It was not a surprise to hear it raining as we started the day with the normal routine. It was "oh dark thirty" and Stella didn't step off the carport floor while Heidi snuck out under the overhang for her early morning trip. I poured the kibble into their dishes during that time like I do every morning. It wasn't a hard rain today but a steady rain.
Obviously the downspout is blocked by leaves ?... it was a clean gutter just a few weeks ago when I checked and leaves are not even on the trees yet. A bird nest ??? I'll be able to reach over the edge while standing on a 3-step stool and pull out whatever is blocking the downspout.
Stella in the meantime had to do some thinking this morning. She could hear rain drops and she could smell rain so she did her normal secondary way of bypassing the rain ... walk along the side of the house, a left turn immediately outside the door ... slide between the shed and car ... thinking that will keep her from getting wet.
She had come up with a plan though after a few minutes of analyzing. She HAD to pee but she hates getting wet and she never does that inside the house or on the concrete floor. Well trained as a puppy, 4 owners ago.
Some way she figured out it was not really raining but the sound was coming from the overflowing gutter with the blocked downspout. She knew there was a way around it.
She needed to curl around the edge of the house, missing that dripping water.
She was successful, staying on the dry river rock and coming back as soon as she was finished.
You will never fool Heidi though. She knows what is going on outside and it's not within her threshold for activity. She will get up when it's time for lunch and not a minute sooner.
I am going to buy two or three more of these but with a different planting strategy since two of them has died due to lack of water the past two winters. This one is in front of the carport and for some reason gets enough water from the rain, although it is still under the roof overhang.
I will move the walking stones back towards the house on the dry side of the mulch, where you can barely see the dead Azaleas. Then plant the new Azaleas where those stones are so they can capture the water when it rains.
My wandering around realtor dot com continues. Some places have been eliminated while a few new spots have been added to my search. Yes, I have questioned myself on whether it is out of boredom, rainy weather and a real desire this time. There is an area that I always goes back to year after year when I look.
Since Bloomington Indiana is rated as a top retirement city, less than 100,000 population until you add in the 42,000 or so undergraduate students at IU, it has been added as a possibility. It has great medical facilities, public transportation, top restaurants with any kind of food imaginable along with sports in the Big Ten Conference ... I have looked around and bookmarked some areas.
If you were to drive over the causeway on Hwy 446 crossing Lake Monroe you would think you are in the Pacific Northwest near Whidbey Island. A lot of lakes in the area if that is your thing. Why would I make the 25 miles move? That's the million dollar question that has no answer at this time. :)
For some reason I have lost my urge to read books. Not sure where it went but it's no longer there. I returned the books to the library and I did not finish reading any of them. I really think I am in a funk of some kind until my sunny warm weather returns and I can get back outside doing something. Doing the dishes and laundry don't seem to excite me too much, although the dishes are done.
That's about it this morning. I am headed back to realtor dot com see if I can find somewhere new I can research. (Where did the spell check icon go on WordPress today?)
Nonstop rain today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
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