Hounds & Dog Go With The Flow

After a night of rain, our totals were only .95" of rain in the past 24 hours. It seemed like a lot more than that based on the saturation of the backyard. Those forecasted high winds were here by the time we got up at 6:30am. About the time the hounds and the dog were at the patio door, the lights came on. The power went out about an hour earlier. It didn't take long for that bright sunrise to turn into this, dark and gray clouds. The "feels like" temps were about 5° colder than what was showing up on my phone.

It is what I call "beans weather". 

After their breakfast, another short trip outside, they were down for the morning siesta. I talked with three neighbors today in three different conversations, about the wet backyard. I wanted to know what they did to their yards to keep it from flooding. Some of the things they tried did not work, like having backyard drains installed. One had a French drain around their garage with the system putting the water out on his driveway. One was arranging to have more dirt brought to her side yard for some reason. She imagines it is worse than it is. Of course she asked if I wanted to split the cost of a truck load of topsoil. I won't spend that much for the topsoil I need. 

I asked what the previous four owners of my house did during times like these ... "they just lived with it". I a not sure I have the patience to "just live with it" for four months out of the year. I have hounds that like to go outside in any kind of weather. I am not a fan of having to clean 12 paws each time they come back inside. Yes I am 4 paws short but Walter does not go out in that kind of weather.

These three neighbors have lived in their houses their whole life. As kids and as adults. Samson continues to be a great bloodhound inside and outside. He lets me know when he needs to go out and once outside he does not waste time. He does like to play a lot with Henry and Watson. They don't mind. 

Mid afternoon I decide the ground had to be a little drier than this morning. They had eaten lunch a few hours before and had been outside after that meal. Evidently those high winds have brought a lot of different scents into the yard via the air. They did more exploring the air with their noses raised. than they did of the ground. 

I could tell by their slow movements they were not in the running and chasing mood. Because Walter was letting us know it was too cold with his half grunts half bark sounds, that I knew our trip outside would be short.

He never got off the patio.

Are you starting to see the differences between Watson and Samson without looking at their collars??

A lot of good stuff in the air.

When I told Walter "let's head back inside" ... the other three hounds came running. I grabbed the towels that I keep inside the grill during this wet season, to wipe down their paws before going back inside. You might notice I cleaned the patio door frame and the windows inside and outside. All it took was warm water on a microfiber rag, nothing else. 

It looked like their game of tug of war was going to begin but by the time I walked straight to the computer room Walter was asleep in the doorway, Samson headed for under my desk, Watson and Henry jumped up on my bed to continue their afternoon siestas.

All the windows in the great room, bedroom and computer room are raised halfway up so Samson can see out the windows. He loves to look outside as much as I like to keep my blinds from being destroyed. Just like some photos on Facebook that I have seen of his siblings ... he stands on the coffee table in the computer room that holds my printer and shredder so he gets a better view out the window. I have never had a hound at any time stand on something like that. LOL

I finally called Apple Support to get my microphone back to where I could send verbal texts and emails. After the rep took a look at my settings, she suggested I "reset settings" and then told me all bad stuff that might happen when I did that.

Well it worked. Everything that was missing on my list of settings was there. Airdrop worked with photos and Siri's voice came back when I held the right side button. I had to delete and reinstall the USAA app that I use to track my driving trips with hopes and dreams of reducing my auto insurance bill after they see how I drive. I do not expect much of a savings.

The rep from Organic Lawn Care agreed with me about Zoysia grass. I will have to by the seed online. I will also cut some Zoysia starter pods from other parts of my hard to mix in with the seed as soon as possible this spring. The Farmers Almanac was correct this year. It did say for my location to expect a wetter than normal winter, as in rain not snow.

So, not a lot going on today and no firm plans for tonight. All I want is warm/hot weather back where I am living in cargo shorts and a t-shirt. I would rather be baked by the sun than freeze. 

It was very windy today in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.