidi and Stella. I found it by accident at my local hardware store, who was observant enough to start carrying dog food after the local feed store went out of business due to the owner's death.

What I did find out before using this food was that it was made by the same company that makes Earthborn Holistic Dog Food, in factories only 90 miles away. With low shipping cost a 40# bag is only $31.99 and was one reason I was skeptical of the quality. Another reason of skepticism was it did not list Chicken but Chicken Meal as its first ingredient. I had spent top dollar on the Grain-Free foods for years or the higher priced foods with chicken and rice included. I never could clear up Heidi's skin allergies until I tried this food. Plus Stella had lost close to 20 pounds that same year.

It was good to see all of the activity Stella was doing this morning. I take it as a sign that the yelping in pain Saturday night was just for something that happened short term like a twist or tweak of her back, maybe her hips. I still keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary for Heidi and Stella.

It doesn't look like a day of 68°-70° today does it?

In 2008 I had two other Sycamore trees just as tall as this one ... only one large trunk for each tree and located down along the side of the driveway bank. In June 2008 I had straight line winds from the southwest but some way turned due north right at the bank. It pulled two of those 100'+ Sycamore trees out of the ground like weeds and laid them across my front yard parallel to the house.

That is one reason you saw my tv satellite dish mounted to the side of the house in a photo of Heidi the other day. The winds demolished the Directv dish they had mounted on a pole in the front yard. The tree is due south of the house. I have a quote to trim the trees but the only problem is some of those tree trunks are on my neighbor's property. Actually the property line between our yards is a right away from an old railroad company that had tracks at the bottom of that driveway bank.

Stella tried to test me toward the end of the walk this morning by gradually walking out to the center of the field. That is okay because she likes to end her walks by walking past the pole on the north side of the yard. When I was watching her today, she was going to the center of the field but also was gradually turning to head to the neighbors yard or the woods behind their house. She turned back toward the house when I yelled 'No' ... just a little test I guess to see if I was paying attention.

These photos of Heidi show a sad basset hound as we return from the walk. They couldn't be farther from the truth. She was wagging her tail nonstop and then started barking as we got closer. She was happy to see us, and happier to get back inside.

For a few seconds it looked like Heidi and Stella were going to play with one another in the yard but they only tapped noses. Stella was just starting her run toward Heidi.

Right after that nose tap Heidi turned and sprinted to the door.

It's really hard to believe it will be November this Thursday in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Seems Back To Normal

For the second morning in a row Stella is acting normal. She has no signs of of pain getting up and down off the couch or the bed. She likes to take afternoon siestas in the middle of my bed, especially with direct sunlight through the windows. She stays there when I am away from the house on trips or shopping. She ran a little on this morning's walk, where it was a cold 38°. It's a busy day today so a lot of photos and little content.

Good Fall weather here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.