Henry Is One Year Old Today

It is hard to believe a year has passed already. Last year I received an email from the breeder telling me I had made cut to choose a puppy. Before we knew the size of the litter, I didn't know if I would have a pick last summer. Well Henry had nine siblings and I was number five in line. I knew by his two week old photo he was the one I wanted. I would not know until weeks later if I was going to luck out or not. I did as you have seen. He was pretty proud of himself this morning before 6am. It wasn't birds he heard but something in the air he smelled.

This is not the two week old photo but one of his better ones the breeder sent out. I would have to check the blog but I think I drove over to see him and the litter around 5-6 weeks old (?). 

That is him either asleep at the water bowl or drinking water laying down. We wondered at the time if his tail would stay black but with a two tone basset hound, the color black rarely lasts long. I could tell at that age that he had a nice personality, was laidback and a little obnoxious at the same time.

By the time I left that first visit, he was sound to sleep after posing for too many photos for me.

This morning he and Watson locked into something at the edge of the yard and that area that is ugly. I don't know what to do with that area yet so I have done nothing, but it bugs the hell out of me leaving it like that.

I am also looking at fences again. They never called me back like she said they would to set up a date to install the invisible fence after Watson is 12 weeks old. So I am trying to picture what design would look good in this environment. I will bite the bullet, pull some money out of my account and have the pros build and install the fence.

Whatever they had cornered in that spot this morning, they were not moving and they were not going to let me know they heard me calling them inside.

Watson is now taller than Henry.

The one thing I don't want to happen is for Watson to find out he can get over the top and walk into the field. I am sitting on the patio, cup of coffee on the small table, no shoes and my camera in hand when he is walking fast up the steep berm. About the time I thought I was going to have to trot up that hill bare feet and all to get him, he turned and came back downhill.

So far I have found no ticks on me nor the hounds and the dog. I hate saying that because it might happen now but I am sure some of you are wondering what it's like crawling into those weeds. 

Yesterday I needed a break from blogging and taking photos. I spent dime solving mysteries around the house and clearing up some questions I had. This "dusk to dawn" light was on the first few weeks I lived here and then at the start of June it was off, only to come back on a few days ago. I spent 18 minutes on hold with the electric company just to find out if a light like that was on my account because it was not showing up on my bill. Once they confirmed it was not installed by the electric company (it did not look like it was) ... I started playing with different light switches in the great room to see which worked.

Finally it dawned on me to check the fuse box one more time. Sure enough in hard to read pencil, maybe 50 years old, I found the switch for that light. Off it went. I have never liked dusk to dawn lights anywhere I lived.

I had something else in mind though that I have been wanting to do and now I had an excuse. Last week my FJ had the Check Engine light and another warning light come on. I went to AutoZone so they could read the codes and confirm what I thought it was. O2 sensor and catalytic converters just as I expected. Just as I was leaving the young guy behind the counter asked me to try some Cata Cleaner at $26 per bottle. I followed the instructions for that but now I needed to burn off that last half tank of gas, pour in some STP fuel injector cleaner and fill up with new gas again.

I could kill two birds with one stone ... some of you long time readers might recognize these next few photos. I took a road trip up to see my old house that I moved out of in June 2019. I knew what was going on from photos sent to me by the new owner last December and the texts I would get from friends that had driven by the place.

Not only had they put in a new septic system but a whole new crawl space, completely sealed. A new door and windows had been installed. So the front yard looks under construction. The siding comes off this week they told me and a new roof later this summer or fall. The inside had been stripped down to the bare frame and remodeled throughout the house. That is still in progress.

The backyard had not been mowed yet this year so it was almost as tall as the field behind it. You will notice new windows and a new AC unit. As I was walking around the property their mowing crew showed up and started cutting grass with their zero turn mower. I always wondered what the place would look like if I had turned it into a field and not mow it. I didn't care for the look.

This was after their second cut. It really didn't look that good either. As you can see "the field" has not been cut and baled this year like they use to do every June. That might not happen since the owner of the field passed away last fall. A lot of miles were walked in that field with bloodhounds and basset hounds the 21 years I lived there.

Some of you might recall what I use to label "Winston's Patio" at the rear corner of the house. That is where he liked to lay out in the sunshine surveying the backyard. Slightly overgrown. Instead of throwing the pavers away they let me dig them up and bring them with me. I will put them in that ugly area of my yard at the top of this post once I decide what to do with it. 

I am glad I made the trip. I had some mixed emotions seeing it in the condition it was although they are doing a complete rebuild and eventually the property will look nice. I headed downtown for some Chine House buffet, great food, but they are still "carry out" only. I didn't stop. I drove around the town square, got the FJ pointed south and headed home.

Watson was happy to see me and never jumps up on me. Henry tried tackling me. I don't know if I will never be able to break his habit of jumping up on people due to his excitement. Water started snorting his appreciation that I made it back okay. All three were hungry and needed lunch.

Of course with that one keyword "outside" ... all them sprinted for the patio door to go outside. Watson jumps off the deck into the yard and pees in the grass every time. Walter searches the whole yard for his perfect spot while Henry is always checking to see if the neighbors to my left are out to pet him and give him attention.

For those that are wondering, I DID think long and hard about keeping that house after buying the one in Arizona. I would have had it remodeled with upgrades but kept the floorplan it had. I decided I did not want to maintain two houses, so I sold it. I don't think "the field" would have ever been the same without the four original hounds that were blogged about .. Winston, Sadie, Heidi and Stella. 

It was a good day today with some off and on light rain here in "the tropics" of southern Indiana.